Haines Shoe House

roadsideamerica

"The 25-ft. tall, 48 ft. long work boot was constructed near the highway, where drivers could see the giant advertisement for his store. But the Shoe Wizard, a generous man, also wanted to "give back," as they say, to the community. So he made the shoe available as a weekend vacation spot for 38 elderly couples each year (Yes, the elderly -- exactly who we would pick to stay in a 5-level, cramped staircased, low-ceilinged oddity)."

KEEN Casuals....sneakers with attitude and style

KEEN continues to be one of the hottest brands around and one of the hottest KEENs is the casual sneaker style shoe like the Portola, Jasper, Briggs, Ventura, and Presidio. These shoes are purported to have all the comfort of a sneaker with additional style. What can we find out about KEEN casuals and their cousins.

Overview:
All I can say is go to the KEEN website and browse around. For my money KEEN has one of the most inovative and consistently cool shoe line of anyone in the business.

Here is what KEEN says about themselves: "At KEEN, we are an active outdoor company made up of people just like you...creaqting possibilities, playing outside and caring for the world we live in. We believe the outdoors is anyplace without a ceiling and create innovative products allowing you to play in the outdoors wherever that may be. Through our leadership and commitment to social and environmental causes we hope to encourage and empower others to do the same. CREATE, PLAY, CARE...it is a way of life. We call it HybridLife."

I am impressed. What do others say about KEEN casuals.

Reviews:
Here is the Zappos site with 665 pages of reviews on KEENs. More 5 star review then almost any other shoe I have seen. You have to wade through page after page to find a review less than 5 stars. These shoes have a fanatical fan club that devotedly loves these shoes.

Prices:
One of the nice things about KEEN shoes is that despite their immense popularity you can buy them for reasonable prices. USD 50-80 on many websites. Ebay has KEEN casuals for USD 30-60. Look for the usuals. Not alot of scuffing. Not alot of wear on the sole. One of the nice thing about many KEENs is that the top layer of the sole is black and the underlying layer is a different color. Look at the sole. If you can see color peaking through the black you will know that there is moderate wear on the sole. That would not keep me from buying the shoe but I would expect a reduced price.

KEEN charities:
KEENusa is a national, nonprofit volunteer-led organization that provides one-to-one recreational opportunities for children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities at no cost to their families and caregivers. KEEN's mission is to foster the self-esteem, confidence, skills and talents of its athletes through non-competitive activities, allowing young people facing even the most significant challenges to meet their individual goals.

KEEN groupies:

Finally, in my research I found a slightly scary group of KEEN aficionados on Flikr.

New to Shoe Moves....Endless....file under shopping

from thebudgefashionista

"Endless.com is the new online shoe store site recently developed by the wonderful folks at Amazon.com and set to blow our friend Zappos.com and traditional shoes stores right out of the water.

How?

1. Endless offers FREE overnight shipping on all purchases- order the shoes on Monday and get them by Tuesday. Plus they offer FREE returns and you have up to a YEAR to return the shoes.

2.  Endless.com has REAL sales,I bought a pair of designer FarylRobin shoes for $69.89 down from $153.95 (a savings of 54%).

3. The Navigation system is very web 2.0, allowing you to select the color, style, brand, width (from 4A to 4E) and a price range (on a brilliant sliding scale) all without leaving the page. It’s like the Amazon of shoes."

Mark Knopfler...Old Soft Shoe

soft·-shoe (-s̸ho̵̅o̅′)
adjective
designating a kind of tap-dancing done without metal taps on the shoes

Wolky footwear...

from barkingdogshoes:

"Every foot has a solemate and my feet have found theirs. Wolky, where have you been all my achy-footed days? Wolky footwear hails from Holland and this particular model, the Jewel, is their most popular style--and for good reason. The anatomical cork and latex footbed (with memory foam lined insoles) is completely removable should you need to insert a custom orthotic, but let me tell you, this shoe fits like a glove and cradles the foot providing support and cushion--so much so, you may not even need your orthotics. Another feature that I love is that all three straps are completely adjustable with velcro that stays put--the forefoot, instep and heel straps.And the polyurethane outsole? It may look heavy but it's actually very lightweight and absorbs the shock of your foot hitting the pavement...like you're walking on a cloud, which is very apropos since "wolk" means "cloud" in Dutch. I know. I thought it meant "walk" too."

New to Shoe Moves...Slick Shoes...filed under Shoe Music

Music from Slick Shoes

New to Shoe Moves...Shoester...filed under shopping

Shoester

"Introducing Shoester, the online matching service for people with asymetrical feet. Simply register your right and left shoe size and your address, and Shoester will show you a list of people in your area with mirror image feet. Once you find a foot friend, you can each buy a pair of shoes that fit like a glove."