OH NOES!!! After probably 20 years of shopping at DSW, and waaaay too many shoes and boots, I…read morestopped in here just to look. I headed straight to my favorite area--clearance--and saw a big sign: "30% off sticker price."
The familiar blue, yellow, red, etc stickers were on the boxes, but the discount charts were GONE. I asked a lovely, charming young associate if the 30% was in addition to the color sticker discount, and she said, "No, the colors don't mean anything. It's just 30% off whatever it says."
Well. This was a new, horrible, terrible, NO GOOD, and UNWELCOME change. I am thoroughly disgusted and UNHAPPY. Gone is the thrill of finding amazing shoes or boots or sneakers at 50-60% off. It sucked when they dropped the yellow tags from 80% off to 70% off, then to 60% off, but that still felt okay. Having everything only 30% off is pathetic.
I have, on a quite a few occasions, bought 5-6 pairs of shoes of boots, mainly because the quality and prices were irresistible. I WOULD have bought a pair of Lucky Brand boots, a pair of Sorels, and a pair of Sperry Topsiders, if the prices were based on the color tags, but I left them all there. 30% off across the board just doesn't make the cut. I did buy a pair of black leather penny loafers, but only because I don't have a pair and will use them. I wasn't really happy, though.
Then I got to the register, and a VERY nice, very patient man managed to find the 20% off coupon on my phone :D So I got 30% off, then 20% off, which took nearly $40 off the sticker price. Debated getting the boots, but decided against them.
So, in summary, it appears that I can no longer be a shoe fiend, since my habit is dependent on good pricing. I only wear all-leather shoes, which are only produced by a few makers, and expensive. I will NOT wear manmade shoes or boots.
Ah well. Good thing that I do take very good care of my shoes and boots. They're going to have to last, because DSW has failed me. I'm a strong proponent of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." DSW messed with a long and wonderful pricing strategy. Dumb, IMO. Hopefully others will think the same, and speak up. Until then, farewell, DSW. It was a good long run.