Buying shoes in Montreal (and to a greater extent, Canada)

Originally Posted by TRINI

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Bodileys is my sole source for shoes. Free shipping on C&Js and no customs issues.

Sarah Dudley is a blessing and I highly recommend her.

Just stumbled onto this forum when I typed "where to buy shoes in Montreal" into google after a lot of frustration.

I think I have found the pair I want from Bodileys. I understand that it is free shipping, but by "no customs issues" do you mean that there are absolutely no extra charges to pay upon delivery (in Canada)?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by MTLGuy

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I think I have found the pair I want from Bodileys. I understand that it is free shipping, but by "no customs issues" do you mean that there are absolutely no extra charges to pay upon delivery (in Canada)?

If the shoes are declared at their true value, you will have to pay 18% duty + GST + Quebec provincial tax.

Some vendors evade this by declaring the items as samples, gifts, or $50 items. I haven't used Bodileys, so I can't comment on what they do.

Canada Customs can levy additional fines, or seize goods, or beat you with a stick, if they suspect evasion. Beware.

Anyway, prepare for the worst, hope for the best...

- Mike

I find that whether or not duty gets imposed depends a lot on which shipping method is used. Almost everything I've had send postal (USPS, RoyalMail, etc.) has come through with nothing oweing, even though the declaration is filled out correctly. On the other hand, I've had a number of items come FedEx or UPS that have overcharged me on duty (charging duty on items made in canada and the us mainly) and sometimes have rediculous duty processing fees. I've worked in sailmaking in the past and the loft i was with would nearly go out of business sometimes because of materials being processed incorrectly by canada customs, canada customs holding shipments, or additional fines that in most cases turned out to be incorrect.
In any case, I would definitely recommend shipping by RoyalMail, ive never had any shipments from them arrive with duty owing.

I just moved back to Toronto a month ago from the UK for the first time since my adolescence. The shoe situation here is ridiculous. Really, I didn't expect London standards, but the standards of dress are just awful. I've bought a pair of Chukka boots from Pediwear for the winter and they should be arriving soon. I'm contemplating some Trickers as well for when the snow starts. Pediwear uses Royal Mail and/or Parcelforce so except little duty.

I have to say though, it is annoying that Canada Post doesn't actually deliver packages. They just deliver the delivery notice piece of garbage and walk away. I was home all day in a ground floor apartment and all I got was a delivery notice. Bloody ridiculous.

Anyway, from what I've seen of Toronto, Brooks Brothers is nice, if somewhat expensive. Whenever I walk into Harry Rosen I feel like the salespeople are circling me like vultures and most of what's there is ridiculously overpriced. There is a shop on Bloor and Yonge which sells some nostalgically British clothes, but they're 3x the price of stuff in the UK. It would cost me less to buy a plane ticket to London and buy the jacket there than it would to pay for things in that shop. I let the sales people know that when they asked me why nothing struck my fancy.

Lesson: Get someone in a nice shop to measure you in a Brannock and subtract one for the UK size.

US widths: E, EE, EEE --> UK widths: F, G, H.

--Marcel

Originally Posted by Bill Smith

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There's a menswear store out my neck of the woods called Garvey's here in Oakville and they are AE dealers. I looked up what they were charging to bring up a pair of brown burnished calf McNeils and it was $395 Cdn.

Good people, or were -- bought my first suit there in the early '80s.

Shoes in Canada are a disaster in almost every respect: most men wear crap shoes here, retail options are bad, and prices are an abomination.

I have had success ordering Alden from The Alden Shop in SF -- they are helpful with respect to customs if you ask for assistance. Ebay has also been a useful source at times.

I have never tried UK sources.

This thread is depressing. It looks like my options are basically to order from the UK and risk getting hit with massive duties or sack it up and pay a ridiculous amount for shoes at Harry Rosen or Holts. Makes me want to killself.

Does the Allen Edmonds warehouse still exist?

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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This thread is depressing. It looks like my options are basically to order from the UK and risk getting hit with massive duties or sack it up and pay a ridiculous amount for shoes at Harry Rosen or Holts. Makes me want to killself. Does the Allen Edmonds warehouse still exist?
Yes but not for Canada. Same with their Tent Sales or seconds. Allen Edmonds themselves won't sell those to Canada. Perhaps only through their Ebay store they should. On the other hand, if you have a special order (example-Mora in shell cordo) AE WILL make those and ship to you in Canada (UPS though) when you have paid in advance. Look on the bright side...we can buy delicious Cuban cigars our American friends can't. Summarily, we are invited to kill ourselves in style but die in poor shoes.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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Woah! I was gone one day and this thread is filled with great stuff! Thanks to everyone who contributed. StyleForum is good stuff, even when it's blighted by the occasional cat fight in the WAYWRN thread.

I'm interested in knowing how some of you guys who order from the UK sites figured out your size. I'm between a 9-9 1/2 US so I'm guessing that translates to an 8 UK. I imagine sizes vary somewhat from one brand to the next though and I wouldnt want to order a pair of $300 shoes from overseas just to find that they don't fit.

Opinions vary whether you should go down 1/2 or 1 full size when converting US size to UK size.

From my experience after buying some shoes from UK website, going down 1/2 size is best no matter what last is used.

Originally Posted by bellyhungry

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Opinions vary whether you should go down 1/2 or 1 full size when converting US size to UK size.

From my experience after buying some shoes from UK website, going down 1/2 size is best no matter what last is used.

What are your experiences buying from the UK? Sky high duties? Debtors prison? CBSA knocking at your door in the middle of the night to inquire about undervalued products being shipped to your home?

Originally Posted by Marcellionheart

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I just moved back to Toronto a month ago from the UK for the first time since my adolescence. The shoe situation here is ridiculous. Really, I didn't expect London standards, but the standards of dress are just awful. I've bought a pair of Chukka boots from Pediwear for the winter and they should be arriving soon. I'm contemplating some Trickers as well for when the snow starts. Pediwear uses Royal Mail and/or Parcelforce so except little duty.

I have to say though, it is annoying that Canada Post doesn't actually deliver packages. They just deliver the delivery notice piece of garbage and walk away. I was home all day in a ground floor apartment and all I got was a delivery notice. Bloody ridiculous.

Anyway, from what I've seen of Toronto, Brooks Brothers is nice, if somewhat expensive. Whenever I walk into Harry Rosen I feel like the salespeople are circling me like vultures and most of what's there is ridiculously overpriced. There is a shop on Bloor and Yonge which sells some nostalgically British clothes, but they're 3x the price of stuff in the UK. It would cost me less to buy a plane ticket to London and buy the jacket there than it would to pay for things in that shop. I let the sales people know that when they asked me why nothing struck my fancy.

Lesson: Get someone in a nice shop to measure you in a Brannock and subtract one for the UK size.

US widths: E, EE, EEE --> UK widths: F, G, H.

--Marcel

If the seller uses Royal Mail, after the status at the Royal Mail shipping indicates that the item 'has been passed to the overseas postal service for delivery in CANADA', you can enter the tracking # in the Canada Post site to continue tracking the package. You can also call Canada Post and ask them to fast-track it through custom - they are surprisingly pretty good in customer service.

As for Brooks Brothers at the RBC building, their pricing is actually a pleasant surprise relative to Harry Rosen.

Originally Posted by TRINI

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I get my supplies at Roy's in Manulife centre. That being said, I use Kiwi wax polish which is probably frowned upon here.
TRINI, which KIWI you using? Waxes, cremes or both? I use KIWI creme polishes and also Meltonian. A little of either goes a long way.

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

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What are your experiences buying from the UK? Sky high duties? Debtors prison? CBSA knocking at your door in the middle of the night to inquire about undervalued products being shipped to your home?

Sometimes I did not pay anything at all. The other times I paid about additional $50 all in, which I think is worth it given the selection and quality you get from abroad.

My estimated saving is 50-60% saving for equivalent quality.

Originally Posted by Man Of Lint

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TRINI, which KIWI you using? Waxes, cremes or both?
I use KIWI creme polishes and also Meltonian. A little of either goes a long way.

Just the wax polish in the tins. I use a Tana leather conditioner first.

Originally Posted by Man Of Lint

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Yes but not for Canada. Same with their Tent Sales or seconds.
Allen Edmonds themselves won't sell those to Canada.
Perhaps only through their Ebay store they should.
On the other hand, if you have a special order (example-Mora in shell cordo) AE WILL make those and ship to you in Canada (UPS though) when you have paid in advance.

When did this happen? I purchased a few shoes from their shoebank in Mequon back in March this year during their 20%/40%/60% sale.

Originally Posted by Odd I/O

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When did this happen? I purchased a few shoes from their shoebank in Mequon back in March this year during their 20%/40%/60% sale.

You bought from their Ebay link? or other? please clarify.
If other, please provide link.