Canadians: Dack's shoes?

[Bandwagonesque]

I've been looking for a pair of conservative, interview quality shoes. The choice for many Canadians is honestly quite limited, so that rules out the majority of brands mentioned here. Anyway, there is a small, national shoe store here called Dack's. I was curious about what some of the members here thought of these shoes:

http://www.dacks-shoes.com/dacks.htm

I like the style of the Brentwood and Harrison. Hopefully they come in colours other than black. The rest I couldn't give a damn about. At MRSP, I'm sure AE's are a better value (keep in mind the prices are in $CDN). However all pairs are presently on for $72 off.

Any suggestions? Good value, or avoid like Bostonians?

 

[gj555]

Good shoes but IMO overpriced. They have some in a really nice dark tan in the $475 range that I like but even with them offering 15 percent off I can't pull the trigger. Rumour has it they are made in the UK by Cheney (which is owned by church). Some of the stores also carry old stock made in canada Dacks which have long been discontinued but can be had for a good price. But the made in canada ones are only nice in black. The brown and burgandy made in canada ones were never that nice. Dacks also flirted with made in mexico shoes for a while and I have seen some of those in stock in some of the stores.

 

[A Canuker]

My father had always bought his shoes from that shop. So when I was getting into the office clothing I picked up a pair that I have found to be just fine. Now I must admit that his were much older then mine but he managed to get 10+ years out of his with normal repairs and such. I can only hope for the same.

 

[Ed13]

The last pair of Dack's I purchased about 8 years ago were black, double soled longwings. Shoes were made in Canada. As good or better than AEs. I can't comment on the new selection, but if you find some old stock at a good price they are well worth considering.

 

[csheehan]

They closed their New Brunswick factory around 1996 if I'm not mistaken. I've had Dack's sales people tout the shoes from that factory as their best. I have three pairs, two that I bought as discontinued stock, that were made there and they are very nice, on a par with AE. I bought them between 1998 and 2000. I have no idea if there would be any left. The factory ID is on the sole just in front of the heel. Back when I bought, their most expensive shoe was $335 CDN.

Chris

 

[Pressfan]

Dack's are very good, solid shoes. It is disappointing that they are no longer made in Canada; I was advised by a salesman when they closed the Canadian plant that they would be selling rebranded Cheaneys - at a higher price. He explained that the market for leather soled dress shoes had decreased markedly which led to the closing of a number of their stores and an expansion into rubber soled, casual shoes from brands like Geox, Rockport and Clark's.

They do tend to use "Bookbinder" leather, sometimes referred to as "corrected grain", but I never thought it looked that bad; it's not the same as what one finds on less expensive, more fashion-oriented shoes.

In the past, they always had sales in January and July, with very good discounts, but they have become a bit more promotion-driven

Other than the now more ubiquitous Allen-Edmonds, they remain the only source for classic shoes in the Anglo-American style left in Canada.

 

[Bandwagonesque]

Sounds good. I'll take a closer look later this week. I was told the sale is on until late November/early December if anybody else might be interested. I usually see AE's around for $450-500, so if I can get something of comparable quality for $300, nothing wrong with that

So since this will be my first quality pair of shoes... any suggestions for what colour? Most of my suits are dark - black with subtle stripes, navy and charcoal. In the past I've stuck with the black shoe. After seeing others on this forum here with their badass browns... I'm tempted to get a pair of brown instead. What shade of brown would be most practical? I also love the look of burgundy shoes, though I'm not sure what suit/trousers would look best with it.