Colsgirl

Where I can get children's shoes that are width fitted? I'm wondering if there is a national chain the equivalent of Clarks? We're in Kelowna, BC.

I can do without all the British stuff you can't buy over here, as long as I can find somewhere to buy good fitting shoes for my children

I asked some locals and they were saying places like Walmart etc None of the places suggested sold width fittings.

Thanks, Louise

dbd33

I dunno if they make kids shoes but I had my feet measured at the agent for Church's in Toronto. The shoes are then made to fit and shipped, I expect they have an agent in Vancouver as well. Otherwise there are some cobblers here who will work from scratch, Italians mostly, does BC have a Little Italy ?

hot wasabi peas

I don't know of any specific shops in Kelowna (I've only ever been there for fun or passing through) but it's a big enough city that you shouldn't have a problem. But if you do, Vancouver has many, many shops that specialize in comfortable shoes or fitting shoes or shoes for different feet, etc. Ronsons, Walk in Comfort, Forerunners, Front Runners, Ingledews (or something like that), Panda (young kids), The Right Foot, Footloose and... that's all I can think of at the moment. Also, Clarks shoes are widely available as well usually as a brand carried by independent or chain shop.

wizzard

I remember seeing a Clarks shoe store in the Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket nr. Toronto. So they must have more locations.

wcitizen

This chain store stocks a lot of Clarks:

SoftMoc
Store#45
Orchard Park Shopping Centre
2271 Harvey Ave
Kelowna, British Columbia
V1Y 6H2
(250)712-9869

Biiiiink

I've seen plenty of Clark's mens and womens shoes (and scoffed at the prices but then I only ever bought mine from a Clark's outlet store) but no childrens whatsoever. Someone was telling me to look for "Stride Rite" or "Stride Right" as an alternative, but I haven't yet. Jr's been in 3.98 polystyrene and velcro sandals from Superstore since June...I'm figuring those are okay for his feet as there's so little of them actually on his feet!

Rich_007

Louise,

Totally off topic (sorry) but have you heard anything about the Okanagan Forums ?

Maple Leaf was saying maybe it has been pulled sad loss if so. No one has emailed any info, which is maybe a little surprising unless the PC gremlins have caused total online havoc

Cheers,

Rich.

snowbunny

Kids Clarks shoes apparently aren't available in the US so it would not surprise me to find the same situation in Canada. I believe Woodsey (who lives in the US) bought Clarks shoes for her young son on a trip back to England.

Stride Rite is the US equivalent, so to speak, of well made shoes.... but.... kids' shoes have gone to sh*te quickly as more and more of them are sold under US or European names but made overseas. Elefanten falls into this category.

You can try eBay if you know the right size.... always getting a size up for kids cos then you'll know they grow into them. I've seen plenty of Clarks kids shoes there, both new and gently used.

NessieOggy

There are a couple of stores that are in the downtown core, on Bernard Avenue, that may offer a good variety. I'll pull out the phone book and have a looksee for you.

Oggy

Colsgirl

Hi,

Thanks for all the suggestions. Sounds liek it is Orchard Park and Bernard for me. Hopefully I'll find somewhere. The boys have been in sandals since June, I think they are going to hate it when it is back into shoe weather.

Does anyone know if it is OK to send kids to school in September wearing sandals? I know in Englland I couldn't.

Louise

Colsgirl

Hi Rich,

No I don't I was wondering the same thing - it has been down for about 2 weeks now. It's a shame as it was a good cource of information. I don't know who was responsible for the group, so I can't get any more info. If it doesn't come back it might be worth thinking about starting a Yahoo one. There is lots of info about mob=ving to the large cities, but the Okanagan group was the only one I knew that covered this area.

What is Maple Leaf? Is there another group I don't know about?

Louise

NessieOggy

I stop by Okanagan Forums periodically and have also noticed that the site is down. What a shame, as I enjoyed reading the contributions there.

We have a small general topic forum that we've been building over the past 6 months. We've added a section called "Access Okanagan" (Thanks for the name suggestion Rich!!) that you are welcome to come by to share information about our area of BC.

If any of you are interested, you're welcome to come by "The Chat Corner" at http://forum.wr.ca/?id=2482

Oggy

Steve_P

My understanding for the Calgary Board of education is this for elementary:

They ask that you send your child to school with two pairs of shoes. An outdoor pair that they would wear on their way to school and an indoor pair that can also double a gym shoes.

If you choose to send your child to school with only one pair then they should also be able to be used for gym.

Sandals are not appropriate for gym but otherwise ok.

I'm pretty sure this is how it works here in Calgary, your mileage may differ.

Upon further checking I've been told that most likely if you went the one pair route they would do gym in their socks or bare feet. Outdoors shoes with rocks in the treads can ruin a gym floor in no time flat.

hot wasabi peas

It's almost the dress code.

I had someone at a university in the UK ask me if I was from Washingston State or BC. "Yes, BC, how did you know?" He said, it was obvious because it was December, raining and I was wearing sandals with stripey, vibrantly coloured, wool socks. I was pegged!

Kids will probably have to wear closed toe shoes in a science lab or home ec class (do they still teach home ec?).

Colsgirl

Hi
Thanks for the info - my son is starting kingergarten, so I don't need to worry about science labs just yet. I'm not even sure if they do gym - I'll send indoor shoes as well, just in case. They only attend 2.5 hours a day. After full-time in England he thinks it's great as he can go to the beach in the mornings.

Louise