Tuesday, January 27, 2009

My experience at the Nike store

Last week, I spent two days discussing athletic shoes.

Are you lifting in the right shoes?
Shoes might be the enemy?!

Ironically, I've been in desperate need to purchase some new workout kicks.
So, over the past weekend, I took my new-found knowledge about athletic shoes, along with the recommendations of colleagues and respected websites...

And I bought a pair of Nike Free shoes!

The Nike Free style of shoes is supposed to simulate being barefoot.

And since my feet are strong (from doing gymnastics in bare feet for 15 years... and from performing Krav Maga and Muay Thai Kickboxing classes in bare feet up to 5 days/week currently) - I have decided to experiment with these "barefoot" shoes.

I WILL be purchasing another pair of athletic shoes in the near future (my fav crosstrainers by Asics) simply because I wear gym shoes all day, every day. And because I want to save my new Nike Frees for working out... not just 'working' in the gym.

So, I'll keep you posted on my experience with my yummy, new, bubble-gum pink shoes :)

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Now, let me tell you the story from when I purchased my new shoes...

I typically like to buy my gym shoes from the local specialty store. You know, the type of store where the clerks have an education in biomechanics, as well as an understanding of what shoe will work best for your foot and your walking style/function.

But since my favorite Long Beach "running shoe" store, Runners High, was not carrying my Frees, I had to make the trek to the Nike Store.

And that's where I had the experience that I always try to avoid.
While trying on all styles of the Nike Free, a female salesclerk saunters by, enthusiastically saying, "Oh, those shoes you have on are so cute!! And so are the other ones that you're about to try on!"

Oh brother.

Can't a girl just get some shoes based on function and performance??

I bet the woman didn't even know why people might want to buy those specific type of Nike shoes. She likely doesn't know what to recommend when someone has a question about athletic shoe function! That's no help to people like me...

But I just laughed off her "salesy", naive comment - and reflected on my appreciation for the educated, helpful salespeople at Runners High, and all those other shoe-savvy stores like it. Thank goodness for them.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

There are lots of stores that sell fake name brand shoes that look very similar to the original shoes but do not match up to the quality of the real shoes. When you buy such shoes, you run a risk of losing money if the shoes do not fit or wear out in no time due to cheap quality.

Therefore, to prevent yourself from getting duped, try to first check out the logo on the shoe. A stitched logo is found on original shoes while a glued or stick on logo is usually found on duplicate shoes. Fake shoes usually have a shoddy stitching and misspelled logo in addition to having a strong plastic odor.

These are some of the basic clues that have helped me to identify counterfeit shoes from the originals and saved my money so you can try this out.

Kim Ball said...

Thanks for the tip!
It's great to be aware of those scams... your advice is much appreciated :)