Stride Rite Bootery

I am seriously bummed out to leave such a bad review, but in all honesty it is very much deserved. Please note: this is a review for a single experience. I have had other better experiences at this store, which is partially why this one was soooo disappointing.
I have been a customer of this shoe store since my kiddo was about a year old. However, this trip to Stride Rite was a bigger deal than the others. Her first pair of school shoes! She starts kindergarten this year. Well, I decided I wasn’t going to interfere in her selection. These were special shoes for her big day, and even if they weren’t practical she has others to fall back on. My daughter and I are both shoe lovers. She selected a sparkly pair of Hello Kitty Keds brand tennis shoes with a bow on the Velcro straps. Über cute! Also, we’ve purchased this exact style shoes from Stride Rite twice in the past so I was confident in the quality. I asked for some help measuring her tootsies so we could get the right size. The sales lady seemed a little stressed, but I chalked it up to Labor Day sales madness and we waited patiently. She brought them out and warned me that they might be too narrow. I told her no worries, we’ve had good luck with Keds in the past and it has never been an issue. Well, the ‘shoe expert’ jammed her finger in the shoe with my daughters foot and declared her feet were too wide for this style. She never even tried closing the straps, having her walk, etc. My peanut was super bummed, but I said that’s fine and we would pick some more styles. Every shoe my child picked was rejected by the sales lady as ‘too narrow’ so I asked her to bring out some pairs she would recommend. Well, she came back with 3 pairs all Stride Rite brand, $ 30 more than the shoes we picked out, and only in plain black or brown leather. I asked her if she had anything more ‘girly’ to which she replied ‘Sorry, but we don’t carry the style shoes you like for fat feet.’ Whoa… fat feet!!! At that point I just said ‘Ok sweetie (to my daughter), which were your favorites?’ My girly girl grabbed the Hello Kitty Keds and I said we’ll take these please. As unbelievable as it seems, she kept trying to talk me into a different brand of shoes. She said my daughter would outgrow the Keds right away. So I replied, ‘That’s my problem, not yours.‘
Finally we’re checking out. Mind you, I would have left ages ago were it not for my 20% off coupon. Come to find out this store is an independent franchise and won’t accept this particular corporate coupon. Nice. All-​in-​all, I’m glad the experience is over. I’m just bummed I let myself get bullied by a sales lady who wanted to make a better commission.