On Saturday we went to the local Circuit City, out of curiosity. As you probably know, all U.S. stores are being closed, and are in the middle of a massive liquidation sale. So, I wanted to check it out, and maybe get a bargain or two.
And a more depressing sight, I haven’t surveyed in a long time…
Half the TVs had been wrenched from their displays, leaving nothing but a jumble of wires sticking out of the wall. And the floors were filthy; apparently they see no reason to continue with the cleaning? I guess I can understand that, but it’s disconcerting nonetheless.
Also, some of the employees were wearing regular street clothes, instead of the standard red polo shirt. I can hear ’em now: “What are they going to do, fire me?”
The whole thing was kind of sad. I didn’t like Circuit City much, because they advertised things and NEVER had them in stock. And their staff seemed to possess a talent for bugging the crap out of me when I wanted to be left alone, and hiding when I needed help.
But I didn’t want the place to go under. I hate to see anyone lose their job, and competition always keeps the prices down. This is good for nobody… except people who own Best Buy stock, I guess.
One specific item I wanted to search for, was The Ultimate Collection by The Who. The band is underrepresented in the Surf Report sound library, and I wanted to take steps to correct the problem.
So, I located the appropriate section of the CD aisle (which looked like a crime scene), and started flipping through the discs. In front of the Who header card was something by Oasis, Conway Twitty, The Shining on DVD, a cell phone car charger (out of the packaging), and what might have been a single Swedish meatball.
“Let’s just go,” I said, following a large sigh. And it’ll probably be our final-ever visit to a Circuit City store. A real shame.
Our next stop was a lot less depressing, and you can read about it here.
Then I needed to buy a new pair of tennis (tenna) shoes, because my current pair goes wanka wanka when I walk. So we went to the mall.
There we visited at least four stores, and were getting nowhere. I know it might be shocking to some of you, but I’m very particular about certain things. And the only shoes that met my approval was a pair of New Balance, priced at $75. Hilarious.
So, we wandered around aimlessly (going wanka wanka the whole time), and I almost bought another less-appealing pair of New Balance at Sears, for $60. Toney finally said, “Just get the ones you want! This is making me crazy.”
And that’s the most I’ve ever paid for shoes, by a large margin. I don’t think I’ve ever plunked down more than fifty bucks, and usually it’s around thirty-five or forty.
What’s the most expensive pair of shoes you’ve ever owned? I have a feeling I’m on the “cheap bastard” side of things. Please use the comments to confirm or deny.
And before I call it a day here (this is a quickie), I’d like to know why stores now only leave one shoe inside the boxes on display? Do people walk out with them? Is that really a common problem? Wouldn’t it be kind of difficult to shoplift shoes?! Incredible.
All I know is, it irritates me to have to track down an employee, and stand around waiting for him or her to retrieve my other shoe from the walk-in vault, or whatever. (Waiting for the other shoe to drop.) I was bitching up a storm about it on Saturday, and Toney was rolling her eyes in exasperation.
She seems to think it’s no big deal, but it is. Oh, it’s real big.
So, there you go. I got a late start with this one, and need to stop here.
Have a great day, boys and girls.
You will NOT find a “deal” at ANY liquidation sale, unless the item is trashed, missing major pieces or otherwise unsaleable.
There is no Circuit City, they sold off to a liquidator, got their buck and as part of the deal they let the liquidator use their name and logo for the liquidation sale. I am not sure everyone understands that. Once again Circuit City stores in liquidation are no longer owned by Circuit City but a liquidation company/s. Some say as many as 12 liquidators have their paws on the former CC.The minute the liquidators take power; they will automaticaly raise all the prices usually to full MSRP and tack on a phony discount. At that time C.C. has no control over Inventory and/or its employees ( that is why no red shirts) nor the pricing policy. Warranties are licensed to another third-party, thus tied only indirectly to Circuit City and not affected by its current position. Also, they are not refundable. Forget buying the extended warranties, unless they are qctual manufacturer warranties, you’ll play hell getting service from all the rest!
I haven’t played tennis since the 1970s, therefore no tennis shoes. I have one pair each of work boots, dress shoes, Vans, Docs and ski boots. My GF is a saint in that respect: her shoes are few and practical. For xmas , her mom scored her a couple of pairs of the discontinued sneakers that she likes.
PS – I though Tenishu was a Buddhist monk, a student of the great Nikoban. But maybe there’s more than one. (Obscure National Lampoon reference; zero hits from google!)
$300 for a pair of Allen Edmonds dress shoes. Expensive, but I will own them forever. You get what you pay for.
I’ll easily pay $175 for a pair of good boots. My Rocky Boots were a steal at $120, and my custom Justin setup cost well over $300 for specialty fitted boots, which are the most comfortable shoes I own, and make me look like I’m almost 7 feet tall. As for tenna shoes, I’ve got a pair of new balances that I haven’t worn since summer, and a pair of new balances that get worn every day at the gym. Guess I need a rotation.
I have a “thing” for shoes too. I work in the fashion industry so I need to dress nice and I do have a weakness for pretty shoes and big, clunky motorcycle boots. My favourites are black Harley Davidson motorcycle boots and a red patten leather pair of Fluvogs. I only have about 30-40 pair of heels, flats, boots and etc. in total but I got rid of about that many the last time I moved. The most I’ve paid in about $250. No, I couldn’t afford it really but I was in love.
My Dad owned a sporting goods shop when I was growing up, I remember him bringing home a pair of new running shoes for me called NIKE or something, it was 1979 and nobody had ever heard of them and I didn’t want to wear them. They were good shoes though. It was a rude awakening the first time I had to pay retail for a proper pair of running shoes. My last pair of name brand sports shoes were on sale for $100.
Gah, it’s an affliction.
I’ve paid $140 a pair for some wingtips that I got from a place in Boston. At the time it was an emergency as the shoes that I wore there were old and suffered a catastrophic failure in the rain. These were literally the only shoes I could find on short notice.
They are hands down the best shoes I have ever worn. They fit incredibly well and are still in great shape after something like 9 years of almost daily wear.
The problem is that the store is no longer in business and they were the “house brand” so I have no idea who produced them and can’t replace them. I know they were made in England.
If anyone knows who used to make shoes for Barrie Ltd please let me know. You’ll be my new best friend.
My jump boots were in the $150 range I believe. I got those to wear when it’s snowy. I put a good shine on them and most people don’t notice that I’m wearing army boots. And my ankles and feet stay nice and dry.
I think I paid close to $80 for my newest pair of NB. They come in extra wides and I needed them for school.
The most I’ve paid for footwear is around $200. They’re my Apollo Bio Fins. I have a couple of pairs, one open heel (for cold water) and one full foot (bright orange for warm water). Best fins ever. Super fast and they take no effort. The downside is they don’t work super well in a strong current.
Oh, and I don’t think that was really Mrs. Marcos commenting on her shoes. I think she would know that her name is spelled Imelda.
I can comment on both stories here.
I too went to the Circuit City Liquidation sale and boy was I surprised. I went the start of the sale and when I hit the parking lot, 5 people left the store with their hand empty. I wondered if their “sale” was a fraud, and just like CC has always been, it was a huge fraud. Outside of the big ticket items, nothing good was on sale. After a 5 minute loop, I left knowing that CC was always inferior.
Now with shoes. Don’t ever be cheap on shoes. I am an active guy and there is nothing worse than a bad pair of shoes. NB is a great brand and I have gone with them quite a bit. With good shoes, your whole body will feel a lot better.
There is my 2c.
We went shoe shopping for my oldest on Sunday. Her feet are a little irregular so we visited 6 stores at the mall until we found a pair at sears. I paid $60 for a pair of tennis shoes for a 10 yr old. Her feet are already a size 9.5 in womens. A couple of more years we will have to be ordering from a catalog to fit her monster feet.
I use to buy Nike for myself before all the kids. I would regularly pay $150 for tennis shoes. I also had to have a pair of Doc Marten boots that I spent $175 on then promply hated them because they were the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned.
I used to have the Doc Martin shitkickers, and I think they ran around $175. I will shell out for running shoes ($100-$150) but my dress shoes usually run between $40 and $90.
I am not a brand snob. I just like to have a dress pair in every important color as well as a pair of dress sandals in every important color. My husband says I am a shoe collector, but in all, I probably only have 10-15 pairs, which is nothing for most women!
Just bought 3 pairs of shoes from Linda’s reccomendation- I am having them shipped to work so I can use Knuckleheads mom’s strategy to get them home. I love you guys!
I buy only NB because they have many models that are made in the USA and those are the only ones I buy. They are great shoes and often beat the overinflated prices of peopel like Nike. Check out their website. They always have great specials and they usally ship for free. At least mine were always shipped free.
I think the most expensive footwear I have bought would be Matterhorn combat boots. Around $275.
I wear a size 15 wide so finding shoes, while easier now than it was in the late 80s early 90s, is still a cast iron bitch.
As far as athletic shoes I try to buy quality that will last. Nike’s fall apart far too easily so I stay away from them. Reebok tend to wear like iron. I had a pair of black cross trainers that were still solid even when my girlfriend threw them away. Granted they smelled like a Bombay slum and were indescribably filthy but they were still solid. Probably got nearly 10 years out of them.
Right now the only athletic shoes I have are a pair of all black chucks. I generally wear Hi-Tec magnums in the summer and Matterhorns in the winter.
I have big feet for a woman – size 10-11W, depending on the style, so when I find a pair that fits, cost is basically no concern. I spent $100 on a pair of SAS leather sandals (style similar to Birkenstocks), and wore them for 4 summers – much better than cheapie sandals for my feet and back.
My favorite pair of shoes now is Soft Spots “Olga”. They’re about $70.00, and I bought them in brown and black. I love them! Just enough heel, only about 1-1/2″, and they make my feet look small! That in itself is worth every penny!
Nice New Balance. Have you ordered some wrinkle proof Dockers and a cell phone belt clip yet?
I have the same problem you do with finding
shoes. I am also VERY particular about my tennis shoes.
They HAVE to be white ( if there is a line of navy I will wear them), they can not and I mean CAN NOT have any mesh on them whatsoever, and I like a nice arch in the soles.
I do not like to pay more than $40.00 for them either,
so needless to say what I find a pair I like I buy as many as I can afford and put them away until I need them.
Flip flops: $50
Uggs (ugglies!): $180
Running Shoes: $60
Casual Tennis Shoes (not intended for ACTUAL physical activity): $101.47 …ouch
Jazz Shoes: $80
Pointe Shoes: $120 (with ribbons, toe pads, etc.)
Tap Shoes: $75
i’ve spent WAY too much money on shoes.
recently i’ve refused to spend more than $40 on anything. and i quit dancing so that’s not an issue anymore.
Hi I’m debbie Larson and I’m Allen larsons wife. We own a towing repo service in joliet Illinois. We only buy the best shoes that money can buy. We are white, rich and high class people. We would never get payless, walmart, or cheap shoes. Me and al are to good for that.