Choosing the right boot…Pay more attention to the boot than the Brand.
While waiting on customers I will occasionally overhear them talking to their friends who are shopping with them that a particular brand boot didn’t hold up for them or they couldn’t get them to last. I’ll always engage in a conversation with them and after a minute or two I come to the same result 99% of the time. What I have found is that it isn’t the brand that is the problem, it’s the boot. Confused yet? Well let me explain a bit more.
To help you understand I’ll use the Rocky Boot Brand as an example. Rocky has 3 separate boot divisions within it’s brand. They have a work, outdoor, and uniform division…all branded under the Rocky name. Now these different divisions all have a line of boots designed for different environments. If you buy the wrong boot for your working conditions then you could end up with a boot that performs poorly in your working environment.
One of the common errors customers make is buying a boot from the hunting or uniform division and using it in a work environment. Hunting boots will perform no better as a work boot than a Corvette will as a pickup truck. Try using a $60,000 Corvette as a pickup and it won’t last 6 months. Same deal with using a hunting boot as a work boot. You’ll get about 4-6 months out of them. This is were the brand gets blamed by mistake. If you mistakenly buy a work boot for use in a hunting or uniform environment the wear won’t be an issue as they will hold up. You’ll sacrifice some comfort and features though that are present in the proper boot for those uses.
So when out shopping for footwear ask a clerk what’s the best boot for you. They should ask you what you are using the boot for. If it’s for work they should ask you where you work, what your job duties are, and what a normal day is like on your job. They can then point you towards the right boot for what you are using it for. This will prevent you from buying the wrong boot for the wrong purpose.
Brian
Hanks Clothing
