I hate shopping for school shoes with the boys. This is made much worse by the fact that Mini has very wide feet with a high instep. We have tried every shoe shop going and I have never been over the moon at any shoe shop until now.
Today we went to Clarks in a neirbouring market town, which doesn’t actually have many shops at all, so much so that MadDad didn’t even know that it had a Clarks.
So what made this shop pain free (apart from in the pocket)?
- We booked our appointment online. No getting a ticket and waiting inline. Not for us, we jumped any queue with our pre-booked appointment – Whoop.
- We had an experienced fitting lady (she was the manager) and all the other staff were more mature and handled the boys perfectly.
- The plimsolls Mini needed were out of stock, but will be delivered FREE to my home address on Friday.
- Plimsolls in a range of width fittings and in half sizes, which is perfect for us as both boys are half sizes.
We have found in the past that the larger and more trendy Clarks often employ people who have not got children of their own, so although they are qualified fitters, we have had to return on a number of times, especially with Mini and his wide, high feet.
Both boys have come away with different style shoes, but with a protective rubber bumper at the front.
My only gripe would be please stop making Jack Nano shoes. I do not want to purchase these for my children and I do not want to have to experience pester power over them. Thankfully the Manager understood this and they were not the best fit for my children, so they were not in the running.
So thank you to Karen who fitted the boys, you made this the most pain free shoe shopping experience yet and thanks to Clarks for a £40 voucher towards the cost of the boys shoes.
Eeeck! What’s wrong with Jack Nano shoes? Just bought my son’s first school shoes and he choose these. Are they no good?
Gemma » I dont like the way the sole lifts to store the toy. I think that they are a little less supportive and some people have know the sole to dip. I would just remove the toy and pretend there wasn’t a storage place int he show.
Pre.booking appointments? Helpful advice? Sounds like a really refreshing shopping experience! Talking of pester power, you can imagine which shoe shop my two only want to go to when I accidentally discovered a shoe shop in Munich that has a big long twisty wooden slide that takes you down to the children’s section!! 😀
I agree on the Jack Nano shoes, I was just pleased L didn’t go near them anyway. He went with sensible normal looking school shoes and you have got to love Clarks and the rubber scuff guard at the front, genius idea. I do love Clarks fitting service and the quality of their shoes. The price however is a bit of a shock 🙂 x