Are stride rites actually decent? My kids finally maintain the same shoe size for a whole season so I'm more willing to drop $ on good shoes. Are they worth dragging my kids to the store for a fitting? Any other recommendations if they suck?
We buy Stride Rite, but I tend to get the same pair over and over again. He's had the same blue sandals, and blue w/orange tennis shoes for a couple of different sizes. No issues with them falling apart.
I bought a $20 pair of leather Nike's at the outlet. He loves them, and actually keeps them on. Holding up well, and a dream to clean. I am thinking of going and buying the next size up, just to have.
My kids are pretty hard on shoes too, so I've always only expected them to last one season. They have normal width feet, probably about a size 11 - 11 1/2.
Would Nordstom Rack work the same? WI isn't fancy enough for a real one yet apparently lol. I was amazed to see a stride rite pop up in Madison last year.
They haven't held up for my kids, I just go to payless now. I've seen no difference in--well, i dunno. they walk just fine. lol.
I have read SR and Smart-Fit (Payless) are owned by the same parent company. I don't know how much deeper (if at all) the relationship goes. Several of my friends say the quality is comparable, and considering the cost/value, most prefer Smart-Fit. (Though selection is very limited.)
We buy stride rite and DS is another with an XW foot. We had him sized there for his first pair of shoes and then went to all the other shoe stores in thr mall looking for XW and didn't have much luck. I typically order them online because there's more selection in XW. Never had quality issues with the shoes.
Post by dragonfly08 on Sept 16, 2014 6:22:16 GMT -5
My oldest often needs an XW shoe, so SR is our best option. Some shoes hold up better than others. I have never had ANY luck with shoes from Target, and Payless isn't much better in my experience, so I tend to stick to SR, Nordstrom, or name brand shoes from department stores (we've had really good luck with Nike and Saucony for sneakers...Sketchers actually do pretty well with my kids, too).
Post by UnderProtest on Sept 16, 2014 6:48:13 GMT -5
I like the Stride Rite store selection for my son, but not my daughter. He also has wide feet and their selection is good for him. I've found some cute leather sandals and some plain (Tommy Hilfiger, although I'm not usually a fan of TH) tennis shoes. The girls shoes tend to look a bit too old fashioned for me. I've also found that Converse runs really wide and they are a good fit for my son. I like Kids Express for my daughter's narrow foot.