Sneezyone Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 I happened to be at an outlet mall today to get shoes for my son when the store clerk told me that the stores are closing. I picked up a pair of Merrell sandals and tennis shoes from the clearance racks for $20. Just thought I'd share. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 (edited) On a related note..... Stride Rite/Merrell/Saucony/Keds/Robeez were all purchased by Payless ShoeSource and became Collective Brands a number of years ago. Collective Brands was acquired by a venture capital group. Stride Rite et. al. were sold to Wolverine. Payless ShoeSource was saddled with the debt for the previous acquisition of those premium brands and Blum took the capital from the sell-off of the premium brands. Payless ShoeSource appears to be headed towards bankruptcy. http://fortune.com/2017/03/22/payless-bankruptcy Wolverine divested itself of Robeez, and appears to be struggling in their strategic initiative plan. Wolverine owns Chaco and a couple of other well-known brands. It hasn't been announced that the brands are ending, but a number of storefronts for all of the brands I've mentioned are closing as they try to strengthen their omnichannel offerings. If you want to see who all Blum Capital (the venture capital group mentioned above) owns or has owned at this point: http://www.blumcapital.com/portfolio-1/ My point to my vent is---if you have a particular shoe that you must own with these brands, stock up. It's unclear how all of this is going to play out in the marketplace. Edited March 31, 2017 by kbeal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noreen Claire Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Crap. I love their shoes for the boys! My kids mostly wear hand-me-downs, but everyone gets brand new, brand name sneakers & sandals every year. Boo! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Yknow, either I hit a couple of great sales a couple of years ago, or Payless changed and/or dropped the price on Sauconys. This may explain why. All i can think of is Forrest Gump. I can't remember if he actually had stride rites, but that is the era I associate with them. I remember my mom marching us all in for shoes once a year. We had to make those pricey shoes last! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Aww, that's too bad. It was one of the only places I could find wide shoes for my daughter when she was little. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momacacia Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Sad. So much history. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Wow, those were the only shoes my kids wore as toddlers. Bummer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 On a related note..... Stride Rite/Merrell/Saucony/Keds/Robeez were all purchased by Payless ShoeSource and became Collective Brands a number of years ago. Collective Brands was acquired by a venture capital group. Stride Rite et. al. were sold to Wolverine. Payless ShoeSource was saddled with the debt for the previous acquisition of those premium brands and Blum took the capital from the sell-off of the premium brands. Payless ShoeSource appears to be headed towards bankruptcy. http://fortune.com/2017/03/22/payless-bankruptcy Wolverine divested itself of Robeez, and appears to be struggling in their strategic initiative plan. Wolverine owns Chaco and a couple of other well-known brands. It hasn't been announced that the brands are ending, but a number of storefronts for all of the brands I've mentioned are closing as they try to strengthen their omnichannel offerings. If you want to see who all Blum Capital (the venture capital group mentioned above) owns or has owned at this point: http://www.blumcapital.com/portfolio-1/ My point to my vent is---if you have a particular shoe that you must own with these brands, stock up. It's unclear how all of this is going to play out in the marketplace. Thanks for the heads up. Chaco sandals are the best for my flat feet, and I need a new pair. Now it's going to be 2 or 3! Amy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 There goes my son's youth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 I loved their washable gym shoes when my kids were younger. They held up so well. The store near us closed a couple of years ago. It always seemed to have a good amount of customers but I guess it wasn't enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) Well darn. I'm off to buy a pair of shoes in every size larger than my son wears now. Edited April 1, 2017 by aggieamy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Aww, that's too bad. It was one of the only places I could find wide shoes for my daughter when she was little. Yup. My son's first shoes were 5.5 XXW from Stride Rite. He needed the XXW option there until he was about 4. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Well darn. I'm off to buy a pair of shoes in every size larger than my son wears now. This was so my son. He wore the same pair of velcro SR sneakers until he outgrew their little boy sizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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