clarks should be obliterated from the face of the earth

[morocco]

utterly pissed off about the whole crappy buying shoes palarva. How hard can it be to train a few people to measure kids feet? I could do it after about 2 minutes training. So why is it every shop I went into today had a queue that took 20 minutes to get to the head of, (while all the adult specialist shoe box carriers stood idly by with nothing to do) then they never have the right size anyway, as if the difference between f and g could be that drastic. I notice French people don't have totally deformed feet but manage to get by without width measurements as well.
oh, piddly poo - will have to go back again next week.
It's all a massive marketing con imo to convince us the £30 we cough up with (outrageously infated surely???) is a quality buy that can only be sold by their specialist staff. Do they think we are stupid?

Message withdrawn

No idea how good or bad Clark's staff are ? I buy ds's shoes from a local independent shop where the staff are brilliant ? but it is important that chlidren's shoes fit well, because their feet are growing. If they wear poorly fitting shoes their feet will be affected. Do French shoe shops really not offer width fittings in children's sheos? How bizarre.

i hate clarks too. i refuse to spend £30-£40 on a pair of shoes that last 5 minutes either through them outgrowing or just end up really scuffed and worn out

my nan worked in a shoe shop for 25 years and said that there are a lot of good shoes around these days that dont cost the earth.

ha ha - yes probably, but hopefully only with clarks head office who I am writing to right now to protest about utterly rubbish service - why they can't just train up a few more members of staff so they can cover when it gets busy is beyond me - it's really irritating to see all the other staff stood around and just one poor harrassed woman trying to deal with all those kids. And if they're going to sell shoes in 5 million sizes, try and actually have them in stock then.
no offense meant to clarks staff btw - unless you are head of marketing or ceo, in which case, watch out!

we are lucky in that we have a discount clarks store a walk from here that never has any queues

tbh i think its a con too, my daughter has to wear orthapeadic boots and they dont have width fittings either. i think that speaks volumes

Brantano Footwear sell Clarks/Hushpuppies/Chipmunks and all the big sports names at a fraction of the price.... and they do sizing as well.

I can understand your annoyance but 'obliterated from the face of earth' is a bit OTT

where do you go, batters?

Try here:
Brantano Footwear

at people convenient for Bookseller Crow!
there's always Pares in Blackheath Village as well, bk. Handy for the station and a short hop from London Bridge. They are excellent and Mumsnetters even come from as far as Stepney to get measured and booted.

thank you

Glad I spotted this thread as we're moving to Forest Hill soon, so Crystal Palace will be very convenient for shopping and will save me having to trail into the west end with ds for shoes. What is so fab about Bookseller Crow?

We used to go shoe shopping where there were 2 Clarks shops and another shoe shop with Clarks shoes all within the space of 20 yards. We still rarely came away with the shoes my children chose, but worse than that, we commonly got three different measurements for each child's feet. That doesn't exactly give you confidence that the fitters knew what they were doing. At least two out of the three must have ben wrong!

Run by a mum (Justine Crow) who does a funny and hugely informative column on children's books in the Families SE newsletter Otto.
She has put me on to all sorts of gems. you cannot beat a well-informed independent bookseller who knows her market, Otto. you'll love her shop.

there is a clarks factory shop in peckham that I visited for the first time last week

I bought DS a pair of the Cica flashing trainers he is so enraptured with for £7 (not £24)

.. and then got tempted by a couple of bags for a tenner but that's a different story and anyway it was still cheaper than buying them at clarks retailers

why? just go to a shop and get their feet measured (this is the step I have yet to take as I took a guess at what size he was ) then dump your kids with someone else and go buy them something you know they like .. the ladies in it were lovely and it looked just like a 'real shop'

I buy ds's shoes off ebay. Get his clarks doodles for 1.99

thought you should never buy 2nd hand shoes because they shape themselves to the foot that occupies them and stretch to accomodate it so by the time you buy them they're the wrong shape and can damage delicate feet

.. or did I swallow the marketing spiel?

Oooooo thanks QF,according to the online map there's a Brantano up the road from me on a retail park