Saturday, September 01, 2007

New Sneakers

I bought some new sneakers today. My old ones were getting pretty worn and ugly. It took some legwork.

I started out in Zellers. They had some Reebok that were not great, but OK. They were regular $50 and the sign said 25% off all athletic shoes. So great $37.50 for a pair of Reebok that are good enough to wear. Reebok tend to last well too.

I get to the cash and of course it scans at $50. I told the cashier they should be 25% off. She said that applied to different shoes, not the Reebok. This was incorrect but I couldn't be bothered to fight. I just walked out the door leaving the shoes behind.

I then checked out Cleve's. They had a sale on but there wasn't much that was nice in my size at a price I liked. Plus it was wall to wall people so I could harldly move around. I didn't see anything I liked at a good price so I left.

Then I tried Winners. With Winners it's all or nothing. I've gotten lucky there in the past and bought nice Saucony and Reebok there for a great price. This visit was a nothing visit. There were some Reebok that were painfully ugly and not much else.

From there on to Wal-Mart. At WM it was icky. Crowded and narrow aisles. Their selection was not very good. I didn't see any Nike, Reebok or Saucony. I bolted out of there.

Then I tried Payless. I like Payless and enjoy going there. It's a very pleasant store. Clean. Nice layout. Friendly staff. However their focus is on women's and children's shoes. Not much selection of men's sneakers. No Nike, Reebok or Saucony so no sale.

I was resigned to going back to Zellers to pay the $50 for the Reebok but then I realized I'd walked right past The Shoe Company. I gave them a try. They also have a nice big store focused almost entirely just on shoes. Their selection was good although nice shoes also tended to be pricey shoes. With some looking I was able to find some respectable sneakers in my size that were marked down.

So I bought some Nike cross trainers regular $70 marked down to $50. I think it was a good buy. I'll have to check out the Shoe Company sooner the next time I'm out to buy shoes.