I remember my mom taking my siblings and I to walmart or payless for shoes and I would be really excited to get new shoes and being able to pick them out. I could remember the smile it brought my mom when she saw how happy we were to get these bargin brand shoes. We weren't the wealthiest but my mom provided what she could and I'm glad we weren't hard on her

One thing that made me stop shopping at Payless was that the prices are not as reasonable as they used to be. Back in the day, shoes there cost anywhere from $5-20. Not anymore. Last time I was in there, I saw a very basic pair of ballet flats being sold for $24.99. Might as well go to Target, Kohls, or Marshalls. Payless still sells cheap shoes, but without those cheap prices.

Let's be honest, what killed Payless was that they thought they were a regular shoe store, not a discount retailer and started charging up to $75 for off brand, lessor quality shoes.

I thought I was so cool with my new “adidas” from Payless until I went to school and realized everyone else’s shoes had 3 stripes not 4. 😭

Simple: Prices went up and quality remained the same. Who wants to pay 50 bucks for a pair of shoes with glue and threading showing and pulling apart?

Anyone remember that “Payless smell”

I feel bad for today's parents. Payless helped my mom stay within her budget while we were growing up.

This was my first job, started 2007. Even then I could see everything they did wrong. The biggest, in my opinion, was how we pretty much had to take back any return that a customer brought in. I swear, these people had no shame! They would return stinky, dirty shoes that were clearly well-worn ("Ohh, they didn't fit!") and the policy was just to take it back as long as they had a receipt. How do you expect to make a profit when you allow your customers to treat it like a rental service?!?

they priced themselves out of the market. There's no need to pay 34.99, 49.99 for shoes that have the quality they do. You can go to Ross, tj maxx, marshalls and get named shoes, and leather for same cost or even lower. They didn't watch their competition and adapt. It's too bad.

The fact that I can buy clearance Nike sneakers at Ross or Marshall’s for the same price I’d get Payless shoes says it all. The stores looked cheap and their shoes rarely caught my attention.

Let’s be honest the nail is the coffin was the rise of stores like Ross and DDs that offered name brand shoes at a fraction of the cost.. rip Payless you held it down for us 80 and 90s kids with the light up sonic shoes, but you didn’t evolve 🙏

We used to sing “Payless shoes ain’t got no grip. Make u fall and bust your lip” 🥴🥴 they were really smooth at the bottoms 😭

“What are thooseee” was their downfall

It came to a point when it wasn’t “ less”. They had prices comparable with DSW who sells name brand shoes.

I was a freak of nature child with a women’s size 11 shoe size at 12 years old in 1993 and Payless was the only place I could go for shoes. I miss them. I could get some cute heels for $25 that I would wear like three times anyway.

I remember we would only go to Payless for sandals. Payless had some cute sandals.

In middle school, you were mocked if you did not have branded shoes like Nike and they would otherwise comment that you got your shoes at payless! It was a crime to get your shoes there as a kid...

Payless Shoes somehow ended up costing more than JCPenny, Macy’s, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, Walmart, and Famous Footwear. People would rather buy from a higher quality Brand Outlet than Payless.

Ahhh, I remember walking out of Payless with 8 pairs of shoes and only paying $40. I still have quite a few pairs, including several that have never been worn.

I used to hate it when my parents brought me here to buy shoes LOL

Remeber getting champion shoes from Payless.... Damn those were the days

My Grandma basically lived at payless and so I have some fond memories of just being in the store with her. Almost all my shoes always came from there and I never really thought that much into where my shoes came from/what brand they were, except when Uggs first became a popular thing many years ago. When they were to finally close down here, I remember she intentionally bought so many pairs of shoes and boots for EVERYONE in the family because the closing deals were so cheap. I kinda feel sad not seeing them anymore, from the childhood memories, and I know she's still upset about them closing down to this day.

I used to love Payless! When I got my first job at 15 I finally was able to get my own new shoes and this was my store of choice. I got good work shoes, cute sandals, even my heels for prom at Payless. R.I.P. rest in payless

R.I.P Payless. Thank you for my ballet shoes, tap shoes, school & church shoes!! You always show up when I needed you!

Coming from someone who was a manager of payless... they messed with time cards and got sued a ton!! If they would have followed the rules they would have saved millions in lawyer fees...

I remember getting payless shoes as a kid. The last time I bought shoes from payless was 2015 for prom shoes. It's a great place for cheap formal shoes.

in recent times, i always remember them as them being "cheap" but actually being way more expensive than they should've been. they were always poorly made and they fell apart in a year from normal wear. my mom used to work at Payless and when the location she worked at closed, she moved on and managed a famous footwear instead lol

I actually have good memories of Payless and I feel thankful to them because growing up poor, it meant it was the only place I could get shoes as kid. It was wonderful to me when my Mom used to take me there... Like a small Christmas! I usually got to choose the shoes I wanted and sometimes she used to buy me *2 pairs!* I felt so great when that happened. Quality wise they were always great to me, and I used to walk a lot because, well, I was poor. The only ones that surpassed them were a couple of Vans and some Pumas I got lucky to own. Also I was a big guy from a bad neighborhood, so no one ever dared to make fun of my beloved Payless shoes LOL

Payless was big when adults and kids were innocent/naive, when we didn't care what brand or quality the others used to wear.

It wasn't all off brand, they had some name brand shoes (usually closeout inventory). In 2005 I was a freshman in college and needed hiking boots...found a $200 pair of Columbia hiking boots at Payless for $50. Still have those boots, 15 years later...

Graduating from Payless to name brand shoes was the change from Elementary to Middle School in my family lol there was no going back after that. It was like Eve finding out she was naked. Me looking down and realizing the shoes on my feet were a target for bullying if I didn’t buy them from the mall was a strong and memorable realization!

I purchased a pair of Shaq sneakers from Payless for basketball. One day, while running a fast break, I drove through the lane to score but the sole of my right shoe was back at half court. I never returned to Payless.

I remember as a middle schooler when my favorite basketball player Hakeem Olajuwon released his own signature shoe exclusively through Payless because he wanted it to affordable for all kids unlike Jordans. My mom was going to buy me a pair because she knew that he was my favorite player and I was a die hard Rockets fan. But I said no because I didn’t want to get made fun of by the other kids at my school for having Payless shoes.

I remember payless shoes being a good spot for skate shoes. For a time they had airwalks, comverse and occasionally DCs which were (at the time) pretty good. Skaters shred shoes, I usually burn through 3 a year at least. So buying 3 pairs for under 100$ (cad) was great! Then one day, I walk into my local payless and found the selection to be complete shit, mostly heels. And for a while (at least in my area) they became a women’s shoe store and now… my local payless is out of business, there’s a taco restaurant there now

My parents were pretty poor back then, so shopping in Payless was a common practice. But man were the shoes cheaply made. Got corns on a foot once. Never again, after that since my parents were able to find financial stability after finishing a heavy mortgage. It never evolved with the time and then there were shoe stores like Shoe Warehouse and Shoe Company in Canada popping up. Also Winners aka Canadian version of TJ Max started appearing where they did sell shoes.

The main reason is that their prices went way up.

You missed a major point, Their shoes are low quality and fail quickly. Most people I know think their product is crap and would never shop there because if it.

When you're from the woods, anything bought at a mall was automatically cooler than what you could get locally since it took an hour to get there. Whether you told them if something was from Payless or JC Penney was up to you.

I moved to the US in 1999. My mom knew Payless well because it was the only place she could buy size 13 shoes that looked cute. I grew up wearing their shoes. I was actually sad to see them go.

This explains everything! When I was a kid, I begged my mom not to buy me shoes from this place! My friends would roast the hell out of me! Pro Wings! Generic Jordan’s! 😂 But as an adult, I LOVED this store! Always walked out with 2-3 pairs of decent shoes for about $40. Then the prices went up, the sales were weak and I stopped shopping them. I guess they were trying to pay off that debt! 😳

Parents:were going to payle- Me: WE GOT SHOES AT HOME

Them: "You look like you got your shoes at Payless!" 🤣 Me: "I did." 😌 inner peace wins.

While I raised my children this was my go to store,being a single parent of 4,it was the best place to get school shoes,backpacks,socks and purses. I loved payless,until walmart,slowed down the place for reasonably priced shoes for my family,we buy what we buy you buy what you buy,yes I do and will shop at payless. I do not shop online. I really enjoy shopping in stores and catalogs too!!

UNRELATED but when I was in high school they had a raffle. We paid 1 dollar per ticket to win a grand prize. So many people POURED money into this raffle thinking the grand prize was the xbox one that just came out. It was a $15 payless giftcard....

I remember being clowned at school for having payless shoes

It was my favorite place to buy shoes FOREVER!! I legit cried when o found out they were going out of business. As a single woman... I used them to look cute and in style!! As a mom of 2 I used them to keep up with the constant growing kids!!! They will be something I miss FOREVER!!

When Payless was going under at the local mall a European came in and bought thousands of dollars of shoes to take back to Europe. I think that’s bootlegging

My mom took me here about every year growing up for school.

When kids got caught wearing Payless or Skechers at my elementary school, it was OVER 😭

Yes, during my childhood, being suspected of wearing Payless shoes was sure to get you mocked, ridiculed, and bullied.

I once said playless shoe store when I was seve and my mom corrected me. And I said whoever named it that should be fired for picking a dumb name. And I remember the adults in the room kinda made fun of me..... So the opening to your video was such a validating experience....

All of the Payless stores here locally have been having "40% off the entire store" sales for the last week. Not a good sign. Great video as always!

I never paid attention to the fact that it said “Payless ShoeSource” lol I just called it Payless!

I once went into Payless...once. I asked the clerk for where the 'good shoes' were, i.e. the quality ones? She looked at me as if I'd asked for a Brooks Brothers suit at K-Mart. She in essence said, fine leather, great design...umm, we don't sell that. Great store...

I remember getting most of our shoes there when I was a kid. Later on I would get picked on for buying shoes there so I started asking for brand shoes. But I remember my dad visiting and buying some airwalk shoes and I was so happy with them lol

That Payless smell. The scent of savings.

I feel like if they would’ve kept their prices low they would’ve been okay.

Shout out to all the single moms and dads working their asses off who went to Payless so that their kid had new shoes instead of hand me downs or thrift store shoes.

In the boroughs of NYC, it was popular with adult males. I bought shoes there often until they closed. It seems like every time I went in, the store was filled with women buying shoes for their kids, and adult males buying shoes for themselves (sometimes with their wives). The styles of men's shoes were pretty decent, and the prices were pretty cheap up until the last couple of years when their prices weren't really that much different than other budget shoe outlets.

It seems many of these stories go the same way: 1. Company is bought by private equity firms 2. Company files for bankruptcy

As soon as you said "private equity firm" I was like, ah, the vultures have descended.

You hit the nail on the head when you spoke about people getting ridiculed for purchasing shoes from Payless. I vividly recall the jokes in middle school about how, if someone’s shoes looked weird or dirty, they were wearing “some Payless-ass shoes.” Of course, this is rude and unacceptable on a personal level. But as a shoe store, you CANNOT lose your ability to sell to children, who are the highest consumers of shoes.

Payless had a store in a small mountain town in California. They went out of business about 2-3 years ago. They had a sale to close out the store and priced a lot of their shoes at 10$ but not everything in the store was supposed to be 10$. A new employee was left at the cash register by herself and didn’t understand that not everything was 10$. They sold almost everything that day because of Facebook. Once the word got out everyone bought several pairs and other items.

As of today, just 3 months after you made this video, they announced they will be closing ALL of their stores. R.I.P. Payless, you will be missed. Liquidation sale starts Sunday February 17th 2019.

The problem was the price and they had no brand recognition like nike, Adidas, sketchers, etc. So they were pricing themselves out of the market. People would rather buy a cheap nike or Adidas shoe over an expensive no name shoe.

I miss Payless! It's been a few years now, but that loss hurt me. I'm a woman who wears size 12! I liked trying my shoes on before buying them. I have no choice now but to buy from the internet and take my chances...

I actually miss Payless so much. I have to buy my shoes in wide width, and they had such a great selection. It was before online shopping was a huge thing, and I could actually find shoes that fit. It's still kind of a tricky thing to find in store. RIP.

"2012 - ... Payless now owned by private equity firms" Aaaaaaand that is the death of any company. Nothing survives a private equity firm. They may not kill it under their control, but they'll inflict mortal wounds.

“ShoeSource”? That’s some Mandela shit going on... Also, this place is the reason I grew up thinking any pair of shoes over $30 was overpriced

As someone who is now in their 40s, I love Payless. Can you believe some kids will pay 300 for a pair of shoes.

Keep doing videos bro, I’ve been watching you for over a year and I enjoy each and every video you drop. Keep it up!

I also feel like their stores look antiquated. Besides the logo change, the stores themselves (at least in my area) still look exactly the same as they did when my mom took me there in the 90s. Same fixtures, same carpet, same overall dingy look. It may not have looked too bad 20 years ago, but today it just doesn't look like a pleasant place to walk around in. I've found Fabco to look more modern inside actually.

can you do one to explain how Champion went from a bargain brand to a hip streetwear brand?

Yup. The "you look like you shop at Payless" was a major roast. Remember the Shaqs? Bruh, if you got caught with those on, it was over for you until graduation.

I think another issue is, their shoes were creeping up to $30-$50. In the 90's Nordstrom Rack and DSW became more relevant and were selling name brands at prices close to Payless.

They're too expensive. Even when they were going out business,the prices were still high.

Style selections got uglier and prices went up.. I was a huge consumer of them years ago because I have big, wide feet and had trouble finding cute or sexy and sturdy shoes. They always had something I could wear. Then my size became more geriatric and higher priced. I found better styles in Wal-Mart in recent years.. I'm saddened by this.

first off I want to say how thankful I am that you made this video, good job. I do have some nice memories of this store. Maybe some of them are blanketed in nostalgia or weekend fun, since most family shopping trips were on the weekends, but I still have lots of great memories there. Also no, none of the kids ever made fun of my shoes but I did get picked on for some other reasons. I was always a different kid and I liked to stand out, unfortunately not everyone liked me doing it. Even wearing off-brand shoes was part of my rebellion against what others told me I should do! I'm still proud of my rebellion even if it didn't always get the best reception. Anyways going to Payless was great especially if we could go right to Burger king afterwards, they were close by each other in my neighborhood!

I remember at the beginning of every school year my mom used to take my brother and i to the local Payless in our small town. She was working as a waitress and was a single mom, so it was really all we could afford. I was sad to hear when our hometown store closed. Very affordable, and some of the shoes are actually nice!

Cheap, uncomfortable shoes that look worn out after a short while, thats what happened. Don't even mention durability.

Growing up in the 90’s everyone knew that Payless always had the knock off version of whatever shoe was popular at the moment and it was strangely obvious which one was the off brand .

Those black sandals with the little white flowers from Payless at the end, I had and LOVED those lol 🥺

I haven’t shopped at Payless in years but it was a go to for my aunt who raised me. Never cared for it but I never paid! Childhood memories ♥️

Update: it didn’t. They’re closed everywhere now.

Current (and soon to be former) Payless employee in the States - I got hired in January of this year and holy shit. You aren't wrong about nobody respecting Payless - our customers are some of the rudest goddamn penny pinchers on the face of the earth. It's exacerbated too because a lot of our equipment is almost 2 decades old. You want a shoe we don't have in store and we don't know the lot number for? We have to use our own cell phones to go on website to look for them, which is great because we don't have wifi and bad cell signal. Also everyone just chucks their trash all over the place despite having trashcans literally right next to them but I digress. Since I've been hired they have completely cut out at least 2 entire rows of upper management, and halved the amount of store leaders in our district. My manager was basically given the choice a couple months ago to either "quit" (phrased so they didn't have to pay unemployment) or manage 2 stores with pretty much zero warning. Employees are paid like garbage, and generally treated like garbage, and if we have any issue it gets put through a whole rodeo of being ignored. For instance, our ceiling tiles have literally collapsed in due to rain leakage from the roof, or our fire extinguisher being 2 years out of date. We had a tech issue once where they sent us FIVE SEPARATE PRINTERS because they didn't believe us when we said the problem was with the computer. And that doesn't even count when in August there was an accidental mainframe shutdown that has now put us in a situation there are some ridiculous number of shipping containers of backed up product that they are putting on us to sell in half the time it would normally go out. Those 40% off sales? That's why those are happening. We're drowning in our own product. The shoes have also considerably declined in quality to the point I cannot wear them to work if I want to walk the next day. I make a point to wear my Adidas' in store just so that I can live at this point. I'll be happy to tap dance on the grave of this place once it goes - maybe it has better standards in other states or countries but in my experience Payless is easily the second worst retail job I've ever held and I'll be happy to see it collapse under the weight of it's own abuse. And I didn't even get into half of the things that have happened there while I've been working tbh.

I worked there and hated it! Glad to hear the good news that Payless went bankrupt! Stores like DSW has better selection and quality. When I left I was 1000% happier not having a job lined up than I was making money. Anyway I was transferring to another city for college so it's good that I wasn't an employee there.

Prowings and XJ-900 brands they carried in the early 90s was awesome!

Wow. Just wow. I also read it as payless shoe store.

My parents' reply whenever I wanted nice shoes as a kid: "We're not going to pay X dollars for shoes that you'll outgrow in Y months". Bonus insult: I got all of my brothers' hand-me-down shoes. Yes, the only thing worse than Payless shoes (besides no shoes at all, or no feet I suppose) are twice-used Payless shoes. Yeah yeah I know, 1st world problems :(

'Payless ShoeSource' is def the Mandella Effect at work lol but i also chuckled when he said "you look like you got your shoes from payless!"

I also feel like what hurt Payless was the fact that they became the punchline in so many jokes.

When I was a kid until I was perhaps 13, my parents got me shoes from Payless. They fell apart so quickly that they decided to start buying me more expensive Reeboks... which lasted much, much longer to the point where they honestly were cheaper because they didn't need to be replaced so quickly. So, other folks may also have realized cheap shoes aren't cheap in the long run.

I once bought a pair of winter boots at payless on clearance for $7.00 that lasted me 3 years. Only reason i no longer have them anymore is i left them at an ex's house. Because of this I'm unable to make fun of payless.

My very first job at age 19...! They failed because they were raising the prices...and their customers are looking to well...pay-less..so they lost their returning customers

My mom always got my shoes from Payless growing up. As an active child, they would be fully ripped and broken after eight months. Of course, as some comments have mentioned, they really helped parents who had tight budgets.

It's sad to see Payless decline. My son has multiple disabilities. He often needs half sizes and wide width, which I can never find at Walmart or Target. Also he didn't have the fine motor skills to be able to tie until recently so velcro shoes were a necessity for his independence. He is in his pre-teen years and velcro shoes are hard to find in kid's shoes after a certain age. Payless always came through for us. I know if we go there we will find a pair of shoes that he likes and fits all of his needs, usually for under $25. I noticed some comments on how the shoes fall apart easily. We've never had that problem, he's always outgrown them before they fell apart (and he's rough on his shoes, gets a lot of use out of them). I have noticed that when we go, or even when I've driven by, they are never busy. I've had this nagging question in my mind for a while "how much longer will they last". I hope for my son's sake they will last another few years or until he is able to wear more common shoes.

I’m a 6’2 female with size 12 shoes Payless was the only place that sold affordable shoes my size

I loved payless! I've been a payless shopper since I was a kid my mom took me once in a while. Then I chose to go on my own. Theyd have cool looking shoes at a cheaper cost and generally lasted me a year or longer depending on my activity level. When I heard they were closing honestly i panicked a little inside. Where would i get my shoes now? I've never been a shoe girl first of all. I hate shoe shopping. Hate shoes, but need them. I have like maybe 6 pairs, all for different occasions (every day, exercise, formal, flip flops, slippers, you get it). I never cared about name brand. I cared about comfort and slightly stylish. I'd go to payless when it was time to replace something. I'd go to a stand alone location. Hate malls. Now, I have to go to a regular shoe store such as American Footwear, sometimes Kohls. Or I just go to vans directly since they're my style of choice. Screw going to walmart for shoes. Too busy. Too stressful. IMO, payless was neat and organized. Maybe it's just my area. But it was always a pleasant experience for me.

Payless and Kmart were the only stores that regularly carried my shoe size and they both went out of business in the same year. I was crushed. Now I either have to shop online or buy kids shoes and apparently kids don’t need warm feet or arch support so that’s frustrating.