Bluntness

I've also been told I have little tact, so if this offends you simply ride on.

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Running shoes, the losing side of Dick's

A long time ago, when I went into the US Navy, I was surprised that at 8.5 D my shoe size was rather small for a 5'11" man, in fact, I think I had the smallest feet in my division.  This was no big deal, I mean, feet are feet, the vast majority of us have at least 2.  However, over time, as I matured into middle age, my feet changed.  I now wear a size 9 E.  The new shoe size shouldn't be a problem, should it?  Well, it is.  Evidently we people with wider then average feet are a minority in the world, and as such, retailers tend give us short shrift.  Let me give you an example.  Two days ago I went to Dick's Sporting Goods planning to purchase a new pair of running shoes.  Guess what?  I spent fifteen minutes crawling around on the floor, pulling out shoe box after shoe box, looking for a pair that was not sized a D.  No luck.  So I went on line and looked.  They don't give customers an option.  They list one standard size.  Now I could order a pair of those running shoes if I wanted to, but I can tell you they wouldn't even come close to fitting my feet.

Only average sized shoes here

A rule of thumb when ordering running shoes, or training shoes, or any kind of shoes on line is to add to your shoe size, so if you wear a 9 you should order a 10.  Excuse me, but am I not the only one who thinks this is a bit crazy?  I checked out Zappo's, which offers wide shoes,  and then looked at the same sized, wide shoe at Amazon and most of the comments were "not big enough, order a size larger."  True, there were a few comments praising the shoe, but there were not that many.  Feet are like people, they are not all the same.  Unfortunately, I suspect most manufacturers and retailers prefer to focus on the average because it's more cost effective, thus leaving us wide footers out in the cold.
 

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