Castanet

Its always a shame to see a small business go. Shoes are a specialty item and the quality at most of the retailers these days is pure junk. People who buy those cheap WalMart shoes for their kids are not being very smart - their bones are still developing and the shoes have no support built into them - cheap cardboard flat bottoms are damaging to young growing feet. A lot of those kids will grow up to have foot problems.

As another poster said...almost any shoe can be purchased online these days for much, much less. It's about educating yourself. What brands of high quality footwear was this store selling that a consumer could not find elsewhere? If I'm fit for a great pair of Asics, why would I not save myself $$$ by shopping around?

Just like these high end lingerie stores in town. They charge an absolute arm-and-a-leg for a bra, especially in the hard to find sizes. I got a measuring tape out, figured out my size, and order 4 bras directly from the UK that cost less with the exchange rate and shipping than ONE did here in Kelowna. Same manufacturer, same bras that are still being sold in stores here.

I think a shoe is a little trickier to fit (especially for a child or a person with foot issues) than a bra. A tape measure will work with a bra - not so for feet.

grammafreddy wrote:I think a shoe is a little trickier to fit (especially for a child or a person with foot issues) than a bra. A tape measure will work with a bra - not so for feet.

I'll certainly give you that. But the average customer is probably not a child or someone with foot issues. Nine times out of ten I'm willing to bet it's your average Joe just looking for a nice pair of shoes.

I mean, I only know of two stores between Kelowna and West Kelowna that carry my bra size and not all bras are created equal. My point is only that once you find something that works for you there are many more cost effective routes to take. And unfortunately that doesn't always work out for the little guy.

fall wrote:Well I guess not enough people thought the same and decided not to shop there and keep them open or attract a buyer, same thing at freedman to wasnt it?

If the lady is retiring, then that has nothing to do with sales. Attracting a buyer these days is tough and not having an anchor store may have been a huge consideration. I won't buy shoes online and the quality of the shoes at this store can't be found on the westside and their sales were decent. I hope retirement is great.

Not saying in this case but have certainly seen it before, sales are down your not doing so well and try to offload the business before being forced to shut it in hopes a buyer will see the potential to turn it around. And then when nobody buys you "retire" gracefully after however many years in business.

its only a matter of time before everything in that strip mall goes down theres nothing to draw customers that way anymore

Tim Hortons, Wendys, First Choice (those places are really busy) etc. etc. Is there an empty store there now?

Only empty store in that section is where Papito's used to be.

Congratulations on a long, successful run Westbank shoes. I have been doing business on the Westside for 10 years and have nothing but positive, glowing remarks on the way your store was run! Happy retirement, you have deserved it!