Clarks

I used to shop at Clark’s shoe stores back when they were the Bostonian. I always loved the one in Braintree. There was always a gentleman there who would actually put a shoe on your foot… like seriously, they’d get down on a knee and put the shoe on for you. I admit to being a tad embarrassed by this, I can put on my own shoes, but hey… I felt like a king when I went in there.
My first pair of shoes came from that store and they lasted me four years… and would have lasted longer had my dog not chewed them to shreds. I always brought the shoes in and they would be shined, polished and even the threads would be restained to match. The shoes came out looking brand new.
I’m sorry to say that this level of service seems to be a thing of the past. Granted I haven’t been back to the Braintree since I moved, but apparently the quality went down all over. One, they don’t put the shoe on you anymore… which was a nice quirk, but whatever. Not a big deal. Two, while they can do some shoe maintenance on site, (they stretched a pair that didn’t feel perfect at first, which was nice, but the shoe polishing… I don’t see it there. Maybe I should ask next time… so I’ll chalk that up as a non-​issue and make an update later.
So what’s my issue then? The quality of the product. My firs time around, I bought a pair of sandals, brown leisure shoes, and burgundy dress shoes. The browns lasted a long time as I said, the burgundy ones were lost when I moved, so no fault there, and the sandals lasted me three summers of heavy wear, including beach wear that got them soaked. By the time I got rid of them, the sole was almost gone. Needless to say, I was happy with the life of these shoes.
Since then…
Black leisure shoes — the laces are coming apart after 6 months.
Thick Strap Brown sandals: Strap broke after 1 summer (three months).
Thick Strap dark brown sandals: Leather on the bottom started coming off under my food, very uncomfortable.
Another pair of thick strap brown sandals: Strap broke AGAIN!
Brown shoes — laces split, making the shoes unwearable after less than 18 months.
Leather boat shoes — 6 months of wear… the sole is detaching and the lacing at the toe is coming apart.
… sadly… I need to find a new shoe place… the product quality seems to have severely decreased. Too bad… I still like the designs.

The store has good products. However, they have bad service. The man who helped us with shoe size looks like he doesn’t want to be there. And he did not say a single word during this transaction.
Also, with three people working there the store could be kept up better. Shoes were on the floor everywhere. Bad service and lazy crew. I don’t know why they work there in the first place.

I like the brand, and so does my husband, but this snooty store really REALLY underwhelmed on this visit, on ALL levels. I loath giving bad reviews. But there is no excuse for bad service. The story goes like this: A very cold Saturday, pedestrians take to the mall to get in a walk. Winter sales at every corner. Boots with heels, hurting feet, waiting for a bit of the walking swell. Store is spacious and well presented. Buyer surveys the merchandise in a relatively customer thin environment. 4 or 5 employees, most of them shooting the breeze in the rear of the store. Buyer approaches one with a boot in hand, actually feeling guilty to interrupt. He disappears. Husband picks other shoe, another sales rep takes shoe and disappears. And they disappear. And disappear. When they appear, neither bring the size nor the models requested. Husband’s rep dumps the clients on the other sales rep who has disappeared yet, again. And they wait, sales rep shoes up with another boot, same color not liked the first time. And he disappears… again. And we waited. Put our shoes back on, and left. Bought beautiful boots at Nordstroms. Came home. Bought Clark boots originally wanted — online. Lazy and unattentive bunch. With a haut attitude. Just poor service. Good shoes. Poor performance. Not even close to the Solomon Pond Mall store. Pity