Keen Garage

I give this place a 5 stars. I was visiting from Southern California and i was already thinking about getting my first pair of boots just still a little unsure. Scott helped me out a ton and showed me all the different styles of boots and what he thinks would be good for the boot i would be getting. The minute i walked in Scott approached me and introduced himself and asked me what i would need. He let me try on a couple different pairs and colors and helped me find the exact pair i wanted. I still was unsure about getting the boots so i told Scott i would come back within the following 2 days with my final decision and the minute i walked into the the store Scott approached me instantly saying hello and welcome back and told me he kept the boot on hold for me. Scott really helped me out and help me find the best first boot for me, I would definitely recommend the company to anyone I knew and to visits Keens Garage if they were in Portland. Anyone planning on going there make sure you look for Scott, this guy is the best !

Huge store, Corporate Headquarters, Zero wide widths in stock. Are you kidding me? I’ll take my Business to Danner on Burnside!

Just went into the Keen garage to exchange a pair of shoes purchased online and was told that’s not possible. Where is that crazy fine print on the website? Guess I missed it, but it makes no sense to not be able to return something purchased online if there is a brick and mortar location.
Plus, the person who told me that gave me the most rushed customer service, like I was an inconvenience.

I came into the Keen Garage because it was 45 degrees outside, and I was waiting for my boyfriend to get off work. Upon walking in, I realized that the store was completely empty, and they still had an hour or two before closing. Once I sat down, I realized that they were not, in fact, empty, but their two employees were lying down on the couches in the back on their phones. They didn’t say anything to me, nor were they aware that I was there.
Fortunately, a gentleman above in, what I’m assuming was some type of stock room, saw me, came down, then asked if I needed anything. At this point, only one of the employees came to the register and turned beet red. I said I was, fortunately, just waiting because had I come in for shoes, I would’ve left immediately. I asked if the gentleman worked there, and he said, «yes, unfortunately.»
Moral of the story is, Keen shoes are surprisingly comfortable for being so unsightly, but to employ sales representatives that are that completely incompetent, and then keep them on staff when they continue to see reviews about their horrible customer service, makes me question their credibility as a whole. Furthermore, Keen shoes are assembled in America, but not all parts are made in America. If you’re trying to buy the whole «Made in America, Built in America» thing, this isn’t the store for you.

Junk quality, Chinese-​made shoes.
After 10 years of loyalty and a number of poor experiences, I’ve quit the brand.
Over-​priced, and the worst customer service and warranty claims process in the industry – they have no interest in you or your loyalty, only the bottom-​line. I’m so disappointed in the experience I recently had with Keen that I don’t even want to take the time to tell the whole story – they aren’t worth my time.
Keen does not care about their customers, and their policy oriented approach to customer service has lost them a great advocate.
Ciao for now Keen! I will be gladly spending my $$ on another brand that at least puts it’s products where it’s mouth is… And you call yourselves Oregonians? Shame, shame, shame.

I love Keen, please understand this before reading the review. I have owned multiple styles for over twenty years. I went here hoping to find sanctuary for my desire of two decades. I was met with snobbery instead. My inquiries were met with negativity boarding on hostility. I am heartbroken and sad that my first experience with my shoes and brand of choice at a store with the Keen name was so negative that I may switch to Merrills, which I despise. Corporate… care about your name and brand which is awesome quality and train your employees to not be mean hipsters. Please, before I switch my brand loyalty of two decades. Damn. If you live and love your Keens, stay away!

I came in wanting to buy a pair of Portland work boots and of the 4 employees one was doing their job by helping another customer. The other three were talking at the register. After waiting at the boots for about 5 minutes, I asked for the boot in my size and one of the three chatty employees asked the 4^th employee that was already serving another customer to go on the back and get my boots!!! Why are those three people even working there?
I really wanted to like the boots but because of how I was treated I did not. I will not be buying them from here ever.

Came here looking to buy hiking shoes I had been eyeing online. They didn’t have size I wanted in a green color. So I thought I’d try the same size in a different color for fit. They didn’t have it in that size either. 0_​o. So then I asked to try on a similar shoe in my size. Didn’t have it.
So then I decided to just purchase it online, since shipping would be free, and crossed my fingers that it will fit. Made sure the order goes to my house, even though the sales associate told me I could pick it up in store. NOPE cause I don’t want to step foot in the store again. They employees weren’t friendly. I think the girl who helped me only did so because I approached her.

I only came here because I had A gift card.
Employees are not very friendly they will get whatever shoes you want but not enthusiastic whatsoever.
I like the fact I was able to try the shoe on and have my children try the shoes on before we brought them online.
We ended up placing our in-​store order you go to the website you can order whatever you want yourself and print it.
Not bad shoes at all but i’d rather go to REI or Northface where people are friendly

Don’t know why people are so upset! Love the fact that we have one here in pdx especially since it’s based here in Portland now. Happy customer!

REALLY LIKE KEEN, BUT SHOE QUALITY MUST IMPROVE
I purchased my first pair of Keen’s about 10 years ago – the most innovative and functional design for a sandal with hard cover over the toe. Since then I’ve worn their hiking, casual and sandal designs with great satisfaction – good mileage, wear and quality. I currently have 5 pairs of Keen’s in the closet. But recently two pairs of sandals delaminated at the sole. One sandal was only a year old – and Keen gave me $ 100 credit /​warranty for a new pair. I appreciated the warranty, however the turnaround time is a little slow and too much correspondence was required.
A second pair (Marshall style) of light weight trail shoes is not in acceptable condition after 6 months of moderate day trail hiking. The soft sole cracked and small rocks wedged in the cracks which is uncomfortable. The top side thin, breathable mesh ripped in two locations. The stitching was not strong enough to hold the mesh to the hard rubber part of the shoe – not a good design. Competitor brands, i.e., Brooks, molds their tin mesh to the hard rubber instead of stitching.
For now I can not justify buying more Keens. I hope the quality issues are resolved, because I would like to try Keen again in the future.

4 stars for way fun design for their newish Pearl store. They finally left Industrial district area and came this side of the 405!
Most fun: pulling in the garage-​like cable to see the full display of shoe models!
HQ here, Keen puts out quality, no doubt (3 pairs owned). But, the prices are just stultifyingly high. Hard to get past, with very few discounts.

My husband loved the shoes I got him for Christmas. Great quality shoe and worth every cent.
The service was ok but not incredible, so that is why I would give it 4 stars.

This is the second time I have been to the Keen store in their new location. (Which says something, because they’ve actually been there for a WHILE.)
The last time I was there, was this spring. I had been looking at their purses online for a couple weeks trying to decide which one I wanted. Finally I went downtown to look at the models in person, get all tactile with them. They didn’t have the actual models that I was interested in; in stock.. .. at least I was able to look at the fabrics. The staff told me that they get them online quicker than they get them in their FLAGSHIP store. I ended up getting a Timbuktu purse. (Side note: I found the model I was interested in at REI that same day and didn’t like it.)
Yesterday, my boyfriend and I were interested in looking at shoes. I was interested in two pairs that I have (once again been looking at the website for several day, picking and choosing which ones I adore until I weened it down to the two pairs I just needed to decide on size.) My boyfriend wanted socks and a pair of walking shoes.
At that same time, gaggles of children flooded in, returning from a tour trolley (?) — their parents had already been in the store, having abandoned them on the trolley. I had looked at one of the UNMARKED shoe carousel for my shoes-​in-​question and then had to stand waiting for over FIVE MINUTES while a kid spun the next carousel over as fast as they could like it was a race car. First of all, why aren’t the parents saying anything to the kids? Second, why aren’t the staff intervening? I have worked in retail enough that it is perfectly in your right to come up politely and say, «Let’s be gentle to the wheels! Like a kitty!» It doesn’t freak out the kids, and it quietly shames the parents without embarrassing them to flippin’ reign in their nightmare spawn. All the while a kid is banging on the side of the metal drum barrel chairs.
Since nothing is marked, I can’t find the shoes I was looking for, so I head over to the computer kiosk. There is a kid on the computer looking up penguins on google images. Yup. So that’s happening. When did this place turn into «Mommy & Me» Play Time. I stood about three feet away staring at the computer waiting to see if the mom would notice and actually do anything about her prodigy so that paying guests could utilize the equipment. Not even a clerk came over and intervened. Another opportunity for; «Looking at our shoes is fun on the computers. Let’s go back to our website.»
My boyfriend had gotten a clerk to help him with a pair of shoes. By the time I got a clerk to help me. (I still hadn’t gotten service — about 20 minutes later) They don’t even have one of the pairs of shoes in the shop! Haha! Said the good ol’ «They’re on the website before they’re in the store» cop out I’m now way too familiar with and the other ones displayed in men’s. (Meaning they were only online too!!) The clerk did go back, looked and said there was a ladies pair that might fit me. Like, the only pair. I don’t even know what color they were, because at that point, I had walked outside the store, was sitting against the wall, crying (basically having a panic attack — and I’m not that kind of fragile person. I was just pissed off and frustrated and stressed.) My boyfriend came outside to let me know. So we left. Without shoes.
I had been in there for over a half an hour with no support, I just wanted to ensure I had comfortable shoes for work and for a vacation I am going on in less than 2 weeks and now if I order online, if they don’t fit, returning them and getting new ones I don’t know if there will be enough time.
This store is absolutely worthless and a nightmare. Striking out two times, and their shitty reign of their floor space. Guess what? Retail workers have all the right in the world to let parents know that they have to control their children. Especially since it WILL lose them business.
UPDATE: Ordered online. Two pairs of shoes. One for my boyfriend and one for me. My boyfriend’s came a week before mine. WHAT?! Seems they come from different warehouses. And because they didn’t have the ones I wanted to try on in the store (what’s up with not having the full line in the headquarters?) I read all the reviews and the web comments said to size up half a size. So, I looked at the two pairs of Keens that I currently own and did so. Well, when they arrived they were huge on me. By about an inch. So not only did they arrive way too late for the event I wanted them for, but now I have to return them. Thanks for more work than you’re worth.

KEEN’s are by far the best shoe (especially for living in Portland).
Over the years I’ve collected about 10 pairs of shoes ranging from hiking boots, to work shoes, but the gem of the KEEN collection is the Newport H2, a half shoe, half sandal hybrid that is great for canoe trips, hiking near/​in water, going to the beach, or just wearing around town.
I also love the KEEN socks for their comfort and durability.
This store is a must for any shoe fan that wants to be on the cutting edge of shoe design.
They have lots if different styles from work to play but always comfortable and cool.

This place is just plain cool. Expensive yes, but all the refurbed furniture etc is really imaginative and inspiring.
Great customer service.
Decent selection of most of their categories.
Nice experience.

I’ve been wearing Keens for years, big fan of the roomy toe box, comfort, and styling. I’ve done a lot of walking in Keens, and they’re good enough looking to wear for office or semi-​dress. Never had bought directly from Keen, so I thought I’d try their store.
Did my online research and had a few styles that I wanted to check out. Big surprise: no labels on the products. Price tags, yes, but no product name. So you need a good visual memory to find the shoes that you want. After a bit, you’ll see that the shoes on the displays are categorized the way they are on the web site; again, no signage, but you figure it out. The other surprise is that they don’t stock all of the shoes that they make. That was a real WTF moment.
As you would expect, the store is very busy on weekends, so it can take quite a long time to try on and purchase shoes. Part of the problem is the old joke: «How many people work here? About half of them.» On the day I was there, one person was working and two others were standing around talking to their friends.
Suggestions to management:
Stock everything you sell. This is your flagship store.
Signage. Not everything is intuitive.
Either bring all the merchandise down to floor level and make it a self-​service store, or hire and manage staff that actually want to work. I’m not here to screw around with toys, I’m here to buy shoes.
First time in a long time that I would have been better off buying online than from a store. I’ve read about Keen’s management problems, and now I’ve experienced them.

Just go there and play with things. Seriously.
The shoes are great, not a huge selection, but the furniture and shoe displays are an ADHD kids dream come true.

This store is now near 5^th and Glisan. I’ve purchased over ten pairs of Keen’s in my life but have never bought from them direct, so I was really excited. I expected to see models I’d never seen, maybe some that they no longer sell online, to take advantage of sales, and leave a happy broke lady.
Instead, I was astonished by how few shoes they had on display, as opposed to their websites, Amazon, Zappos, and other shoe stores. They didn’t have half the shoes the website lists, and what they had was a limited color selection in limited sizes. Portland is a rainy town, and they didn’t have any of the Keen Dry boots; they were all winter preparedness. Still, I’m stubborn, so I tried on three pairs. I was disappointed.
In an effort to declunk the toe, Keen’s has been making their shoes differently. They now don’t fit my feet. They’re too narrow, and not as adjustable as they once were. They feel flimsy. The bottom of the shoe is also poorly constructed. Though one of the website’s bragging rights is boots that can transition from the street to the hillside, they carried exclusively the more glamorous type of boot with wedge heels at the store. The salesperson directed me to the website as a possibility for ordering… but instead of taking the order, he just pointed at the computer screen he’d brought up. Um… okay.
No sales, no discounts; in fact, the shoes were priced higher than any online outlet or private shoe store. This might be why I saw so many people come in, and exactly zero leave with shoes.

KEEN celebrated their grand opening at 12:12 on 12÷12÷12! Their new building is made out of mostly recycled materials, and they had little to no waste in creating the building. The retail space has a great variety of shoes, boots, sandals, and socks. There is plenty of seating, and many are made from steel barrels.
A really cool addition to the area, and the folks that work there are super helpful!