Growing up, I remember needing shoes for numerous occasions, whether it was a pair of comfortable running shoes for school or fancy dress shoes for a piano recital. Whenever these occasions arose, the one store we always — and I mean always — went to was Payless Shoe Source, neatly located inside our friendly neighborhood mall. As soon as I entered the store, I would see signs advertising sales and shelves upon shelves of cute shoes in colorful boxes. I would wonder which pair of cool shoes I was going to rock that school year. As I searched through endless pairs of sparkly, colorful shoes, I landed upon one that caught my eye. A pair of sparkly pink sneakers — without any laces, of course, since I didn’t know how to tie my shoes back then. I tried them on, and my parents told me to walk up and down the aisle to make sure they fit correctly. Of course, they always had a buy-one-get-one-free deal, so I ended up getting another pair of shoes for a different occasion.
Payless Shoe Source was founded by the Posez cousins in 1956, with their first store opening in Topeka, Kansas. Their goal was to allow customers to try on shoes themselves, reducing the need for staff while keeping prices affordable. They strategically placed their stores in malls due to the high foot traffic. By the 1970s, they had over 400 stores open, and it was the largest retail family chain at that time. By 1976, Payless was sold to another company, where it continued to grow. By 1996, they had expanded to over 4,000 stores — a huge jump — and began expanding internationally to countries such as Nicaragua and Costa Rica. However, they started to experience a significant decline in sales, and had to close down 200 stores by 2004. The number of store closures continued to rise as fewer people shopped in malls, e-commerce gained traction, and competition from similar retailers intensified. Unfortunately, they had to declare bankruptcy in 2017, which put new people in charge of the business. However, due to failed marketing strategies and poor management, they went bankrupt again in 2019 — this time leading to the closure of all their U.S. locations. In 2020 they announced a potential relaunch on their website, however it’s now 2025 and their website still remains “under construction.”
It’s sad to see a shoe store that was such a pivotal part of my childhood close down completely. No other shoe store carried the same energy like Payless Shoe Source. Their shoes were always comfortable and accommodated my wide feet, unlike most stores that only carried medium-width sizes. The affordability of the shoes, along with the amazing quality of them, made almost every trip to that store completely worth it. Every year before the first day of school, it was a tradition to go with my parents to pick out a new pair of shoes — an experience that always filled me with excitement.
The shoes that are sold at Payless can be found online on websites such as Amazon now fortunately, if anyone is looking to find affordable, quality shoes. However, it won’t compare to the experience of trying on the shoes in person and someone telling you to walk around in circles to test them out.
Hopefully, Payless makes a comeback in the future!