Current Quality of Church's Shoes

[Stiva]

Not novel. Just a recycling of pearly king fashion. There is nothing new under the sun.

 

[katastrofa]

Elvis Presley would love them.

 

[Gerry]



To be honest they're all taking the piss with their retail price these days...Tricker's, Church's, C&J, EG, G&G etc. Their price has risen so much in just two to three years - far beyond anything plausible. This forum's steadfast backing of C&J has created a monster.

I would agree with you, over the past 3 years or so their (good) reputations have gone to their heads and now they are milking their customers. Quality across the board has been reduced while price has increased.

 

[katastrofa]

I would agree with you, over the past 3 years or so their (good) reputations have gone to their heads and now they are milking their customers. Quality across the board has been reduced while price has increased.

The demand has increased. Online communities like this one are also "responsible" for it, for spreading the word praising English shoes far and wide

I've read here or at AAAC that Northampton shoe makers have big problems with increasing production due to the shortage of skilled workers (average age: around 50). And what does a capitalist company do when the demand increases and supply is inelastic? They increase the price.

Another factor is inflation, of course. The pound stering ain't what it used to be, and at least part of the materials used for a C&J shoe is imported (notably, leather).

 

[Leather man]

I know there's not much interest in Church's shoes on Styleforum but just to post that I tried to order two different pairs through Herrings and have found that Church's have abandoned their Made to Order programme. So unless what you want is in stock its tough luck. Such a shame.

 

[justsayno]

That's disappointing... Sounds like a Cost cutting measure

 

[katastrofa]

I've been to Church's store today and the personnel assured me that the MTO programme is alive and kicking.

 

[BatmanEsq]

I would agree with you, over the past 3 years or so their (good) reputations have gone to their heads and now they are milking their customers. Quality across the board has been reduced while price has increased.

I'd second this opinion. I made a visit to their Northampton factory, and was incredibly disappointed with what they had on offer. The quality of materials was shocking - so much so that I had to ask the assistant in their factory shop if the shoes on sale were apprentice practise samples!

Needless to say, my comment didn't go down too well...

 

[sputnikmoment]

Hi, not sure if this should be posted here but here goes: i just bought a pair of Church's called Coppice. However i cant seem to find any info about it online. It's from an outlet though. Just wondering if it's discontinued or what? Thanks!

 

[Silhouette]

Greetings.

I'd like to revive this thread and I hope that there still are some subscribers who take an interest in the development of Church's shoes.

My involvement with Church's began as of recently when I made my first acquisition of a pair of Westburys in calf leather. £170 GBP from Ebay as opposed to £380 (current price on Herringshoes.co.uk) and probably more expensive in retail in Sweden.

I should be head over heels over this deal seeing as the shoes fit great IMO <- Please dispute this if you from the pictures can derive another point of wiew. I am disappointed though because when I tried these on, several loud cracks became appearent and from now on when I walk in these my right shoe makes the reknown "squish, squash, squish, squash" noise. Take a close look at picture #4 and tell what to make of it.

Do anyone have any suggestion what could've gone wrong and could anyone propose a solution? Is it me who 'raped' the shoes or is it the construction that can be critized?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Loathing]

As far as I know, the only thing to do is to take them to a Church's store, or, failing that, a good cobbler. The same thing happened to several pairs of my Church's: it's a construction fault and it's one of several reasons I haven't bought them for years.

 

[katastrofa]

And they cost £180? Now you know why.

 

[Silhouette]

And they cost £180? Now you know why.

I think you're missinterpreting the whole situation. These shoes were auctioned as brand new and not seconds. There were no visible fault on the shoes nor any sign of wear. If Church's had manufactured shoes which were known to be faulty and sold these to retailers then this is a manufacturers issue as it will damage the brand. To simply dismiss my post as 'you get what you pay for' is arrogant and uneducated. I don't know if it's envy on your part.

I can either file a complaint to Church's or to the seller as it was within reason for me to believe that these weren't flawed, regardless of which price I paid in the end.

 

[green garden]

Hi, I'm re-posting this question I originally posted in the Allen Edmonds thread for some help from you guys as well:

"Need some sizing help. I have a friend in Asia who is asking me to get him a pair of AE McTavish. He doesn't know his US size. His only point of reference for me is that he wears a 9.5F on a Church's Capital. Any Church expert out there? Thanks!"

 

[thelonius]

I think you're missinterpreting the whole situation. These shoes were auctioned as brand new and not seconds. There were no visible fault on the shoes nor any sign of wear. If Church's had manufactured shoes which were known to be faulty and sold these to retailers then this is a manufacturers issue as it will damage the brand. To simply dismiss my post as 'you get what you pay for' is arrogant and uneducated. I don't know if it's envy on your part.

I can either file a complaint to Church's or to the seller as it was within reason for me to believe that these weren't flawed, regardless of which price I paid in the end.

Belatedly thought to check out the Church threads. I have only one pair of Church's double leather soled brogue Brooklands. They were around £260 in 2013, bought new from the factory shop in Northampton. They're not seconds, but were reduced in price - never really understood why. They're very average looking, but comfortable and I'm getting a lot of wear out of them. For your case, I can't tell what is wrong with the pair you bought from the photo IV, but given the conditions of purchase and price, the fact that you don't know the history of the shoes, it seems that what you can (probably already have done) do depends on your budget, but to "file a complaint to Church's" as you say is probably not one of your choices. I doubt if any manufacturer would consider itself liable for any products sold second hand on Ebay. The first thing I would do is to complain to the Ebay seller, and pursue this avenue as much as you have the stamina for, because it's happening more and more. Products gettiing out, we don't know how (faulty stuff put under benches and spirited away at the end of the day), which may be new but should never have been sold in the first place. If this results in nothing, if you have the possibility, you could just send them back to the Church's factory in St James, Northampton, telling them the problem, and asking for some sort of renovation (but to email you a quote first). However, postage costs both ways should be taken into account. Otherwise, and probably the cheapest and best solution, find a good repair person near you to look at them and repair if possible. Othewise, put them in the trash bin and think 5 times before buying anything on Ebay again.

Actually, as you last posted in August 2013, I'd be very interested to know what happened, in a back to the future sort of way.