Can You Suggest Great Shoe Store- Honest, Large Exotic Stock, Good Service

[Jerry52]

I posted on a recent thread about my desire to find a nice pair of men's dress derby leather shoes. Ideally I'm hoping for something British or Italian, nice leather, good support, well-made under $350. Can you recommend a good shoe store or online seller with lots of exotic brands, fair prices and good customer service?

My online discoveries thus far have been Zappo's and Shoe Parlor but I have no feedback about the reliability of either. There may be other comprehensive onliners, or a good brick-and-morter store that welcomes mail-order. Thanks!

Jerry

 

[EL72]

If they have any left in your size, Grenson Masterpieces from Bennies is the best deal around imo.

 

[sho'nuff]

you might want to look into borgioli or martegani, try the francos.com site, the pictures there are needing updates and i dont think they sell borgioli anymore. also the prices may have risen a bit.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Of course there's Saks, Nordstrums and NM which do shoes online. Also, you might check out Friedman's Shoe Stores which has two reviews if you google it.

 

[LabelKing]

What about the Plal site?

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by Jerry52

Ideally I'm hoping for something British or Italian, nice leather, good support, well-made under $350.
Jerry


That only exists on ebay and big store sales like Saks second cut sale. $350 in a store will get you Ferregamo Studio line (junk), Loakes (ok construction, ok leather) and some money back or I can't even think of anything else. You are better off going the Allen Edmonds/Alden route if you insist on buying from a store. If you are not afraid of ebay, you can get $700-900 for $350 and less.

 

[gdl203]

I second the PLAL advice. I believe C&J handgrades will cost you around $400 there

 

[odoreater]

or pediwear if you like C&J, but prefer the ease of ordinary click and go online ordering instead of having to deal with the strange procedures at plal.

 

[Jerry52]

Thanks to all of you. I will look into the advice. Apparently nobody has tried places like Shoe Parlor or Zappo's online?

 

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by odoreater

or pediwear if you like C&J, but prefer the ease of ordinary click and go online ordering instead of having to deal with the strange procedures at plal.

Aren't pediwear prices for Handgrades a lot higher than plal's?

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Aren't pediwear prices for Handgrades a lot higher than plal's?

Pediwear's prices are, em, negotiable.

 

[Don Goldstein]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Pediwear's prices are, em, negotiable.


Hmmm. That's interesting. I am in the USA. Can I negioate over email?