Shoe shopping for children

both my sons have narrow feet, D and E fitting. They always get measured even though they are 11 and 9 (which is always a funny experience on account of how ticklish they are! another story) but the selection of narrow shoes for boys is terrible

Perhaps the British Army in Afghanistan, where two left feet and a southpaw simply do not matter. How gauche all this is.

Flip flop, flip flop, here comes Moki the Clown, tripping the light-fantastic, a simple Portuguese Light Fandango. Or is it more a Guy Gordon?

Flip flop, flip flop here comes Moki the Clown. Moki applied to join the British Sub Aqua Scuba Diving Society. They would not take him on account of his large feet. Mummy said do not worry boyo someone else will have you.

we have been having similar problems with our son, he is a 9D/E and when we went to Clarks this week we were told they now only do G width for sandals. They were utterly hopeless, we had a similar problem in the winter, when even though they do do shoes in an E they dont' stock them in our shop (Cambridge) and we had to order them to be delivered to the shop, even then they only 1 of the 3 styles actually came close and then only with insoles. I can't fault the staff they did their best but their job is made impossible by the limited range. Anyone with half a brain knows how important it is to have correctly fitting shoes and Clarks seem to have lost the plot. We have now found a small shop 25 miles away in Peterborough who specialise in fitting children shoes and have a range from C-H. We had a blissful experience there today where we actually had a choice of shoes and colours and my wee boy bounced out of the shop shouting "happy shoes" Never setting foot inside Clarks again.

Well yes, experienced fitter, we are full of complaints! When I go into somewhere like Clarks, who pride themselves on fitting chidren's shoes, and actually have a fair share of the market because of this, I do NOT expect to have to pick and choose which member(s) of staff I want helping me. Additionally, I recently waited longer than half an hour to be served in our local shop - not easy with 2 children under 3. Your suggestion of waiting for a server I knew would mean having to wait even longer.

I give respect where respect is due. If I have been given good service, I thank people and often seek the manager to tell them too. BUT that is becoming more and more of a rarity. It has got so bad that Clarks always used to be my first port of call for children's shoes - it is now my last and I DREAD going in there.

You're all full of complaints here! What about the millions of people who have had brilliant shoe fitting experiences?

As a trained fitter (with over 11 years experience) I can say that our store strives to provide the best quality children's shoe fitting service at all times.

Certainly there can be the odd problem with new staff getting to know the job, but the secret is GET TO KNOW ONE OR TWO GREAT FITTERS IN A STORE AND STICK TO THEM. Why wander about aimlessly from store to store (as some people do) and risk mistakes happening??

Don't forsake your local children's shoe store if it's doing superb work.....most of us fitters do put a lot of effort into what we do. What other retail asistants work on their hands and knees at times?!

Seriously we demand respect....and enjoy what we do! Very rewarding!

I have the opposite problem. Where we live there is a massive children's section in Clarks, but the staff are still rude and don't seem to have much knowledge of the shoes.
My daughter is an H fitting and is desperate to have a pink pair of sandals, which is proving impossible to buy. Yes, they have velcro straps, but these still do not accomodate her foot.
Clarks' customer service, both instore and at Head Office, in my opinion, has been steadily going downhill for years. HELP!

HELP PLEASE! I have a 15 year old son who is a size 1 with extremely broad feet that the usual nike, addids and such are no where wide enough. Does anyone know where I could get EXTREMELY wide trainers? thanks

Thanks Sharon. I have just emailed Lynne as you suggested and will let you know how I get on.
There must be a market for narrow feet Children!!

I too have had similar experiences with Clarks. The limitied knowledge and interest of the staff also sometimes doesnt help. We did have quite a specialist shop in my local town (Leamington Spa) but their range has sadly dwindled along with the quality. To be honest the whole experience of buying shoes with the kids is never a stress-free experience.. ! Fortunately a freind of mine, Lynne Bromnick, sells a brand of shoes called "Froddo" which are imported from Croatia. Her small local company runs shoe parties where she fits a range of shoes from UMI, EMU, Froddo etc.. whilst all the mums have a coffee.. and the kids play together and called up one by one whilst Lynne measures them up.. My son has particularly wide feet and Ive found Froddo to be an excellent fit. . Lynne seems to know what makes a good fit and a bad fiit.. shes used to be a footwear technologist for M&S and Sainsburys and so has lots of contacts in the industry. Her email address is lynne.bromnick@shoeson.co.uk if you want any information. I know she'd be more than happy to provide any advice....You can also browse her shoes on line at www.shoeson.co.uk.

I too have had a very disapointed daughter on many trips to Clarks for her shoes. She has always been a D fitting with a low profile. She would have a look at the shoes, decide which ones she liked. When her feet were measured, we would be told that they did not have her size, or if we went looking for sturdy shoes, they would only have 1 pair of trainers which would fit. After speaking to friends who also have children with narrow feet, I have come across a great company called "Start Right" In the shop I usually go to, they offer lots of shoes to fit and have lots of brands. You can find a stockist by googling Start Right.

I hope this helps some of you.

Completely agrre, there is a big hole in the market in this country I believe. Also, why does EVERYTHING have to be velcro? I would love a more traditional buckle shoe for my son who is a toddler but nowhere to be seen. I have the opposite problem, my son has very wide feet. And being honest, don't think they ever measure him correctly, I always have to point out that his toes are curled up and that he is scrunching his foot up......rubbish!!!!!