Kids shoes...why so expensive?

Zziggi

Cheap Asda/tesco clothes is fine for my little ones but shoes is something i pay full whack for. I'll gladly accept 2nd hand clothes but shoes i don't and won't (well what i actually do is say thank you but then pass them straight on to the charity shop bypassing my little ones). There are some retail outlet shops of clarks. They are proper clarks shoes they sell and they will measure your child's feet. However the shoes in the stores are last years colours/designs and there might be limited choice in sizes. I tend to go there now as i am getting clarks shoes, measuring service and slighlty cheaper shoes. Lasts years design doesn't bother me or my children (yet!). I pay around £15-£18 for shoes that would normally cost £28-£35.

I still think £15 is a lot when a child can grow out of them in 3 months!

Nikki

I have the same problem as the op. My daughter(she's 7 and) has very narrow feet and it's hard enough finding clarks shoes to fit her, I can't get shoes from anywhere else as they're all too wide. I stick to trainers for my boys as they're cheaper than shoes, not to mention it would cost me at least £40 for a pair of shoes for my oldest(10 yrs and almost in an adult size 5) and he'd ruin them within a week. My children all walked early too(9m,9m & 10m) I think I paid somewhere between £22-£28 for their shoes and they were all between a size 4-41/2, still have them too! My mum also only bought our shoes from clarks, we always went to mothercare for our sandals.

sellparttime

I take my 3 year old to Clarks, get her feet measured and then buy Clarks shoes on ebay. Last winter I bought loverly Clarks boots (her size and width) for 99p + delivery. It was in perfect condition and I sold it for 2.10 when it was to small.

Savvy_Sue

funky-footprints wrote:

Have you noticed in clarks how they always ask you "what size is your child wearing now ?" they see you coming and add a 1/2 size on to make you buy a new pair.

I make sure I know what size they are wearing now, have been sent home with a pair the same size as we came in with!

What I've done since then is ask the fitter to check whether the shoes they are wearing NOW are OK, and if they are, we walk out. Lost count of the number of times I've been told "only another 3 weeks or so", only to get a lot longer from them.

That's unless they are moaning their feet hurt, of course ...

And it's a pain in the neck if you have to wait half an hour just to get their feet checked, but worth it if it saves money!

kiwichick

Gosh, we all have trouble with the kids shoes dont we? My three all have wide feet, I talking H fiiting here ladies! I find that they only do maybe 1 or 2 styles in the size that I need and if they dont have them in store I've been told to order them. All well and good but this takes time and by then the feet have gone and grown again so the new shoes dont bleeding fit!!! Frustrating. I have resorted to ebay also, my kids wear handmedown shoes if they fit so I dont see that buying them from another parent will be any different. I am from NZ and we never had our feet measured for width there, I couldn't believe it when they did it for my daughter the first time. I've never asked Clarkes why they are so expensive - has anyone???

JC67

I also have children with wide feet (they follow me!) so have had problems getting shoes. I didn't mind paying Clark's prices when they produced the shoes in this country but I think they've closed most of their UK factories now and make them elsewhere which I presume is to cut their costs.

super41

I do what some other posters have mentioned and save money on clothes by getting 2nd hand but spend quite a bit on well fitting shoes. My daughter has very narrow feet so shoes have to be a good fit. I tend to use independent shoe shops selling quality shoes as I have found their staff to be older and more experienced. They have never tried to sell me shoes which didn't fit or weren't necessary. In fact last year my daughter was in a pair of shoes for 6 months. I kept getting her feet measured every 6 weeks but they were fine as her feet didn't grow. Because the shoes were good quality they lasted really well. At the moment she's into a new size every 3 months!

Another way to fund shoes would be to put birthday money towards them. Most children get lots of presents so it would be okay for someone to put money towards shoes.

My DD only has one pair of shoes at a time, plus wellies (Tesco £2.25!) and Clarks Doodles in Summer/ You can get the latter in sales at £5 a pair and they are fitted properly etc. You just don't get much choice.

If you are not happy with a fitting ask for a supervisor to check the fit. I did this in Clarks and the shoes were the wrong size and width fitting. As a result I never go shoe shopping on Saturdays as it's busy and often school girls who have little experience.

Quackers

super41 wrote:

If you are not happy with a fitting ask for a supervisor to check the fit. I did this in Clarks and the shoes were the wrong size and width fitting. As a result I never go shoe shopping on Saturdays as it's busy and often school girls who have little experience.

:rotfl: And sometimes stereotyping can be the wrong thing to do. I have a 19yr old fitter who has been fitting shoes since she was 16 and a 48yr old who has been fitting shoes for 2 months. You'd still not trust the 'schoolgirl'?

Quackers

bylromarha wrote:

So Quackers (hoped you'd turn up as an insider!) can you suggest to your head office that they start to make a value range of shoes please? Or do you know of any companies that do cheaper shoes that don't last as long as Clarks, but are good for growing feet?

Believe it or not Clarks have actually reduced their prices in the past few years. They have been selling at between the £24-40 price mark for as long as I can remember now. Several of the bigger sizes have actually been reduced this year from £34 down to £28. They really are trying to be as competitive as possible. Their trainers now start at £20.

OMG - I know I sound like a walking advertisement for them but I suppose I've been brainwashed :rotfl:

We weren't as busy this back to school. But we've been inundated for the past couple of weeks with parents who have tried cheaper value shoes from the supermarket for the first time and have returned to clarks for another pair because the cheaper value ones have either rubbed or fallen apart.

Gingham_Ribbon

I admit, Quackers, the first time I had shoes that rubbed was when my mum let me get a 'fashionable' pair. They were cheaper than Clarks and it was what my friends were wearing and I remember the blisters because I didn't know what they were!