We Fit You #12: April Showers Makes...

Above: Kamik ladies rubber boots $69.90, BOGS men's rubber boots $119.90 and $94.90, Baffin men's duck boot $74.90

So far, Winnipeg has had a miserable spring with little sunshine and a surprise of MORE snow - actually, not really that surprising. Thankfully, I think the snow is finally gone for good, and the rain has been coming down. In this type of wet weather, you need to keep you're feet dry to keep them comfortable. A little piece of advice: stay away from 100% cotton socks. They are not moisture wicking, and your feet will end up cold. Picking socks with wool, bamboo, or acrylic are good alternatives. My personal favourite are Smartwool socks. They come in really cool patterns, and some styles come with padding on the balls of your feet so it feels extra cushiony all day. 

Check out our socks here, and the Smartwool socks here

Not only are rubber boots going to keep your feet dry, but they are also trendy. It is common to stumble across photos of celebrities wearing their rubber boots - they are so easy to wear both serving function and fashion. 

We Fit You #11: Show Me Those Sexy Feet!

Have you ever heard of the term podophilia? Yes, it is quite close to pedophilia but it is MUCH different. Podophilia is when people find feet sexy – a foot fetish. Many more men have this than one would think with a whopping 47 percent.

There is a Sex and the City episode, “La Douleur Exquise!” which features a shoe salesman with a foot and shoe fetish, who assists Charlotte York. He allows Charlotte to have a very expensive pair of shoes for free simply so he can rub down her feet, and assist her in trying on multiple pairs of sexy high heels. Charlotte soon figures out why she continuously receives substantial discounts, and becomes discomforted when the salesman obviously climaxes as he helps her with a pair of shoes.

Yes, highly comical and disturbing.

I am absolutely not trying to insinuate that our staff possess foot fetishes, but we definitely love shoes. Don’t worry – we won’t let anyone get weird with your feet.

In our store, the staff’s goal is to make every customer feel comfortable and at cared about. We take time, and sit down one on one with each customer to measure their feet, discuss any problems, and find the perfect pair of shoes, socks, insoles, or all of the above!

Yesterday, a staff member was telling me her experience at the mall when she took her grandson to buy new shoes.  He did not know what size he was, so she had to go hunting, looking in every single shoe store to find a brannock (this object measures your feet), being unable to find one.  If you come to us, you can cut to the chase and find out your size right away. No running around the mall. No guessing.

Here is a print out version of a brannock, so if you are unable to make it to one of our stores, you can try measuring yourself.

For Men:

http://www.canadianfootwear.com/files/docs/Mens%20Foot%20Measuring%20Guide.pdf

For Women:

http://www.canadianfootwear.com/files/docs/Womens%20Foot%20Measuring%20Guide.pdf

Photo found on google images of "shoe lady" Darlene Flynn

We Fit You #10: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF MARK

Follow mark as he longboards to work at Canadian Footwear, and tours around our awesome Exchange District building - 128 Adelaide Street. You get a sneak peek at his adorable baby boy too... 

filmed with a Go Pro by Mark San Juan (shipping department)

We Fit You #9: A LITTLE HISTORY

Bert Scharfstein acquired Canadian Footwear Ltd. in 1932. The Winnipeg-based company has since gone through many changes - as a wholesaler from the 30s through the 50s, as a footwear discounter from the late 50s, and competing with the big box retailers through the 70s until the late 80s when Bert and his wife died nine days apart.

That was when the most dramatic changes began. Bert's son Brian and his partner Pam Cipryk bought the business from the estate, but they faced a big challenge. Buying the company was the easy part. Finding the right direction for future success was more daunting.

After months of analyzing Canadian Footwear, Brian experienced minor health problems. He saw a specialist who put arch supports - orthotics - in his shoes to ease some pain in his knees. That was when the light bulb went off in his head - offer additional services to better fill customers' needs.

Brian visited a factory in New Jersey that makes orthotics. He learned everything he could about the industry. He enrolled in a pedorthic class in Chicago. From 1986 to 1990 he invested many dollars and hundreds of hours taking classes to become a Certified Pedorthist, a "foot pharmacist" who dispenses "medication" in the form of socks, orthotics and shoes.  During this time his partner Pam Cipryk developed the infrastructure to enable the business to grow.

Brian's pedorthics certification marked a significant change in the company. Canadian Footwear began to specialize, focusing on our customers' needs, providing education, service and the best in quality footwear and accessories... our “We Fit You” experience. Let us provide you with the “We Fit You” experience today by dropping into any of our 3 Winnipeg locations.

We Fit You #8: TRENDS OF SPRING/SUMMER 14

Cobb Hill Styles L: "Ivanka" $99.90 & R: "Ivy" $99.90

Animal Print, perforated details, and 70's wedges are some of the trends hitting our shelves this spring (all shoes in photo above are by Clarks and can be found on our website). These styles are all extremely versatile and can be worn dressed up or down with basically any outfit. Super easy to wear! 

And the athletic trend continues! Every colour you can think of is in stock, and they are not just used for working out. You can pull these off with your everyday look. If the Man Repeller can do it, so can you. See here: http://www.harveynichols.com/news/2014/04/14/man-repeller-leandra-medine/

You can get ANY of the shoes above at: www.canadianfootwear.com