Ten Toes

Staff should be better with small children

My son only gets his shoes here. We love to support local businesses, and these guys make finding comfortable, durable shoes for my toddler easy. They don’t have a HUGE selection, but what they DO have you can count on be of good quality. We’ve cheaper stores, and those shoes just fall apart with the abuse my toddler puts them through. Not to mention, the people working there are super nice! I think last time we went, we tried on 15 pairs before we found the shoes he loved.

I so appreciate the staff at Ten Toes as they have been so helpful every time we have gone shopping (6+ times). I appreciate the shoe recommendations and all of the shoe options.
We have been buying our daughter’s shoes at Ten Toes since she started to cruise. I’m grateful this store exists!

Not really impressed with this place. I came here for my daughter’s first pair of shoes. There wasn’t a wide selection, they weren’t stocked well, one of the associates was on her phone the whole time, and the other seemed like she was counting down the minutes until she could go home. With Amazon and Zappos, I don’t really need to go to a shoe store, but I wanted the experience and photos of her trying on shoes and leaving with her very first and new pair of shoes. Another family came in towards the end of our visit and the girl on her phone didn’t acknowledge them; they had to wait for the girl who was helping me, and she was just as reluctant to become involved in assisting them as she was me. I’m happy with the shoes I got but I could have gotten them anywhere else.

They are wonderful, patient and know their business. My kids love coming here and we have always had great experiences.

Absolutely love this little store. Was in the area having lunch and my 3 year old needed new shoes. Saw this place while driving by and glad I stopped in. Came in and told the sales lady exactly what we were looking for (a pair of tennis shoes and sandals) and she was very attentive. Got my daughter measured right away and helped pick out several pairs of shoes that would fit what I was looking to buy. I’ve been to other shoe stores where associates didn’t seem to really measure my children correctly or get them what I wanted but this is certainly not the case here. The employee was a wealth of knowledge, great with my daughter and made sure her shoes were a perfect fit for her. Even giving her a pair of socks to try on with the tennis shoes as she came in wearing sandals and didn’t have socks on. There were plenty of shoe styles and brands to choose from. From saucony to stride rite, pediped, and puma. And many more! If I’m ever in the area again I will definitely stop by and get my girls a pair of shoes here. They also had a good selection of crocs, hair bows, and summer hats for little ones in a variety of prints and designs, as well as australian sunscreen.

This was my second time to buy shoes at Ten Toes. They have great customer service. The sales person was knowledgeable and very helpful. My daughters love their shoes and I would go back again. They have a good selection of shoes.

While you can sometimes find shoes cheaper online, it’s nice to be able to try the shoes on in person and Ten Toes has a decent selection. I also like the idea of supporting small businesses!
The last two times I’ve been though, we’ve had to wait a while before someone was available to help us.

Update 8/​24/​2012-​shortly after I wrote the review I was contacted by one of the owners who was very concerned and wanted to find out more information about my experiences and use it to better train his employees. While that does not change what has happened in the past, I am glad to see the owner try to make sure this does not happen again and actively educate his employees.

I love shopping here! I feel that my kids and I are really well attended to when we’re there. I also spent half an hour over the phone with the store owner discussing solutions for my toddler shoe-​thrower, and shoes that will stay on.
Their sales events are wonderful, and it feels good to be supporting a community store.

In efforts to support local businesses I decided to buy a birthday gift at Ten Toes and was pleasantly surprised. They had a section of raincoats that were adorable and available in all different sizes. I didn’t go in for shoes but the salesperson measured my son’s foot and I was embarrassed to find out my son was a whole shoe size bigger than what I’ve been buying him. I immediately bought him a pair of new shoes and it was buy 1 get one 50% off! Score! I’m going to go back this week when they have buy one get one free! Prices are tad bit higher than at the bigger stores but the service is worth it.

If I could give this place no stars I would. On top of who appeared to be the owner (some snob gnawing on her peets straw) trying to hawk children shoes at patrons for more than nordstroms price points, the overall staffing was poor and I felt like there were some markups for premium brands that were so unnecessary. My niece is growing like a weed so we’ve found more efficient ways to get her shoes it seems by the month (Nordstroms, Amazon, Zappos, DSW, Overstock and places with free shipping both ways in case it doesn’t work out.)
Service and environment wise it was a turnoff. There was a street fair going on at the time and all the owner seemed to be concerned about was a car that took her space outback. (FYI-​I used to work at a place down the street and she has no «no parking» sign at her back door.) I can’t help but think this place attempts to be boutique by a woman who acts like she’s ironically annoyed by kids. On top of it all, the sizing selections were poor and it was impossible to get help in a basically non-​kid friendly place. (sorry I’m not a rich white desperate housewife with $ beezys). I’d normally pay premiums if the service was worth the extra cash and I knew i was being taken care of, in this case, it was all smoke and mirrors.

you know i’ve become accustomed to spending a bunch on my kids clothing, it gets kind of ridiculous but it’s really nice to have a place like this that caters to kids and is helpful to parents. I wish more of these stores existed but they seem to go out of business because they can’t beat the prices of large retailers.
this place had all of the right shoes for my daughters, and a great staff… not easy to say… and we are repeat customers!!!

Always a great experience with our kids. They can also order shoes which is needed for my girl with wide feet.

This is a great shoe store. I’ve had a really hard time finding shoes to fit my son’s chunky, small feet. The owner of this store was working there when we went in and I think she had my son try on every shoe in his size she had until we found the perfect fit. She also showed me how to check to see if his shoes fit, and was very patient with him.
It’s a cute store, lots of fun things for the kids to look at and I will definitely shop there again.

I came to the store based on the great Unilocal reviews and wasn’t disappointed, although admittedly I can’t get as excited about a good kids’ shoe store as I can a terrific restaurant or spa. That said, we got excellent service from helpful and patient staff and we walked out of the store with 2 pairs of shoes. My son is 18 months old and doesn’t enjoy shoe shopping but this went as well as could be expected. The sales people didn’t seem to mind the trail of oatmeal O’s we left behind us on the floor. We’ll definitely be back.

Great for new moms as your pre/walker’s feet grow so fast to go in and get personal service & sizing. Very happy with all our purchases here (3 to date) headed back today!

I went to this store today after getting a post on the San Bruno Mothers Club saying they were having a sale. .. when I got there I realized that the sale wasn’t today. The owner (which I assume by the way she talked about the store) was really nice recommending different brands for my little ones wide feet. .. we decide on 2 pairs, one for school and one See Kai Run which I wanted to get since they are know to be wider shoes and a nice arch support. She was very kind to give us the coming sale prices, even after my Mom asked if we could hold them and come back on the sale day. .. she knew that was hard for busy Moms. I thought it was so sweet — while she told me she won’t advertise that I thought posting it so other could see what a nice lady she is! It made me feel even better about supporting local business (esp Mom owned).
NIce select of baby, toddler and children’s shoes. .. various brand and cute styles! I had to get a hair-​clip. .. those were too cute too!

This store was recommended to me by the local moms’ club and my Unilocal buddy David P. I finally checked it out this morning for the first time.
It took a couple passes before we found it — the sign is blocked by a tree if you’re driving northbound on Laurel Street. It’s just a few stores away from Storybook Lane.
Shoe shopping with my 23-​month-​old is, well, not an activity I look forward to. It’s not that my son is difficult, it’s just that he’s, er, fiercely independent. He doesn’t like to be controlled. The last time we had his feet measured, he threw a huge fit. Major waterworks.
So today, I went with backup. My baby daddy was with me. At this store it turned out that backup wasn’t necessary.
There is a wood structure on the back wall that kids can play with, dropping smiley-​face colored balls and watch the balls make their way down into a bucket on the floor. Simple stuff, but definitely entertaining and kid-​friendly.
The saleslady did a masterful job talking to my son and distracting him with a soft tray with a multitude of little objects (Minnie Mouse, Thomas the Train, etc.). She was like a magician, and before he realized it, his feet were measured.
My son doesn’t usually take kindly to strangers touching him or picking him up. He didn’t flinch at all when she very naturally manuevered him for measuring or getting shoes on — easy breezy. Wow.
They had a nice selection of Striderite shoes, which is what we were looking for (good arch support). We wanted the sporty shoes that had trucks or bulldozers (we’d never seen those before) on them, but they come in bigger sizes (next time!).
We left with a nice, albeit expensive ($ 48!), pair of sporty sneakers that I think my son will enjoy.
It was a good experience. We even bought him a pair of sunglasses, so he’ll look super cool.

An upscale children’s shoe store: what a classy little addition to downtown San Carlos! Privately own, the small space has a well thought out balance between styles, brands and prices. The few toys in the mix are distinctive. Really helpful service to pick out just the right first shoes for my baby but also for my 3 year old with a nice little sock/​stocking selection as well.
Long live a vibrant, family friendly San Carlos downtown!