Payless

Choosing the shoes

/ edebock / 5 Comments

LogoOne of my favourite fashion bloggers, Susan B of une femme d’un certain âge, frequently suggests that when you’re planning what to pack for a trip, you should start with the shoes. That hasn’t been my usual practice, but for our upcoming trip to Europe I thought perhaps I should follow her advice.

I firmly believe that the best way to see a city is on foot. We’re going to be visiting several cities and I expect that we’ll be doing a LOT of walking. Some of it will even be on cobblestone streets! Comfortable shoes are an absolute must. In fact, they’re probably the most important things we’ll take with us, so from the moment we started planning I’ve been thinking about which ones should go with me.

I have several pairs of trendy fashion sneakers, but they’re more about looks than long distance walking. I thought about taking my trusty Merrell hiking shoes, but they’re all about comfort on the trail and not very attractive to look at. No, I wanted something that was comfortable and supportive for all the walking we’ll be doing, but also nice looking. Nothing in my shoe collection seemed to fit the bill.

Then I wandered into a Payless closing out sale to see what was left on the shelves and there they were! A pair of Airwalk Speed Vitesse sneakers in rose gold!

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I was pretty sure I’d found my new travelling companions and it didn’t hurt that they were on sale for 30% off. Since buying them, I’ve worn them on two long walks and now I know for certain that I’ll be walking the streets of Europe in them. They definitely tick all the boxes for me! Comfortable, casual, and classy looking!

I’m hoping that there’s room for one or two other pairs of shoes in my teeny tiny carry-on suitcase, but if I had to go with only one pair, these ones would do the job.

Payless ShoeSource to close!

/ edebock / 1 Comment

LogoI was on the way to Camrose for an eye appointment on Tuesday morning when I heard the news on the radio. Payless, my favourite source of inexpensive shoes, is going out of business!

We first encountered Payless ShoeSource while travelling in the United States more than 25 years ago. From then on, whenever one of our long summer treks took us across the border into the US, we were sure to stop at a Payless store somewhere along the way to buy the children new shoes for the upcoming school year. Needless to say, I was delighted when the first Canadian store opened its doors in 1997.

Payless-ShoeSource-Wikimedia-commons

If I’ve counted correctly, I currently own 10 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of sandals, and a pair of tall black boots that I’ve worn almost constantly every winter since 2011, all purchased at Payless! Some of the shoes have only been worn a few times, but others I’ve had for years and walked countless miles in.

As soon as Tuesday’s eye appointment was done, I headed across town to the Payless store where the clerk confirmed that the chain had declared bankruptcy and was indeed closing all 2 500 locations across North America, including 248 in Canada. As a long-term employee, she’d had an inkling that this was coming, but she’d only officially received the news herself that morning.

The Kansas-based company, which was founded in 1956, previously filed for bankruptcy in 2017. At that time, the retailer closed about 900 US stores and by restructuring some of its debt was able to hang on for awhile longer. Unfortunately, however, according to its chief restructuring officer, Stephen Marotta, “Payless emerged from its prior reorganization ill-equipped to survive in today’s retail environment.” Liquidation sales are expected to start almost immediately and the company will begin closing stores at the end of March. Some are expected to remain open until the end of May.

If you’re a faithful Payless shopper like I am, you’ll definitely want to watch for those liquidation sales! That is, unless, you’re willing to go much further afield. Payless also has 420 stores in Latin America, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Saipan, and 370 international franchisee stores across the Middle East, India, Indonesia, Indochina, Philippines and Africa. Those stores will remain open.

RIP Payless. I’m going to miss you!