Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The boot hoopla!

There is just a bit of snow on the ground this morning in Blaine. I suspect Marly & Dean will be outside with Nanny Auntie Kelly to check out the white stuff. They have coats, they have mittens, they have hats, and they have snow boots.

Finding snow boots was actually more of a challenge then I anticipated. I wanted PLAIN, sturdy, warm boots. I did not want them to light up. I did not want them to have princesses or hearts or soccer balls or spider man on them. Is a plain jane children's product too much to ask for in this retail driven mass marketed world we live in?

Saturday Mark and I went to Kohl's (I had a coupon). We went to JCPenny (I had a coupon). No snow boot luck. The more we looked, the more we got ticked off by the crowds, the lack of choices, and the lack of costumer service. The truth is, I don't even want more choices. I just wanted to see one good option amongst the sea of branded kiddy stuff. Deep down, I knew I would NOT find this at a big box retailor. Deep down, I know this is why I shop at smaller stores which specialize in a given area.

Monday I went back to the mall and went to Stride Rite. I purchased Marly nice simple pink boots. I purchased Dean nice simple navy blue boots. No coupons, but at least they have a 10% Twins discount. (Although I appreciate the twin's dicount, how am I any different then someone with two kids who need shoes??? hmm...I degress...)

Next year I will be buying their snow boots online at Land's End and avoid the mall all together. Two mom's did alerted me to this fine option before I even started my boot quest. Should have went their FIRST and LAST.

Oh to be Marly & Dean! They don't have to do the shopping, but they were interested in the purchase. Monday night they stomped about testing out their new PLAIN footwear. Then each took theirs off and insisted on wearing the other's for a while.

I do feel slightly redeemed in my wasted time spent boot shopping. I was able to share my experience with my friend Molly (whose son is the same age as Marly and Dean). She has a brand new baby besides, so I bet she is online today shopping Land's End from the comfort of her home for Charlie, and ordering two sizes larger then his shoe size for correct winter fit!

Shoot... they do still need snow pants. NO stuff embroidered on them PLEASE! Well, almost there!

2 comments:

britta said...

Lands End is AMAZING. So I got a new backpack from them when I was in 5th grade and have used it every year since. When you do the math....5th grade, 3rd year of college...11 years! And it seriously barely looks used! So, FYI when you are buying them a backpack for school...get it at Lands End.

Someday when I have time, I am going to dig up my first day of school pic from then and take a pic with me and the pack now and send it to Lands End. Maybe I will get an award or be in their catalog!

Mary in MN said...

Hi Andrea,

I have to say, for awhile I was seriously addicted to Land's End (the outlet store, that is!). One time, my friend Christine brought something home in a Land's End bag. Her husband, Monte, casually said, "Oh, you saw Mary today?" She said, "Huh? No, I didn't. Why did you think that?" Then he replied, "Well, I assumed you did when I saw the Land's End bag!"

How embarrassing! No really, the outlet in Har Mar Mall has GREAT prices! And their overstocks online are good too.

So nice to hear that I'm not the only one that can't stand the spiderman/hello kitty junk that seems to proliferate on every kids item these days!!

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