For years I had been wanting to shop for quality Israeli shoes at the Teva Na'ot טבע נאות"outlet in Kfar Etzion, Gush Etzion just out of Jerusalem. The other day, my friend and I finally went there. We were prepared to buy and we were looking forward to buying. But as you can see from this title, we were disappointed. There weren't any bargains among shoes were could wear. Prices really were much higher than we had expected. And even though we were still willing to buy and tried on dozens of pairs of shoes, none felt comfortable enough for our tired middle-aged feet. We are both very particular about the shoes we wear, because we like to walk and be active.
The store is large and has other departments, besides the shoes, including housewares. The sales staff was not particularly helpful besides clarifying prices when we asked. There wasn't much order in how the shoes were arranged, although we had been told that they were set by size. I work in a shoe store, and I couldn't figure out any system there.
By the time we gave up I was limping and glad to get back into my comfortable pink sneakers. At least I got this yearning to go to the store out of my system.
Any time I've been there, they've had a 2nd item at 50% off deal. I've used it to get my kids sandals (I get them Shoresh, which are a fairly standard price, so the 50% deal is pretty good) and a cast iron pan, also with 50% off, when I bought an otherwise odd number of items.
ReplyDeleteI didn't need any great quantity for the discount. There were no great end of season sales on sandals, and unfortunately, I found their shoes uncomfortable. I still consider classic Naot sandals I bought years ago to be comfortable and worth the money, but I was disappointed.
ReplyDeleteThere are never end of season sales there, because all of the merchandise is sold continuously through all seasons. But as the previous commented said, they always have good deals, and I've also found sug bet shoes/sandals with no obvious defects at very reasonable prices. It's not really fair to criticize the place just because the shoes weren't comfortable for you.
ReplyDeleteI think that people should be aware that it isn't all that inexpensive. There's the ambience of a discount store, but the prices aren't all that low unless you're lucky. Also, I may have found something with more help, of which there was none. Don't forget that I work in a store and know what service is or can be.
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