... As a last gasp I decided to venture out of the City to Brantano the following lunch hour (even though most of that hour would be spent walking there and back)
First impressions walking in - large, organised, modern and all very promising!
Divided into Men’s, Women’s and Children’s all ... Read review
Advantages: Shoes displayed by size Disadvantages: Not as cheap as I thought
...out of the City to Brantano the following lunch hour (even though most of that hour would be spent walking there and back)
First impressions walking in - large, organised, modern and all very promising!
Divided into Men’s, Women’s and Children’s all shoes are displayed in size order - saves trawling the shelves and racks looking longingly at the shoes you really want before digging out the ones you can actually have.
... ...due to manufacturers rather than Brantano itself. Sad fact is that when you have big feet what shoes you do find that will fit aren’t exactly cutting edge style, or even remotely nice.
Also, most of the shoes were more expensive than I had expected. For some reason I had a preconception of Brantano (never having been to one before) that they offered cut price/discount shoes. Maybe I just had it wrong all along but I was slightly surprised ... more
I am a man ergo I hate shoe shopping. A universal constant we all accept, but in my case I have extra reason for despising this frequently put-off past-time. I have size 13 feet. My foot is almost a foot long!
Just last week I was forced to mount another laborious trek into deepest Consumerville. Having put matters off for so long my current footwear was (literally) falling apart at the seams and I really couldn’t hold out much longer. I gambled that my remaining shoe leather would suffice to get me around the various shoe shops and to a suitable replacement. I set out on my pre-planned route - a circuit that allowed me to hit at least 5 different vendors in one lunch hour! The fruits of my labours amounted to almost exactly nothing. A majority of high street shoe shops do not cater for anyone with feet larger than 11 (12 at a push).
I was obviously crest fallen and even more anti shoe shopping than ever. As a last gasp I decided to venture out of the City to Brantano the following lunch hour (even though most of that hour would be spent walking there and back)
First impressions walking in - large, organised, modern and all very promising! Divided into Men’s, Women’s and Children’s all shoes are displayed in size order - saves trawling the shelves and racks looking longingly at the shoes you really want before digging out the ones you can actually have. So, straight to the men’s sections and along to the 13’s. If memory serves they went up to at least a 16.
On the not so positive side there wasn’t a huge amount of styles to choose from but this is possibly due to manufacturers rather than Brantano itself. Sad fact is that when you have big feet what shoes you do find that will fit aren’t exactly cutting edge style, or even remotely nice. Also, most of the shoes were more expensive than I had expected. For some reason I had a preconception of Brantano (never having been to one before) that they offered cut price/discount shoes. Maybe I just had it wrong all along but I was slightly surprised by the prices. Having said that most were good brand names, Hush Puppies, Clarkes, Wrangler, Levi’s etc. so I suppose you’re paying for the name as usual. I was just after a cheapish pair suitable for work (in an office) and wasn’t expecting to pay quite so much.
Much to my delight there was a noticeable lack of lackeys hovering over your left shoulder asking if they can help you every 3 seconds. There are assistants about the place and if I want help I will ask for it, I do not need to be offered it when I’m just in a browsing mood. As far as that goes Brantano’s is a treat. Once you’ve located your “section” each shoe is displayed on it’s box, inside which is the other of the pair. You are left to try as many pairs as you like for as long as you like - my kind of shoe shop. Once you’ve decided simply take the box to the counter and pay. Like I said assistance is available should you wish and they offer a full measuring and fitting service, especially for children’s shoes.
And now the bit that really impressed me. Brantano are currently running a promotion in association with Breakthrough, the breast cancer awareness charity. It’s called “Not to be sniffed at” and for every pair of old shoes brought into a participating store, Brantano will donate 50p to Breakthrough. Not only that but each person who brings in a pair of shoes also receives a £5 voucher to buy a new pair in store. So, as my current shoes were so knackered I picked out a lovely pair of Ben Sherman’s, told the young lady at the counter I’d wear them now and submit my old ones to the charity promotion. I was given a plastic bag to put my wafty old beetle crushers in and a £5 voucher I could use immediately towards the cost of my new pair - everyone’s happy! The current promotion is running from 6th - 26th October 2003 but from what I gather they have done this before and probably will again so keep a look out. (If you use the voucher towards a pair of children’s shoes you also get a free colouring set!)
All in all as pleasant an experience as shoe shopping can ever be. Limited choice as ever for the larger plated of us and not cheap but from what I saw they do stock a good range for kid’s as well as adults of a normal size! So now you know what they say about men with big feet - they can’t get decent shoes very easily!!!
Advantages: Great shoes at attractive prices Disadvantages: I wonder if some of the stock are slight seconds
...shopping experiences in my local Brantano store. We have a largish store opened up in Marsh Barton industrial estate in Exeter. The store past seasons designer shoes and boots for children and adults, along with shoe care accessories. The shoes are all laid out on shelves and in pairs in shoe size (this is UK shoe size) and please be aware that the do not sell half sizes. This is a great shop to find great labels at discounted prices. You'll find ... ...Rocket Dog, Nike and Reebok. Staff in the shop are very friendly and are happy to measure your feet, though they do only measure the shoe size and not the width. There never appears to be many staff on the shop floor, so far I have seen no more than 2 or 3 at any time, however as they display the shoes in pairs I would imagine that will be why there are less staff. I haven't had to queue for long on any of my visits. In my visit today I saw a pair ...
cher1974 02.11.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brantano
Advantages: Some cheap prices Disadvantages: quite expensive, rude staff and shop very untidy
...The advert shows how 'Dr' Brantano has discovered a "sling back synapse" in the brain which makes women go crazy for shoes. It goes onto explain that this 'synapse' is triggered by having to wait and not getting what they want. Therefore it describes that at Brantano shopping for shoes is an easy process as the shoes are arranged by size and in exact pairs to aid trying on. So you can imagine my excitement when we drove past the Brantano store in ... ...in Brantano.
***SUMMARY***
I don't think I will be going back in a hurry the staff could not be bothered and the experience was not a pleasurable one. I wonder if Dr Brantano will do some research into the effects of untidy aisle, rude staff and poor quality shoes? ...
leofluffy69 11.09.2007 (06.09.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brantano
Advantages: Location, easy to find shoes Disadvantages: Lots of cheap nasty shoes
...interest that I heard of Brantano Footwear. They're recently embarked on a new advertising campaign which prompted me to write this review. The distinguishing feature of the store is that all of the shoes are out on display so there's no need to ask shop assistants to go and get the shoes for you.
*Store Layout*
The first thing you notice about Brantano stores is that they're huge. This is because, as I've already mentioned, all the shoes in stock ... ...I had always imagined that Brantano was a discount shoe store i.e. that it would stock all the usual kinds of shoes but at discount prices. I'm not sure why I thought this because they don't market themselves as such. However, Brantano is definitely not a discount shoe store. The prices are exactly the same as you would pay in a normal store.
*Product Range*
The store usually has a really wide range of shoes available. Women's sizes range from ...
chcouper 17.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brantano
...my shoes, I went to brantano store and I was on my way. I wanted to buy a lovely pair of boots and I went in their and it was not packed and was not much people in there and I wondered why but I just thought it was because barely anyone could see the store but I could but it was because of the price, It was really expensive in their but I thought I would buy a decent pair that would fit and look nice.
You can get these stuff: Ladies , Men's ,Kids, ... ...big sighn on it saying brantano which is the name of the store and the outside was blue around the sighn and looked pretty nice but if it didn't it would not effect the shoes but the outside looked nice. The inside was nice to as the shoes were put In the rite place and really neat and inside colour was nice too but the shoes were nice and clean the store was nice and clean and they way they have put them in like the kids shoes at the front then ...
Paigeoleary 08.04.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brantano
Advantages: No waiting for shoes to be fetched Disadvantages: Bit souless
Typically you will find Brantano located on out of town retail parks and its speciality is shoe sales.
It adopts the strategy of having a large open floor space with all of the shoes arranged on displays in rows according to size so you will see the same style of shoes repeatedly dsplayed under size categories, the great thing about this is that both the left and right shoes are on display which menas that you can try them on then and there without ... ...collect the other shoe for you and also if one size does not quite fit you are able to quickly get the next size up in the style that you want.
I do like the coneveniece of this tye of shopping and you are not constantly approached by staff asking if you want help but are left with browsing in peace. There are plenty of staff available if needed however the tend to spend a lot of tme tidying shelves and bringing out stock as in my store there are ...
fuzzybear967 09.08.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Brantano
I bought a pair of summer canvas shoes for my daughter last week from Brantano Footwear in Wrexham, North Wales and they were Hush Puppies. I had memories of these shoes being for my grandparents generation but was pleasantly surprised. A pair of bright pink canvas shoes for my 3 year old daughter were £6.
Good Value shoes and very trendy.
Although this shop is not a Hush Puppies shoes it does advertise the make quite a lot. They have a proper childs shoe measuring guide which is electronic and works out the Hush Puppie recommended shoe size. When we went to try on the shoe size with another make they were on the large size and found that her shoe size was an 8 in another make.
Wel worth the visit with plenty of choice for Male and Female feet, Sports clothing and footwear (limited) and also handbags and some sports bags. ...
Advantages: Minimal Disadvantages: Overpriced. Over rated. Long wait. Little/no choice in size.
Yes, it's about time we all woke up! Clarks is NOT the best. I totally agree with a few of the past negative reviews. There are other brands out there now, for instance Ricosta and Brantano. Why do we feel inadequate if our kids aren't in Clarks shoes. Why are we made to feel that only a Clarks fitter will know if the shoes fit correctly? Total insanity. Their service is terrible, measurements are inaccurate and it's a miricle if they actually even have the size and style you want. I've had three different meaurements in three days from three different Clarks shops, so where's the accuracy in that? I will say that I've spent up to an hour in store before now and left without shoes for my lad. No, not because we're particiarly fussy, but because they can't offer us anything which correctly fits on that particular day. Come ...
Advantages: Good layout of shoes Disadvantages: You can't ever buy anything you want because of poor stock levels
According to Clarks, any woman with a shoe size over 8 is a circus freak and they don't bother to have any 8.5 or 9s in stock in any size shop. Why they then bother to make shoes in that size at all is beyond me. They can't even train their staff to order a pair in especially. No, instead, us freaks have to use the telephone ordering system so we have to pay for the call and a £3 charge for postage. Why should I have to pay more than anyone else for my shoes? After being turned away by the big local out of town store I went 2 doors down to Brantano and got exactly the Clarks shoes I had wanted. Its not that differnt for my daughters shoes either - a baby size 5.5 - we can never get the shoes we want in the Clarks shops but can get them in other shops that stock Clarks shoes. ...
