Payless Shoesource

I come from a tall family, and we tall people have big feet. It used to be that finding bigger shoe sizes for females (sizes 10, 11) used to involve lengthy excursions and sometimes wads of dough.
Now that people are getting taller, I see bigger women’s sizes almost EVERYWHERE. Right?! I mean, I was shocked when I saw that shoe stores — even Payless — were carrying women’s 12’s! (Shocked, but hopeful that someday if my feet balloon even larger I won’t have to fashion my own out of cardboard and twine.)
I’ve been checking in with this Payless for some cheap kicks for the past few months, and EVERY TIME I GO IN there aren’t more than 10 different styles of shoes TOTAL in size 11. Usually half of those are gawdy and tacky and nothing I would be seen dead in unless I was attending a How-​Tacky-​Can-​You-​Dress party.
I’m not a huge fan of Payless due to the cache of sub-​par quality shoes I’ve purchased in the past 5+ years, but c’mon: can’t you guys enlist a bigger selection of size 11 women shoes??? I can’t be the only size 11 in Palatine!

When Payless first opened eons ago, I wouldn’t be caught dead there. (not this location of course…)
The one time I did break down and buy a pair of shoes (black Ked’s knock-​offs) people commented that the shoes smelled like beef jerky.
It was years before I went back. Funny though, when you’re struggling with money and have a new baby, you suddenly don’t care… you just want a pair of cheap shoes because the kid is only going to outgrow them in a couple months.
The kid’s shoes actually seemed to be better than the rest of their stock because they actually had arches and were formed to the foot-​and they were leather! What a deal! Why pay $ 30 for a pair of baby keds when you can pay $ 10 for something that looks like keds and fits as well if not better than the real thing?
Then I found a pair of leather sandals for the man and only $ 19.99! Real leather, OMG! I’m not ashamed to say that this is the only place I’ll go to get my husband shoes. (Thankfully, he isn’t concerned with labels as long as he’s fully dressed.)
On my last excursion, I was even more impressed. See, I don’t do well with womens’ shoes… I’m not dainty and feminine, I like to get my hands dirty and I like to be comfortable. I haven’t worn pumps or womens’ sandals in 14 years and I only wear a dress if someone dies. So, I checked out the women’s section, and of course there wasn’t much that excited me… BUT!!! The mens’ shoes!!! Knock-​off Rocket Dog sneaks for $ 14.99! I bought two pairs! And I went back only yesterday and found another great pair of sneakers (ok, they were a bit more expensive at $ 32.99 but they were worth it, very comfy. I think the upper is man made but the trim is suede and they are very fun looking, I’m getting gooey just thinking about them… brown leather with olive suede trim and ooooh… all the rubber is black… I loooove black rubber!!!)
Payless, you’ve turned me into a shoe whore and I love it!