[At Law]

What happened to Allen Edmonds' elegant and high quality black with gold lettering shoe boxes?

I ordered two pairs recently and received them in horrible brown with black script boxes that look like a box that a pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction square toes would arrive in.

Presentation of a product is a very important element to marketing.

I hope this isn't the first step of AE ruining the quality of their products.

 

[roman totale XVII]

^ I’ve not bought any of their shoes for about 5-6 years, but I feel some may say this is the last step, not the first!

 

[Titus_A]

Are they still using the bizarre flip-top things? That was about the last straw for me.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Presentation of a product is a very important element to marketing.

What, do you collect boxes, or something? I honestly couldn't give a damn about the box, since it's not really a display item, I just care about the shoes.

 

[smmrfld]

What possible difference could the box make? At this point, the box is probably made better than the crappy shoes. One vote for least consequential complaint of the day.

 

[Dhaller]

I have some Christmas ornaments - stored in a shoe box - which I got from my dad. He got it from his dad. SAME shoe box... seventy years old, at least. Intact.

THAT is a shoe box!

(Maybe it's just me, but if there's a single-most-useful box in all the world, it's a shoe box. Okay, it's actually a cigar box, but not being a smoker, shoe boxes get an honorary First Place.)

Details matter.

DH

 

[richard warren]

I have to agree with the first guy: packaging tends to express aspiration, and if you don’t have aspirations at least of certain level of quality, you are not likely to achieve much.

 

[smmrfld]

I have to agree with the first guy: packaging tends to express aspiration, and if you don't have aspirations at least of certain level of quality, you are not likely to achieve much.

I don't aspire to wear nice shoe boxes. I like to wear nice shoes. Apparently AE now offers neither.

 

[SG_67]

So that’s where those price increases go?

 

[At Law]

What, do you collect boxes, or something? I honestly couldn't give a damn about the box, since it's not really a display item, I just care about the shoes.

I believe every manufacturer and purchaser of any product in the history of sales and marketing would disagree. The quality and style of packaging is imperative.

Would you buy a new Breitling or Rolex in a brown flimsy cardboard box? You wear a watch and not the box. You don't display your watch in the box--you display it on the winder.

Would you be happy if you purchased a new Brooks Brothers suit and it was packaged in a plastic dry cleaning bag and hanging on a wire hanger?

Would you buy a new BMW 5 Series at a corner car lot in a low income part of town? No. That is why high end auto manufacturers require their dealers to spend millions and millions of dollars on the presentation of their dealerships.

Packaging of any product is of the utmost importance.

 

[London380sl]

Just ask Apple about the importance of packaging.

https://www.swedbrand-group.com/blo...sensory-experience-that-strengthens-the-brand

 

[Alan veivre]

Why does everyone seem to hate allen edmonds? Has their quality gone downhill that much?

 

[smmrfld]

Why does everyone seem to hate allen edmonds? Has their quality gone downhill that much?

Yes.

 

[vonSuess]

I don't know anything about the ones that cost less than $500, but those I've purchased above that still have seemed fine to me...

 

[Alan veivre]

They used to make a pretty good single monk strap shoe. But they don't anymore and seem to be chasing the millenial customer with trendier styles

 

[triklops55]

Why does everyone seem to hate allen edmonds? Jas their quality gone downhill that much?

And their prices keep getting higher, although they aren't bad when you can get them at a significant discount.

 

[Alan veivre]

Wonder if the shoes at their outlet stores are made just for outlet as "overstock" or are lesser quality than the full price at nordstroms and their stores. Nordstrom. Outlet stores always have lots of allen edmonds also

 

[August West]

The box is important to me because I keep the shoes in the box they came in (after they've aired out.) Do others not do this?

Some pairs of my shoes can go months between wearings. Keeping them in the box is a practical storage method. I can stack them up 5 high this way in a coat closet.

 

[Patrick06790]

Why does everyone seem to hate allen edmonds? Has their quality gone downhill that much?

I've had good luck on recent purchases.

The reason everybody notices what AE does is that they are the last US-made shoe outfit that is even remotely affordable to the average reader of menswear websites, and especially to those of us who labor in poorly-paid obscurity and would rather have a decent pair of shoes and exist on Ramen noodles than eat steak and wear Rockports.

 

[At Law]

I've had good luck on recent purchases.

The reason everybody notices what AE does is that they are the last US-made shoe outfit that is even remotely affordable to the average reader of menswear websites, and especially to those of us who labor in poorly-paid obscurity and would rather have a decent pair of shoes and exist on Ramen noodles than eat steak and wear Rockports.

I concur. I have purchased AE's since I was a new born and have always had good luck with the Wisconsin made shoes.

Sure, every once in a while I will find a small flaw or a scuff here or there right out of the box. However, I do more damage to the shoe during my maiden voyage from my house to my car to my office in one day.

AE is a company that builds a great American made shoe at a price point that reflects is quality. If properly cared for, you can wear them sylishly and comfortably for many years.