Are Stride Rite shoes really worth it?

klee411

My MIL insisted (in fact, she was on a serious mission) to take me and DS out to Stride Rite to get him properly measured and fitted for his first pair of shoes. I agree with her that we needed to get his correct size and buy him a few pairs since he's becoming so mobile lately, but in my head I didn't think baby shoes would cost so much.

So imagine my surprise when the pair we bought from Stride Rite was $40!  But I understand these are the best of the best and they're well made and will last a while (hopefully). It just seemed a little steep for kids footwear in my opinion.

I'm having buyers remorse. Tell me these things were worth it!

Klmorgan83

All of Noah's shoes have been from there (except for the pair of crocs he's wearing this summer) and I don't regret it.  They hold up really well.  I'm ok with what I've spent on them, I think he's had 3 pairs so far, because it was the only pair of shoes he was wearing at that time.  I think it might be different if I had a girl and had tons of shoes for them, but Noah has always had 1 pair of shoes for the season that he wears until he outgrows them, and wears them everyday.  So he's definitely gotten great us out of them, so I think it's been worthwhile.  And they're all still in really good shape so if we have another boy they could definitely be reused. 

KristenBtobe

It's all Maggie can wear, since she wears a wide.  I only get her one or two pair per season, so they get a lot of wear and hold up very well. Her white sandals she's worn all summer still look great. I only buy during a sale or when we have a coupon though. :-) I've heard the outlet at the new place in Monroe has good deals but haven't been yet.

JLPT830

Initially that was the only place I could go because DS's foot was wide.  Then he was always in half sizes and I had a really hard time finding half sizes anywhere else.  They have held up great.  I've been really pleased and we're on our 3rd or 4th pair.

klee411

I'll definitely to check out that outlet sometime. CJ wears a "wide" too so we may have shoe finding issues as he gets older. 

But I'm glad to hear you guys had good experiences with your LO shoes. Dang, I just had no idea how much they cost!

Moesten

KristenBtobe:

It's all Maggie can wear, since she wears a wide.  I only get her one or two pair per season, so they get a lot of wear and hold up very well. Her white sandals she's worn all summer still look great. I only buy during a sale or when we have a coupon though. :-) I've heard the outlet at the new place in Monroe has good deals but haven't been yet.

This is our situation as well. We buy only Stride Rite so far. Two pair per season, usually on sale. They hold up very, very well. 

teacherjess

To some extent, they are. I got Leah's first shoes for walking there because I wanted her to have really good support and correct sizing for learning to walk. But now she beats up on shoes SO badly that we usually get pair at Target and trade those out every two months or so. Stride Rite lasts longer but she beat up on those pretty badly, too. If I can get Stride Rites on sale, I'll go for it, but I usually stick to whatever catches my eye.

teacherjess

KristenBtobe:

It's all Maggie can wear, since she wears a wide.  I only get her one or two pair per season, so they get a lot of wear and hold up very well. Her white sandals she's worn all summer still look great. I only buy during a sale or when we have a coupon though. :-) I've heard the outlet at the new place in Monroe has good deals but haven't been yet.

Yes, the outlet has AWESOME prices. Generally most baby sizes are $20-$30. They are last year's styles, but all for the appropriate season. 

nire99

We have a few pairs of Stride Rite for DS along with several other brands.  I honestly have to look at the label to remember what brand they are. They really aren't that different from any of his other shoes. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

Ironically, the two pairs of DS' shoes that we constantly get complemented on are his high-top Chucks that I got on sale for $12 and a pair of $5 shoes I picked up at Wal-mart. 

Jscaggs

My mom insists on them for Olivia. We buy her walking shoes from there, but this summer she is mostly in sandals which I got at Target.  I do notice she trips much less when she is in the walking shoes. 

Missbollinger

I have no opinion of them.  DS1 wore K/Clark shoes and DS2 is a little heathen that HATES shoes and runs around shoe-less and sock-less at home and when we're out in the yard and at MIL's the same.  He also doesn't like standing and walking in grass and we have a pair of sandals I try to get him to wear and he walks around like a moonwalking astronaut.  I guess when he starts wanting to walk more when we are out I will shop around to see what is available.  It's hard to get K/Clark shoes for kids here.

bgsugrad

They really seem to fit DD great and they last her pretty long.  I've only bought 1 pair at regular price.  I would highly recommend checking out the outlets...I seem to have better luck at the Monroe vs. Jeffersonville store!?

hannah&ben

They always have been for me.  Jack wore them for years on his wide & chubby feet!  They were the only ones I could find that fit him comfortably (aside from Robeez which he wore for ages as well).

The Stride Rite's really held up though, he always grew out of them before they were worn out and honestly, I sold them all to OUAC as he grew out of them.. they still looked that good.

I tried to buy with sales or coupons (or giftcards)  I always told MIL that's what he wanted for gift giving holidays

He won't need a new pair till he grows out of what you got him, promise!!

Hannah

cops_wife

They're nice shoes. I didn't notice much of a difference last year between Ellie's Stride Rite shoes and Target shoes. This year, the Stride Rite have definitely fit her better. But I have never paid that much for them. $20 is pretty much my limit, because even though they hold up well, she still outgrows them fairly quickly. I bought her two pairs just before Easter and had to buy her the next size up a few weeks ago. I have bought them all at Stride Rite outlets. You can get on their mailing list and they send out coupons pretty frequently.

Meg41208

We've bought most of Katie's shoes there - she also wears a wide.  I also like her shoes to be leather, and it's hard to find leather shoes anywhere else.  I do think they're worth it though - we usually only buy 1-2 pairs per season and they hold up very well.

adamsbabble

I understand that they are made well and will last awhile, but I guess I just don't understand why they need to last awhile when kids grow out of shoes so quickly.  Ava once grew out of a pair of shoes after only 6 weeks, and I'm so glad they weren't a pair that I had dropped $40 on.  I do buy one pair of $30 Crocs for Ava to last the summer, but I couldn't see spending $40 on a pair of shoes everytime she outgrew a size.  Her first pair of walking shoes were a pair of Robeez that were a gift, and Charlotte had the Robeez knockoffs from Target, so other than that Crocs I've only bought shoes from Target for around $12.99 a pair.  I don't know how they compare to Stride Rite shoes, but they have all held up well enough to be hand-me-downs for Charlotte and were only used for the few months before Ava outgrew them.  

Meg41208

Katie's feet have grown really slowly - she wore a pair of size small Robeez completely OUT before she started walking, and the 2 pairs of size 3 Stride Rites she has, she wore for 6 months before outgrowing them.

That said, the newest shoes we bought for her, we ordered from Zappos.  We got 3 pairs for roughly the same price as we would have paid for 2 at SR - and I like them better than any SR had to offer.  Free shipping on returns and they ship from near Louisville so they came in 2 days.