Visiting Northampton

[Bawow]

Esteem Members:

Long time viewer, first time poster.

I'm going to Britain on business in a week. After that I am planning to spend a day in Northampton visiting John Lobb, Edward Green and C&J factories to purchase a few pair of shoes you all rave about.

Any advice and/or recommendations on styles etc. would be greatly appreciated. What price would I expect to pay there?

Thanks very much for your help.

 

[mussel]

Do a search on "Northampton" and you should have several very useful links.

I think C&J only opens Fri and Sat. EG doesn't officially have a factory store but they do have some stocks to sell from time to time. Call EG for availability first before you show up.

 

[Nonk]

C&J do only open Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. They do have the best deals in town though.

Lobb have good opening hours and a helpful lady. Expect to pay £185 plus, with specials up to £6-700.

I have to say, having been many times, most of the stock in Lobb's is very uninspiring.

Overated in my opinion.

Church don't have anything that you cannot get from Herring shoes online.

Trickers keep a small stock of seconds also.

 

[TKDKid]

At Lobb, keep an eye out for rejects of their Prestige Line shoes; they only cost a little more than rejects of their regular line. Last time I was there, there was a Philip II in my size, and I saw a Jermyn II and Stafford. All GBP 200-250, although I guess you won't have to pay VAT...?

They may also have some discontinued styles which again cost a little bit more (but still considerably less than RRP). Last time I was there, they had the Seymour in both calf and suede.

At C&J, rejects of their regular line shoes (as well as cancelled orders for shoes made for other distributors) are around GBP 80-100 and are a great bargain. Rejects of Handgrades will be at GBP 200, probably a bit overpriced seeing as you can get Lobb rejects at that price.

 

[Duveen]

Let us know what your experience is like. I am in Paris in mid-April and thought (briefly) about trying to take the train over to Northampton. Not sure if it is worth it or not. What is the selection like in larger sizes (UK 12)?

 

[Bawow]

Thanks for your input.

I'll brief you all when I get back and post pictures of my purchases.