JL Coombs

I’ve had high quality experiences at J.L. Coombs. They have a great selection, strong prices for the quality, and some good sales at times, especially at the Freeport outlet store.
The salespeople have always treated me with respect over the course of many years. I also met the owner a couple of times, since apparently he’s very involved and is sometimes at the stores and he seems like a great guy. They obviously are doing something right as they’ve expanded over the years and opened a couple more stores. I personally highly recommend them.

J. L Coombs kinda just fails at everything except having the shoes I want. The Portland store sucks the most– the staff either doesn’t give a flying f-​bomb about selling anything, or they know absolutely nothing about the store’s stock. My first experience at Coombs was during a search for Frye boots. Now I’ll admit, I was ignorant about leather. I was young, and the most expensive shoes I currently owned was a pair of Chucks. When I asked the sales person if the boots would stretch or break in at all, her response was «No, I guess you just can’t wear Frye’s.» Uh, what? Lies, dirty lies. My husband cleared this misinformation up for me, and we went to the Freeport store, where the staff was MUCH easier to deal with.
So at this point, I’m convinced that just the Portland store is useless, and I want to order some Frye’s for my husband for Christmas. I decided to go through Coombs (buy local and whatnot), and placed the order the first week of November, also putting down a required deposit. So December 15 rolls around, and I realize, oh, hey I should probably have those boots by now. I call JL Coombs, and they not only tell me that they have no record of the order OR the deposit (insert super angry face here), but the boots are not in stock, and I can’t have them before Christmas anyways!
Needless to say, I immediately called Frye direct, and they did indeed have the boots I was looking for, AND got them to me within the week.

I hate to do this as I always try to buy local. I have spent thousands of dollars at J.L. Coombs over the years as they have the best selection of high end shoes in the area, but this was the year that broke the camel’s back. Their service has always been horrendous and now that we live in the age of Zappos with free overnight shipping local businesses can’t afford to treat their customers like garbage anymore. From them «having no record» of special orders to just being downright unfriendly I have never left their establishment without a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe its because I’m a young man and not their typical customer or maybe they treat everyone this way. Never again will I be their customer. The only thing I will say for them is that the staff at the Freeport has always been much more friendly and helpful than the Portland staff. If you have to go, go to the Freeport store. The Portland staff is AWFUL.