Retail Fail

I’ve been buying the running shoes I wear for walking at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Montrose for several years now. In years past, the salesmen were older and knew the stock. Several years ago, one of the salesmen was a running coach who not only knew shoes, he knew my oldest daughter. He helped me figure out which brands work best for my feet and which style of shoe I should get. I have small, wide feet with high insteps, so I’ve learned that there are two brands of shoes that have good cushion, are lightweight, they come in wide sizes, with good arch support, that fit my feet comfortably. They are New Balance and Asics.

What happens a couple times a year is I march in, tell the salesman (and yes they are always male and seem to be getting younger all the time) what I need and they tell me what they have. I used to spend time looking at shoes on the wall but inevitably, they didn’t have my size in whatever I picked out. I learned to just ask them to bring me whatever they had in my size.

Pretty easy. I’m not all that picky about color and even bought the same color two times in a row. Give me a few to try, I pick, I leave. The whole thing is over in a matter of minutes if they aren’t busy. Just get me shoes that fit and support my feet; particularly important since I also how have orthotics to prevent plantar fasciitis pain.

Today I went to Dick’s. The shoe department was busier than I’d ever seen it. Lots of kids and parents standing around waiting for unseen employees to bring them shoes. There were boxes of abandoned shoes all over the place. I had to move some from a chair in order to sit down.

There were two very young men working who eventually emerged from the stockroom. The one who finally helped me was clearly overwhelmed and a little clueless about the stock. I told him what I needed, he went in the stockroom, and came back empty handed. I’d removed my shoe in anticipation of trying shoes on, to no avail. He then proceeded to lead me around, with one shoe off, around the shelves in the department trying to find shoes in my size. He found some men’s Nike court shoes that he said I could get to fit me. What?  I needed lightweight running shoes with cushion, not shoes for running around on a wooden floor that weigh twice as much. And not Nike (they don’t fit my feet correctly) and not men’s shoes.

He then said they were waiting for a shipment to come in and said I should come back on Black Friday. I told him that I refused to shop on Black Friday (I hate shopping so why would I come when there are crowds?) and walked out.

A few points:

• Dick’s just lost a customer. I spent more time NOT getting a pair of shoes today than I normally spend GETTING a pair of shoes. I make quick decisions so they usually make a good chunk of money on me in a short time. Not anymore.
• Dick’s needs to have more experienced, more mature shoes salesmen working. And more of them. When I left the store there were cashiers who weren’t busy who could have been helping elsewhere.
• Since I know what shoes fit me, I’m going to try ordering from Zappos. I know they have great customer service from people who really know shoes.

Otherwise…a fabulous weekend. I recovered from a sore throat, got food in preparation for Thanksgiving, played with my new Kindle Fire all weekend, and enjoyed cooking in my kitchen under the new lights. Too bad I don’t have new shoes to wear on my walk in the morning.