Thoughts on Stride Rite vs generic shoes

[Mommy_Again]

DS has grown out of his first Stride Rites we bought him 3 months ago...he has a guppy sandal for everyday and a murphy saddle oxford for dress. I also got him a pair of $18 Weeboks at BRU for a ski trip. As I now contemplate shelling out $75+ for the next round of shoes (I bought the SRs online for less), I am wondering: are they really necessary? I have always read on these boards that SRs offer the support, etc that beginning walkers need. I certainly do not want to ruin my son for life by not putting him in the proper shoes (insert sarcasm), but I also don't want to break the bank every 3 months. I've read some people splurge on everyday and buy less expensive dress shoes, but it is important that I get a great looking class saddle shoe for him. I might make a trip to the outlet mall tomorrow, but I called and they only carry last season's SR shoes (not a big deal as long as I like the look of the shoe).

Any thoughts?

[trumansmom]

I'm one of those folks that buys everyday shoes from SR, and the rest from Target. I have really, really terrible feet, and don't want my kids to have the same problems I do. I literally had bunions by age 12. That's not to say that all kids who DON'T wear SR are going to have bad feet, and it's not to say that all kids who wear SR are not going to have problems. For me, it's worth the splurge every few months to hedge my bets.

Also, FWIW, there will come a point where you can go several months between sizes. DS wore an 8 for 9 months. Of course, less than a year later we're buying 10 1/2s, so there will be years when you can't go very many months.

And also, in the summer, we really make do with just a pair of SR sandals that he wears everywhere from daycare to church, and a pair of cheapos as backup.

I'm sure that didn't help at all, but it's just my 2 cents. :)

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04

[heidi_timms]

Shoes are one thing that I don't skimp on. I do try and save money by buying from the SR outlet. I just got a pair of Mary Janes for around $22-24 dollars. The shoes at Target are around $14.99. For me the extra few dollars is worth it. I do not go to the regular SR store. Just too expensive. Also, ebay is a great way to get quality shoes for cheap. I have gotten some $80 Naturino shoes for $30 on ebay.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I have a hard time finding wide sizes except at Stride Rite, so I stick with those for everyday. I want to be sure that her feet have room to spread out and grow naturally in the shoes she wears everyday, so I am more particular with them than with dress shoes or funky shoes to match an outfit.

I shop the outlet and get them for around $20 or less.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[Momof3Labs]

The SR outlet sells "last year's" styles that are not noticeably different from this year's styles, quite honestly. For example, Colin has brown nubuck boots that we got at the outlet for $15. The SR store carried the identical boot for $54 with a dump truck on the sole of the shoe (ours were plain soles). We buy all our SR's at the outlet (Colin has a wide foot, and I won't mess with other brands that don't offer wides) and rare pay $20/pair. I'd rather pay $20/pair for SRs than $15/pair at Target.

I did buy his Christmas dress shoes at Payless this year, since they do offer wide sizes and they were only $13 (black dress SRs were running $25-30 at the outlet). But he wore them so little that it wasn't worth spending more than that.

[C99]

Children grow out of shoes so quickly when they first start wearing shoes, so I understand where you are coming from. Economics is a huge reason to wait until your child is walking reliably before starting to invest in shoes. When Nate first start wearing shoes, we only bought 1 pair of SRs for him and he wore those for every event until he outgrew them. By then, it was warmer weather so we bought SR sandals for him and he wore those w/ everything until it was time for the next pair. He had another pair of SRs, and then some NB sneakers, and now he's in a pair of Primigi shoes that I got on clearance at the HA outlet. He has actually never had more than 1 pair of shoes at a time since he started wearing shoes a little under a year ago. That is one way to save money on buying shoes. Another way is, as others have suggested, investing in more money for the everyday shoe and buying dressy or different ocassion shoes at a less expensive store.

[heidis2girls]

I'm another who wants my girls to have really good shoes. I think they are so important. Also, both of my girls have wide feet and it is difficult to fit them in other shoes. I have always bought them SR shoes. I buy them on sale at our local store. They have pretty good sales and I always buy on sale.

I love to buy there because the service that I get there is excellent. I bought a pair of sandals for Hannah to wear on vacation and they gave her a horrible blister. I brought them back to the store and they allowed me to return them for 1/2 of my cost, which I thought was great since they were used and they couldn't resell them.

I also don't buy them a lot of shoes which enables me to buy them good shoes. In the summer they usually have one pair of sandals, one pair of tennis shoes (like white Keds) and one pair of sneakers. In the fall/winter they have one pair of sneakers, one pair of shoes for school and one pair of shoes for church, parties, etc.

I bought them each a pair of tennis shoes from Target this summer and the bottoms were practically shredding, so to me it just isn't worth it!

[redgus]

i too buy only stride rite or ecco or elefanten, you get the drift. i am firm believer in good shoes. i have had good luck with ebay for stride rite, i just won an auction for stride rite mary janes for $18 total. marshalls has been carrying good shoes lately. hth.

[MichelleRC]

My DS has very narrow feet and Stride Rite's are the only ones that we have found to fit him so far. The first pair of walkers we paid full price for at the mall but every other pair since then we have gotten at the outlet or on sale. The outlet near us is great and I have seen some of the exact same shoes as they are carrying at the mall store.
I agree with the PP's that it is definitely worth the extra $$. We also only bought one pair at a time that he wore for every occasion until he was almost 2. Now we have sneaker and a shoe and then for the summer we will get a sandal.

[amp]

We don't have much choice, since DS has XW feet, *BUT*, even if he didn't, his primary shoes would be SR's. I asked around to many people, and I just decided that I want to make sure his feet and his gait develop correctly and I don't want to take any chances this early in the game, so I would still be buying SR, even if I didn't need to, right now. Just my 2 cents.

[LucyG]

We've bought both of our SR pairs at the outlet, for around $25 each. If you call ahead and know the sizes and styles that you are looking for, they can tell you what they have in stock, and hold shoes for you.

We also have bought two pairs of Keds, and I have been very pleased with them. I plan to get SR sandals (outlet again) for this summer, and then to put her in Keds for her tennis shoes.

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
23 months and counting!

[Samraelanelevi]

I personally do not think SRs are neccessary. What you need is a nice leather shoe. For Levi we almost never buy from SR. He does have one pair of brown SRs but they were not at full price. For his every day tennis shoes he has a pair of Nikes and he does fine with them. What I try to remember is that it is all leather and has a pretty flexible sole which these do. I have also had good luck buying Oshkosh B'gosh shoes for the kids. For us they have worked great and are much cheaper than SR.

Now if you really want a pair of SRs then buy one pair that can go with many things and then maybe one or two pairs of a cheaper brand for occassional wear.

The brands my kids typically wear are Nike or skeetchers for sneakers and sandals, L'Amour (for the girls), Oshkosh b'gosh (mostly for hikers and dress shoes, bear feet, GAP, and some target-these tend to be shoes that were cheap clearance and were only going to be worn a few times. HTH

[egoldber]

I think the important thing is to have supportive shoes that are flexible. For any shoe that DD wears every day or that sees lots of physical activity, I will splurge and pay full price at SR or Elefanten or wherever to get a good everyday shoe. For a pair of black patent MaryJanes she may wear once or twice a season, I buy at Target.

But like others said, their foot growth slows down tremendously after they turen 2 or so. I only buy DD shoes twice a year now and I shop for sales at places like Nordstrom. That way, if I guess wrong on the size she will be that season, I can always return them. To me thats a better deal the outlet, IMO.

HTH,

[mlewis]

We did buy SR at an outlet for $25. These are DS every day, daycare tennis shoes that he is wearing most often. We bought Baby Gap brown leather shoes on sale for $9.99 and he has a pair of SR white leather baby shoes that we got on clearance for $14. When we bought the SR, they sized up a little to allow for plenty of room to grow, and he's been wearing them since September and will probably wear them for several more months. I think we will probably buy SR again for his summer leather sandals just because I want the shoes that he is wearing most often to be good for his feet. I don't mind cheaper ones for Sunday or special occasions.

[writeleigh]

It is really expensive during the toddler years because their feet grow so fast. But, good shoes are one area I really don't like to skimp on (or, at least, buy brands with good reputations). I just bought Liam a pair of Ecco shoes for everyday that he loves. I happened to get lucky and find a pair of Elefanten dressier-looking shoes at Marshall's for $17 the other day. I've always had trouble with finding comfortable shoes for myself, so I'm even more sensitive to him needing comfortable shoes.

[shandrin]

I agree it's not so much that you must buy stride rite more that you need a flexible, breathable shoe that fits properly...

And again the growth does slow down, since mine are all older we buy shoes about every 6mths so if i get a quality shoe it will last that timeframe :)

[jpang]

Our story is similar: DD is a very active 15 month old. I decided to try buying one pair of Stride Rites late last year, and she ended up wearing them everyday. So I think from now on she will have one pair SR or SR quality shoes (I have a few Elefantens stocked up) every time. We don't really have dress shoes for her... just everyday shoes.

In addition to the outlets, online shoes stores such as shoebuy.com sometimes have great deals on Stride Rites and Keds. They recently had a $10 off coupon, so I bought her a second pair of Stride Rites (she's outgrowing the first) and asked a friend to buy her a pair of Keds for the summer.

If anything, I think I should be spending more on shoes and less on clothes, the way DD runs around. Her dad doesn't mind when we spend money on her shoes.

[Bethann31]

This question comes up occasionally I noticed. I am the mom of teens, tweens, children and my toddler. None of them has ever worn stride rites until Katherine, and she doesn't always have them. She has about 8 - 10 pairs of shoes some are stride rites, some are elefenten and some are from Payless. She has even had shoes from Wal-mart. While I agree that good shoes are important, all of my older children can run, jump, play ball and none of them have any foot problems at all, and they all grew up without ever owning a pair of Stride Rites.

All of this is to say, Don't worry if you buy another brand of shoe. If it fits and your child will wear it, you will be fine.


Beth
mom to:

Josh 3/90
Mollie 4/92
Jeffrey 12/94
Katherine 6/03