Allen Edmonds: Official Thread

[mark34]

I am looking for some advice. I am buying a new pair of black lace up dress shoes and I looked at the Santoni line at nordstroms. I have always bought Allen Edmonds Dress shoes size 11.5 eee and have always been happy. Does anyone have any opinion on the Santoni line( goodyear welted)

Thank you for the help.

 

[A Harris]

Excellent shoes, I have several pairs. They are every bit as good a shoe as a C&J Handgrade or Grenson Masterpiece, IMO.

 

[scot]

Title says it all. I am looking for a pair of AE Coltons in size 8d, if anyone knows where to find the best prices, please let me know.

Thanks,
Scot

 

[JohnG]

Mr Scot,

 Have you ever tried an Allen Edmond outlet mall? I regularly shop at the one about 40 miles south of Columbus Ohio ( or 40 miles east of Dayton Ohio).

 They offer seconds and first quaility.

 The first quaility are less price wise than the few stores in my geographic area that offer them ( non-sale priced).

 The outlet stores also have tent sales twice a year. Plus, if one is on therr mailing list, many times you receive coupons for an extra 25.00 off.

 As to the "seconds":
   I have worn A.E. seconds for some years now. I have yet to see any difference from the first qwuaility offerings. ( Occassionally at the tent sale you can find some with pock marks or slight problems in the leather or sole. BUT , these are usually discounted more than the normal seconds)

  I still recall a few years back when a Laywer from the Cincinnati area happened to be in the outlet store purchasing 3 pairs of shoes. He made the comment that is was his belief the "Seconds" were A.E.s way of offering thier shoes direct, or the discontinued lines at a reduced price without offending the retail stores.

 The sales lady I regularly deal with, The regional manager in attendance to oversee the tent sale nor the other sale person there did NOT correct him. I still recall how the regional manager just smiled and mentioned that ther WERE a few shoes with noticeable blemishes in the tent sale if one looked. Take this for what bit is worth sir.

 On every pair of seconds I personally own ( 5-6 pairs) I and the slae people present have yet to find any noticeable blemish or problem on my purchases. THe closest thing ot "imperfect" we have found was on a pair of merlot colored Italian slip-ons ( Bergamos) is there is a very slight "possible" discoloration where the leather meets the sole on the inside of the right shoe about half way back.Perhaps  1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long

 You may also regularly check places like Paul Fredrick, Jos A Bank etc. When the seasons change many times one can find these places offering certain shoe lines discounted 50% or more.

 I purchased a pair of Cole Haan slip ons at 33% of retail a couple years back at Paul Fredrick online. The Deerfield model. It was NOT a discontinued style at the time of my purchase either. Size availability may vary these online stores.

Respectably,
 John G.

<edit> I forgot to mention- Of course there is always Ebay.

 

[AlanC]

Allen Edmonds does have its own "store" on ebay. It's worth taking a look at. I purchased my AE Lexington's from there. They are "seconds" but I'm at a loss to tell you what the issue might be.

 

[scot]

Unfortuntely I am in Virginia, so no outlets near here. There is an AE store in DC, but it appears to just be retail.

I checked with the AE ebay people and they said they do not sell seconds online, only older stock and odd sizes. The seconds all go to the outlets.

Scot

 

[AlanC]

Good to hear--my Lexingtons just got promoted.

 

[Material Boy]

Bloomingdales is having a Private Sale for two days (Sept 29th and 30th). During these two days, if you buy 4 or more pairs of shoes, the store will take 30% off your total purchase and in addition, the sales associate will take another $25 off for each pair of shoes you are buying (take off another $100 if you are buying four pairs of shoes). If you are also opening a new Bloomingdales account, you will enjoy another 15% off on top of all the savings mention above. I am getting 4 pairs of Allen Edmonds and a rough calculation reveals that I will be getting them at about 50% off the regular retail price. And keep in mind you are getting first quality shoes at these prices.

 

[AlanC]

Speaking of which, didn't someone post recently about the Brooks Friends & Family sale with a code? If so, you could get a pair of Alden or Peal shoes from Brooks for the price of the Allen Edmonds. Might be worth exploring.

Those Coltons are nice. I've examined them in person. A bit of an update on the Lexingtons, with a different last. Very sharp.

 

[scot]

I just dug through my junk pile (somewhere around 4lbs this week alone) and found my private sale invite. I see the 30% off which sounds great, but the 25 dollar off peice looks like it is per sale, not per hundred dollars. So to get the 30% off you have to buy all four pairs of shoes in one purchase and can only get 25 dollars off.

285*4=1140*.7=798-25=773=657.05

So about 165 per pair.

Of course if I am wrong about the per purchase rule then the price should be around 575, which should be a good deal for 143 each.

Here is a question, would you get Grensens or Allen Edmonds?

AlanC: Agreed on the bargain of a pair of Aldens though its still hard for me to justify 300 for a pair of shoes (yeah yeah I know, they are worth it). Ill search around to see if I can find it. Let me know if you find it somewhere else.

 

[nightowl6261a]

save 15% at benniesshoes.com with code ae15 everyday or call me any styles

 

[A Harris]

Here is a question, would you get Grensens or Allen Edmonds?

Definitely the Grenson's.

 

[drizzt3117]

I would definitely get Grensons. They are higher quality than AE, even though the AE are nice. I own both and the Grensons are certainly better.

 

[nightowl6261a]

I would definitely get Grensons.  They are higher quality than AE, even though the AE are nice.  I own both and the Grensons are certainly better.

i agree, at the price of $150 the Grensons are a much better purchase, but speaking from someone spending the entire working life in the shoes business, and i am now 41, i must say that the Grenson at $600 give or take, is not worth the difference over the AE at $295, give or take a discount here and there....but if the styles you desire are available, the i would definitely grab a Grenson, i hear complaints that some people did not act fast enpugh to get a pair, well guess what, i have the stock...and i MISSED out...did not think they would go as fast as they did, abd one of my sales people sold the shoe i had on hold for myself...i guess a catch 22

 

[PAMacca]

If you go to Allen Edmonds on-line, you will get a listing of their outlet stores.  If you know the make/model/size you want, you can call one of the outlet stores and they will FED EX ship the shoes to you within the week if they have them in stock or order and then ship once they have them (usually you can sweet talk the sales associate into waiving the cost of shipping).

I was able to do this with the Long Island, NY outlet store and got a pair of "factory seconds" (no noticeable blemish to me) without any problems and at substantial savings.

Their service was EXCELLENT.

If memory further serves,  there is no tax if there is no Allen Edmonds store in your state.  Since VA doesn't have a store (or didn't when I ordered mine), you won't even pay tax.

At those prices, no tax and free shipping you can't afford NOT to buy the shoes via a telephone call to an outlet.