O.K., so this is a little bit off of the subject of shoes, but as a downtown business owner, I wanted to get some feedback from you all -- what works and what doesn't, what you like and dislike, and what you would like to see happen downtown. I want to keep this positive, so if you point out problems, offer some possible solutions. If you don't have any solutions, then invite others to provide some suggestions.
That's all folks! I'll be looking forward to reading your opinions.
Thanks!
Amy
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Closed Toe Shoe Blues
O.K., what is the deal with businesses that impose closed toe shoe rules? I mean, it makes sense not to wear sandals if you work with heavy objects that succumb to gravity or with sharp objects like scalpels or butcher knives. It's all fun and games until someone loses a big toe. But, in those workplaces where the most deadly weapon is a co-worker's breath after a garlic-laden lunch, what's the harm in showing more than a little toe cleavage? I certainly don't buy the argument that somehow our innocent little piggies pose some sort of a public health risk. I have never heard of anyone catching anything from feet. If people were more concerned about contagious diseases, we would be required to wear gloves everywhere.
Here's another argument -- it's unprofessional to show your toes. Says who? Is it really as unprofessional as wearing sneakers or Crocs to the office? It's a peep toe, for Lord's sake, not a peep show!
I think the real reason is that some people just don't like feet. They think feet are gross and don't want to see them. And I can understand this a little bit -- I am all for laws requiring men to wear shirts in public. I dream of the day when I can walk outside without fear of seeing bouncing blobs of hairy flesh glistening with sweat. Bleech! But are other people's feet that gross? Not everyone has model quality peds, but even so, feet are not in your face, so to speak. If they are, then you better learn how to duck at those Kung Fu classes of yours. But really, feet are well below eye level. And unless you are wearing some fabulous shoes that you purchased at some fabulous little shoe boutique in Springfield, IL, very few people would look at them. Unless they had a fetish, and if that freaks you out then maybe you should cover up.
But for those who do not like others' toes, is it really other people's feet that bother you so
much? Or are you really unhappy with your own callous clodhoppers? How often is it that we don't like in others the very things we don't like about ourselves? And it's really not fair, now, is it? And there is a cure, you know, for those who loathe their own toes. It's called a pedi-cure!
So treat the feet of others as you would treat your own -- with lotion and a little polish. If you still can't stand looking at your toes, I've posted a few pictures of our shoes that will cover up your little piggies.
Here's another argument -- it's unprofessional to show your toes. Says who? Is it really as unprofessional as wearing sneakers or Crocs to the office? It's a peep toe, for Lord's sake, not a peep show!
I think the real reason is that some people just don't like feet. They think feet are gross and don't want to see them. And I can understand this a little bit -- I am all for laws requiring men to wear shirts in public. I dream of the day when I can walk outside without fear of seeing bouncing blobs of hairy flesh glistening with sweat. Bleech! But are other people's feet that gross? Not everyone has model quality peds, but even so, feet are not in your face, so to speak. If they are, then you better learn how to duck at those Kung Fu classes of yours. But really, feet are well below eye level. And unless you are wearing some fabulous shoes that you purchased at some fabulous little shoe boutique in Springfield, IL, very few people would look at them. Unless they had a fetish, and if that freaks you out then maybe you should cover up.
But for those who do not like others' toes, is it really other people's feet that bother you so
much? Or are you really unhappy with your own callous clodhoppers? How often is it that we don't like in others the very things we don't like about ourselves? And it's really not fair, now, is it? And there is a cure, you know, for those who loathe their own toes. It's called a pedi-cure!
So treat the feet of others as you would treat your own -- with lotion and a little polish. If you still can't stand looking at your toes, I've posted a few pictures of our shoes that will cover up your little piggies.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Dita stay or dita go
I know, I promised another shoe for you to vote on -- and here it is. It's called Dita -- as in dita tell you how much I love these shoes? The unfortunate thing is that I can't buy every single shoe that I fall in love with, because, well, I'm buying for you all too. And while you may buy a pair of shoes that you regret purchasing later, imagine having bought 12 pairs of the same shoe on an impulse. ( The same shoe, not 12 different pairs. That's another story!)
What do I love about this shoe? Well let me tell you that reading about why I like a shoe is probably as exciting as reading the tags on the pillows that you're not supposed to remove under penalty of law. And both are totally unnecessary. You're going to like or dislike the shoe regardless of what I say about it, and you're going to remove those stupid tags on your pillows even if it means facing hard time on an assembly line in a pillow factory. So let me just give you the facts, ma'am, and cast your vote for, or against this shoe.
Dita by Oh...Deer! in tortoise patent leather retails for $120
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Welcome Springfield Bloggers!
(This was originally posted in January, but we hadn't found you yet!)
Election 2008 -- ShoeTopia Style!
As you may or may not know, we at ShoeTopia put a lot of thought into the shoes we select for our store. You're probably thinking, "Well how hard is that? It's retail, not brain surgery, for Lord's sakes!" Well, this may be true, and in no way am I suggesting that any of us could do brain surgery (except for maybe Cindy -- she is addicted to all those medical shows on the learning channel). But let me throw some numbers out to give you an idea of what we have to sort through to bring the shoes to you. At the upcoming Las Vegas WSA (World Shoe Association) trade show, there are over 1,100 registered exhibitors. Now granted, not all of them are exhibiting women's shoes, but the vast majority of them are. So let's whittle that down to 75%, which gives us about 850. And let's say that the average number of shoe styles each vendor is exhibiting is 50. That's well over 42,000 possibilities to chose from (not to mention the colors). Which is why we don't always go to Las Vegas to shop -- it's just overwhelming at times. So in order to prepare for our shopping trip, we do our research, which consists of weeding out brands, adding new brands, reviewing current trends (and some are just plain goofy), and making sure we have a fair representation of styles and prices to offer our customers. The most important thing is coming up with a budget and sticking to it.
We've done pretty well with our Spring 2008 orders, but every once in a while, we come across a shoe that's just oh so cute, and we just want it. It's kind of like going to the grocery store with a list and then darn it, you go down the cookie aisle and there's a new kind of chocolate cookie that sounds so good, and you just got to have it, but you told yourself you were going to stick to your list, and then you have the good girl angel on one shoulder trying to convince you to stick to your diet and the bad girl devil saying, "Do it do it do it." And you are stuck in the middle. Well wouldn't it be nice if once in a while, someone else stepped in and helped you make the decision ? The following scenarios help illustrate my point. Scenario A: [Amy's buddy] "Why don't you skip the cookies and we'll go get a skinny latte instead?" Scenario B: [Amy's buddy] "If you get the cookies I'll help you eat them." See, isn't that better? Even if you do get the cookies, you won't have to worry about eating them all by yourself. Not that you would (cough, cough). So we decided to ask you to help us make the decision. The shoe that we're highlighting in February is Onesole, a sandal with interchangeable tops. You will find a link to the company website at the top of our blog page. What do you think? Either send as a note or take our poll at the bottom of the blog. And thanks for your input!Amy
Election 2008 -- ShoeTopia Style!
As you may or may not know, we at ShoeTopia put a lot of thought into the shoes we select for our store. You're probably thinking, "Well how hard is that? It's retail, not brain surgery, for Lord's sakes!" Well, this may be true, and in no way am I suggesting that any of us could do brain surgery (except for maybe Cindy -- she is addicted to all those medical shows on the learning channel). But let me throw some numbers out to give you an idea of what we have to sort through to bring the shoes to you. At the upcoming Las Vegas WSA (World Shoe Association) trade show, there are over 1,100 registered exhibitors. Now granted, not all of them are exhibiting women's shoes, but the vast majority of them are. So let's whittle that down to 75%, which gives us about 850. And let's say that the average number of shoe styles each vendor is exhibiting is 50. That's well over 42,000 possibilities to chose from (not to mention the colors). Which is why we don't always go to Las Vegas to shop -- it's just overwhelming at times. So in order to prepare for our shopping trip, we do our research, which consists of weeding out brands, adding new brands, reviewing current trends (and some are just plain goofy), and making sure we have a fair representation of styles and prices to offer our customers. The most important thing is coming up with a budget and sticking to it.
We've done pretty well with our Spring 2008 orders, but every once in a while, we come across a shoe that's just oh so cute, and we just want it. It's kind of like going to the grocery store with a list and then darn it, you go down the cookie aisle and there's a new kind of chocolate cookie that sounds so good, and you just got to have it, but you told yourself you were going to stick to your list, and then you have the good girl angel on one shoulder trying to convince you to stick to your diet and the bad girl devil saying, "Do it do it do it." And you are stuck in the middle. Well wouldn't it be nice if once in a while, someone else stepped in and helped you make the decision ? The following scenarios help illustrate my point. Scenario A: [Amy's buddy] "Why don't you skip the cookies and we'll go get a skinny latte instead?" Scenario B: [Amy's buddy] "If you get the cookies I'll help you eat them." See, isn't that better? Even if you do get the cookies, you won't have to worry about eating them all by yourself. Not that you would (cough, cough). So we decided to ask you to help us make the decision. The shoe that we're highlighting in February is Onesole, a sandal with interchangeable tops. You will find a link to the company website at the top of our blog page. What do you think? Either send as a note or take our poll at the bottom of the blog. And thanks for your input!Amy
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Election 2008 -- ShoeTopia Style!
As you may or may not know, we at ShoeTopia put a lot of thought into the shoes we select for our store. You're probably thinking, "Well how hard is that? It's retail, not brain surgery, for Lord's sakes!" Well, this may be true, and in no way am I suggesting that any of us could do brain surgery (except for maybe Cindy -- she is addicted to all those medical shows on the learning channel). But let me throw some numbers out to give you an idea of what we have to sort through to bring the shoes to you. At the upcoming Las Vegas WSA (World Shoe Association) trade show, there are over 1,100 registered exhibitors. Now granted, not all of them are exhibiting women's shoes, but the vast majority of them are. So let's whittle that down to 75%, which gives us about 850. And let's say that the average number of shoe styles each vendor is exhibiting is 50. That's well over 42,000 possibilities to chose from (not to mention the colors). Which is why we don't always go to Las Vegas to shop -- it's just overwhelming at times. So in order to prepare for our shopping trip, we do our research, which consists of weeding out brands, adding new brands, reviewing current trends (and some are just plain goofy), and making sure we have a fair representation of styles and prices to offer our customers. The most important thing is coming up with a budget and sticking to it. We've done pretty well with our Spring 2008 orders, but every once in a while, we come across a shoe that's just oh so cute, and we just want it. It's kind of like going to the grocery store with a list and then darn it, you go down the cookie aisle and there's a new kind of chocolate cookie that sounds so good, and you just got to have it, but you told yourself you were going to stick to your list, and then you have the good girl angel on one shoulder trying to convince you to stick to your diet and the bad girl devil saying, "Do it do it do it." And you are stuck in the middle. Well wouldn't it be nice if once in a while, someone else stepped in and helped you make the decision ? The following scenarios help illustrate my point. Scenario A: [Amy's buddy] "Why don't you skip the cookies and we'll go get a skinny latte instead?" Scenario B: [Amy's buddy] "If you get the cookies I'll help you eat them." See, isn't that better? Even if you do get the cookies, you won't have to worry about eating them all by yourself. Not that you would (cough, cough). So we decided to ask you to help us make the decision. The shoe that we're highlighting in February is Onesole, a sandal with interchangeable tops. You will find a link to the company website at the top of our blog page. What do you think? Either send as a note or take our poll at the bottom of the blog. And thanks for your input!
Amy
Amy
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