Shoe Boxes

Sadly, the Shoe Box has gone out of business.

Used to like stopping in here from time to time, but this store has apparently closed it’s doors. I drove over the other day because I was in the area and hadn’t been in a while and found the suite it used to occupy deserted with no sign of a single shoe, or any posting that stated whether they went out of business or just relocated.
Too bad :(

You had me at hello. And you lost me at slam the door in my ass.
I had not been to this store in a while so I stopped by after work the other day. When I walked in my eyes were big with delight — tons of Merrells and tons of Aravons. AND TONS OF SALE ITEMS. Some of the good stuff was on sale, too! I looked and looked and my eyes kept getting bigger, I am sure I had a smile to match.
So I was smiling with big eyes until I asked for the other shoe that I couldn’t find to a pair I wanted … Shoe Box homegirl practically turned into Medusa and hissed all her snakes at me and then ran off, snakes and all (I guess multitasking is not her thing since there was more than 1 customer in the store). But she did find the other shoe shortly after that and I found a great pair of sandals at a steal. I still couldn’t stop looking! I would have left there with so many pairs of shoes if they would have had my size; both on sale and regular price.
I thought I was getting exceptional service when asked at least 5 times within 30 minutes if I needed any help and if I was doing ok. (SB homegirl even gave me a pen when I asked to borrow one.) Lucky me.
After I paid for my shoes and SB homegirl ran to the door and opened it for me to leave (which I did not realize at first) — then let it slam when she saw me look at another pair of shoes with her face frozen like Cartman on anal satellite day — I thought to look at the store hours on the door. Oh my, would you look at the time? They close at 6pm, so I apologized to her asking if it was after 6pm as I left. She said that it was not and slammed the door behind me locking it as if she was afraid for her life. When I got to my car it was 5:58 — and I set my clocks fast.
RUDE NESSS!
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TTTTTTTT … most customers don’t expect a retail store to close at 6pm and no customer expects to be treated like they just wasted your time purchasing something when you haven’t even officially closed yet. Ya won’t have to worry about getting me out of there again because I won’t be there in the first place.
Oh and P. S. — your clothes scare me, they look like something my trendy granny would buy and then wonder what the hell she was thinking when she bought them in the first place.

I like this store, primarily for the shoes. Yes, there are clothes — but I really can’t talk much about them. My attention is fully on the shoe racks. The prices and brands range quite a bit. You can find real bargains, but their regular prices are pretty reasonable compared to other stores.
I am a bit of a comfort shoe fan. (Brands like Naot, Dansko, Clarks, Merrell, Earth, and now Alegria, etc.) They have those and they have other brands/​styles that my feet would never ‘stand for’ but work well for others — fashion heels, strappy sandals, etc. They do not have every single model and their selection varies throughout the year but it is nice for a ‘shoe-​fan’ like me to just peruse the aisles for something that strikes your fancy.
Their prices are quite reasonable depending on the brand. They usually have clearance racks with older season shoes as well. It is kind of hard to come here with something specific in mind but if it is one of their typical brands they carry they might just have it. They also are good at having the odd quirky shoe model or brand that you don’t see at a lot of other stores. I believe I was helped by the manager/​owner today and he guided me to a couple of brands I wasn’t familiar with but liked quite a lot. No pressure just a nice conversation with someone who knows about shoes and the brands they sell. It was quite refreshing and I came home with a new shoe that I love. I don’t know if all the sales associates have that knowledge though.

I just bought a dress here, and I have to say its rather cute. I did see some with the stiching coming apart, but this one is in good shape and is really cute.
Hey, I AM 35.

For me… not so much.
A preview of what I will look like in my 40s if I am not careful. Trends for «ladies of a certain age.»
Personally, I’m close enough to that certain age that I hope if I start buying things from here, someone I know will see me, slap me silly and take me out to buy some good classics.

Maybe I was just there at the wrong time, but I wasn’t blown away by the selection at Shoeboxes. Everything there seemed kind of cheap, and by «cheap,» I don’t mean reasonably priced (although it was that, too). Now, I’m all for places that carry stylish, of-​the-​moment clothes at great prices, even when the quality is a little questionable (witness my extreme love of H&M), but the stuff I saw there wasn’t quite cute enough to justify the sacrifice in quality. I want to buy stuff that’s cheap but doesn’t LOOK cheap, and most of the stuff I saw here looked kind of chintzy to me. It didn’t help that there was an entire rack of stuff that was ripped with a sign above it proclaiming, «If you can sew, you can fix this!» I admire their interest in keeping their «scratch & dent» clothes in the stream of commerce rather than dumping them in a landfill, but it also gave me pause to see that so many of their items were torn even before they’d left the store. Not a good sign.
I do have to make one exception to the paragraph above, which is that they had a nice selection of off-​season Clarks, Privos, Keens, and Birkenstocks at discounted prices, which was fun to dig through. I have an unnatural affixation for Privos; that combination of, «I’m an athletic shoe! I’m a Mary Jane!» sucks me in every time. These lines are all good quality stuff and the prices were right; too bad there was almost nothing left in my size. Other than the discounted «comfort» lines (this store is owned by the same folks who own the Fitting Stool), the stuff that was more focused on being «fashionable» held about the same interest to me as did the clothes; most of it was cheap, but it kind of looked and felt cheap, too.
Despite my unsuccessful first outing, this is not a bad place for a little off-​the-​beaten-​path shopping excursion. I’ll likely be back sometime to give Shoeboxes another look.

So the future owners of this store were sitting around one day thinking about what to call their store.
«Hey, we’re going to be on Anderson Lane, right? Why not call it Anderson Lane Stuff?»
«Too boring. We’ll have a lot of polyester club wear, right? Polly Esther’s?»
«Too boring and cliched. What about all the shelves we’ll have? The Shelves?»
«Too boring. Hey, we’ll have tons of shoes, right? And they all come in boxes, right? Shoe Boxes?»
«Just boring enough!»
And yes, this place does have all of the above. Nothing more, nothing less, really.
I was really pleased by their cute, casual shoe collection. I wouldn’t come here for clothing, really. It’s mostly pretty flimsy looking, but there’s a good range of women’s shoes.
I didn’t end up finding my perfect low, black heels here, but I could be back for some reasonably priced slip ons, sandals or casual heels.
There are a few men’s dress shoes in the back, but it’s not a men’s shoe box destination.
Clearly, as evidenced by all these reviews, it’s a solidly 4-​star establishment.

when i’m feeling old i go to shoe boxes. i look around at all the tops i used to buy back in college. i try on a few tube tops and silently cry in the fitting room. then i grab a cute pair of shorts (in a large because i have a woman’s ass now) and laugh and laugh. thank god for the shoes.
but seriously, most of the time i can pick out a few trendy tops and spend less that $ 40. and that’s warrants a return visit in my book.

There are some cute, decently-​priced shoes just waiting to be bought, ladies! I don’t think anything is over $ 50. I’ve gotten bunches of cute flats here that were perfect for developing my «get noticed in the corporate casual world by wearing cute shoes» persona!

When I stopped in, they’d just gotten 42 CASES of new shoes. Many of them rumored to be flats.
I made a beeline for the ultra-​lush high heels (average price $ 25) and the clearance racks in the back (more like $ 12). The clothing is indeed adorable, looking slightly more upscale than Forever 21 but with a nice low price tag. I didn’t see anything in the store for over $ 50, except for the nice Clarks and fancy walking shoes.
The store appears to be owned (?) by the people who run The Fitting Stool, so it looks like they keep a good inventory. Susie and Sarah nailed everything else.

Shoe Boxes/Girlfriend’s Closet appears to be a collaboration between two companies. Or maybe it’s one company, two concepts. Or maybe two companies, one owner. Regardless, the West Anderson store appears to have joint custody of their shoe and women’s clothing collection.
SB/​GF, as I’ve decided to call it, is a large unassuming retailer with a full selection of women’s casual, semi-​casual and business attire. And chances are, they’ve got a pair of shoes to match. Here’s what I like about SB/​GF. It’s not a boutique and it’s not a department store. It’s something in the middle… I can’t really describe it, but I like it! It’s absolutely perfect for the the working woman of average socio-​economic status. Cutting the bullshit… it’s affordable wear-​to-​work clothing for those of us who would rather not (or can’t) drop $ 200 on a new outfit. You won’t find the trendiest threads on the market, but you’ll find contemporary clothing that leaves you with some cash.
Shoe Boxes/Girlfriend’s Closest is budget-​friendly and fun.

Rarely has a shoe store gotten me so excited about a product that is not shoes. Does that make any sense? The clothes here are amazing. AM-​AZ-​ING! Good sales, funky classy clothes for girls.
Only weird thing. The strange stuffed birds they have perched on top of the shoes. Made me say… Hmmm…
I will be wearing a skirt from here in the near future. As for the shoes, pretty cool as well. Alot of boots, not enough flats.