Club Obi Wan

Hey Fellow Indy Gearheads,
My Alden 405s size 10 1/2 finally arrived after a 2 or 3 month wait. Well worth it! I´m quite a happy fellow at the moment. They fit, feel, and look great. I actually like the colour of these boots. I had seen various photos showing a rather light shade, but I´m quite happy with these. I´d say they´re cordovan to me. I owe it all to Schmidty. He not only knows his shoes, but he´s a great guy. Give him your support if you need a pair.

Cheers,
IndianaGeo

congrats....your feet are definitely going to thank you once those go through the veeeeeeery short break in period.

i wholeheartedly agree that schmidty is THE boot man around these parts. great service and a great guy

Congratulations! Aldens are one of the best garment purchases one can make, even in the non-gear world. Enjoy em'!

What was the total cost for the boots and to get them to you in London (shipping, Tax, etc)?

IndianaGeo wrote: My Alden 405s size 10 1/2 finally arrived after a 2 or 3 month wait.

2 or 3 months? In March I received my 9 1/2 Aldens in less than a week from the Alden shop (and I'm in Italy...). :

Tron, Thanks. These really are a comfortable boot. I trust you have a pair or two as well?

Cav, I think all in all it came to around 315 to 320.

Strones, I guess you´re one of the lucky ones. Maybe they were just short on my size or something. I really didn´t mind the wait though. For me, it just made the whole process sweet and rewarding.

Right now the boots just look "too new" if you know what I mean. Hoping to break them in over the next week and see how it goes.

On a side note, I´ve also got a pair of "Bills Khaki´s" that are getting tailored and should be done by Saturday. If anyone out there hasn´t tried Bills Khakis, then do. They´re on the web. They´re awesome, Made in the USA. I´m thinking of filling my closet with their entire selection. Super well made and classic styling.

Cheers,
IndianaGeo

Cool, now go out and gosh, darn wear them!

(glad they FINALLY arrived!)

IndianaGeo wrote:
Cav, I think all in all it came to around 315 to 320.

$ or £ ?

$.

When, exactly, did you order them, Geo?

Regards! Michaelson

Hey Michaelson, Knower of Things! Good to see you.
I ordered the 405s from Schmidty oh, maybe 2 or more months ago. I didn´t mind the wait really. It just gave me more time to look forward to getting them. I was fortunate in that they fit me well having not tried them on first of course. Hope you are well.
Regards,
IndianaGeo

Thanks, Geo. That's what I needed to know.

I just cancelled my order.

HIGH regard! Michaelson

Michaelson,
Please think twice about that. My guess as to the time of my order was just a finger in the air estimate at best. I said "2 OR MORE months ago"... It´s closer to MORE I´m sure. Could be three and could be 4, I honestly don´t recall. I had almost forgotten I even ordered them and was actually looking into other shoes. In fact, I participated in several threads on this board about Red Wing Gentleman Traveler shoes and the Orvis Aviator boots. I was considering both of those.

If I were you, I´d cancel the cancellation.

Cheers,
IndianaGeo

Thanks for the input. As I told you via PM, I'm not irritated at you OR schmidty. I'm irritated at how Aldens has handled things. If that's the way they're going to do things, they don't need my business this round.

Regards! Michaelson

Why you guys order Aldens from Schmidty and not from the Alden Shop? Is it a matter of price? I don't understand.

Price.

Regard! Michaelson

definitely price.......but the bonus is that schmidty is one of us!!!!

jim at the alden shop has excellent customer service too, but i don't think that he's as 'gearhead oriented' as bryan.

cheers,


g

I ordered from Schmidty because A) He´s a gearhead/forum member and understands our affliction B) He has a great reputation from all the posts I´ve seen 3) He´s one of the nicest guys I´ve ever met (on the phone but hopefully will meet him in person someday) and 4) In a major coincidence, a guy that sells shoes at his store used to sell shoes to me when I was a kid (I live in London England now and his store is in the Chicago area). So effectively I have a decades old relationship, albeit not directly, with Schmidty through someone who works for him. So it just seemed to make sense that I order from him even though I had to wait months and months for the shoes. I´d rather give my business to someone who I sense has a good heart and appreciates what these shoes mean to guys like us, than to give it to someone who is just looking to turn over sales. I´m not implying necessarily that other stores don´t have great customer care. I mean, sales is the life blood of any business enterprise. But there´s something extra special when you know that the person selling you a product understands its value to you as a customer...as least in my view. I just go with what feels right for me and going with Schmidty felt right. I not only gained a great pair of shoes, but someone I consider a friend as well.

No argument there. I wish it had worked out for me, but it didn't.

Regards! Michaelson

I ordered mine (10.5E) from the Alden Shop in late May and got it in less than a week. And I paid $320.00 It's a nice shoe, but too hot to wear it in summertime.

A lot of very good reasons, but not enough to justify a 3 or more months waiting, against 1 week or so. Just my opinion, of course.

The waiting time was due to Alden, not Schmidty.

Regards, Geert

In my case, and I'll say for one last time, it has nothing to do with schmidty or his store. My disappointment is with Aldens and the way they are currently treating their shops that are not 'official' Alden 'named' stores.

If I had ordered my size from the Alden shop, say, in San Francisco, I would have had my boots within 3 days. That's normal. When they make the store owner and their customers wait for a production cycle, and keep moving the delivery date with the caveat 'potential delivery date', it's a pretty poor business practice on the side of the production company.

I had hoped to have these in a timely manner. We're now getting into Christmas shopping time, and those funds will be diverted toward that effort rather than filling my boot order, I'm sad to say....but it's all in what's available, and things being done in a timely manner.

We're not talking about a small craftsman making items one piece at a time, like some of our hat makers, etc. We're talking about an old time, established shoe factory who are making their small contract customers wait when they're delivering product to their larger store fronts.
Business is business, but I've NEVER liked how that worked. It's not fair to the small business owner.

In my case, my size was not an unusual one. I have checked around the other Alden stores just to be curious, and 11B is a shelf stocked item.

In my case, I HAVE a pair of 405's, so it's not like I'm waiting with baited breath for my sole pair of boots. Though disappointed, I'm sure I'll live.

All in all, though, even not actually getting a pair of my wanted boots, my dealings with schmidty have been friendly, fast, and complete. I'm sorry we could not complete a transaction. I HIGHLY recommend him if you're seriously considering your first purchase of 405's.

Who knows....he may HAVE yours in stock! From what I've read, my experience has been the exception to the rule, and you can deal with him with complete confidence and satisfaction.

Regard! Michaelson

Geo!!!!!!!!

I'm glad you like 'em Sir!!! Let me know how you like your Bills Khaki's after you start wearing them. David Morgan sells them, and I've always been curious about them. I'm notoriously hard on pants, so for they price, I want to know if they are worth it!!!

Michaelson, I can't express enough, the regret I feel about not being able to get you your boots in a more timely fashion...I appreciate the "no hard feelings"

Strones, You did indeed get lucky. It all depends on how long ago you got your boots. If you've purchased them post 5/22, extremely lucky. Alden isn't making enough boots to keep up with (primarily our, the fans) demand. I've had orders placed for MONTHS for people, because Alden can't keep up. Then I feel like a jerk when I can't get them fast enough. Or even in a fairly timely fashion.

Gwyddion, even though (I don't think) we've ever met, I appreciate the backup, man, Thanks.

None what so ever, my friend!

As an aside, though, I'm not sure why anyone thought you needed backup. There was nothing in my posts that stated anything but support for you, and disappointment with the Alden factory. In that I AM disappointed that individuals thought I was 'attacking' you in the first place. I don't do that, and they know better.

HIGH regard! Michaelson

What's the Schmidty price for a pair of Alden?

Schmidty: as said, I ordered my Alden in March, a long before the Indy IV earthquake! For what I see here now, yes, I was lucky.

Has anyone bought 405's from Sherman Shoes or The Shoe Mart on-line?
Do they have any in stock or do they put you on a list?
Same question for the Alden Store, do they actually have any on hand?

Michaelson, my backing-up was not because of you sir, but just as a reminder after Indiana Strone's comment that the waiting time is not because of Schmidty. If it came across as directed to you then please accept my appologies.

Schmidty, No I have not yet dealed with you or spoken to you, but I have read great things about you and probably will in the near future.

Indiana Strones, I made that remark towards you. I did not know whether or not you thought that waiting time was caused by Schmidty, but to be on the safe side and because of fairness I put that in as a friendly reminder.


Regards, Geert

Thanks: no, I had no idea of what caused the waiting time and I was just trying to understand the situation, as I'm not an expert in this field, and also very far from US.

Understood, Geert! Thanks!

Strones, the delay is caused at the factory. From what I understood schmidty to tell me, they make their boot sizes in production cycles. It's not like that make an order for a pair of boots as the order comes in. The take the orders, then when that particular size cycles through the factory for production, once those sizes are made they fill the outstanding orders. One day they may only be producing size 10's. The next day or two size 8's, etc. It's not an all size production factory. It's one size at a time.

What's happening is Aldens seem to be filling the big stores orders first, and are leaving the little stores standing by the door with hat in hand hoping their orders will be filled in a timely manner. Their customers are sitting around waiting too, and it's not the shop owners fault.

THAT'S what's going on here.

Regards! Michaelson

Thanks Michealson, now I understand the problem!

I was lucky dealing with Schmidty in that I placed my order around the first of March and recieved my shoes round about April 21st...Made it in before the KOTCS fan wave hit...

I did place an order for a couple custom pairs through Alden in San Francisco (1 Black Pair and 1 Burnished Tan Pair...both for work) in the first week of May and was told that I would be contacted to confirm my order within a week...After two weeks I called them back and they said that everything was on schedule and I should have my shoes around the second week of August. I didn't hear anything from Alden so I called them last week and was told that their factory was too busy to fill a custom order of only 2 pairs as their "primary concern" was to their "Major" clients...I took that as what Michelson has been saying about them making sure that their primary stores are the focus.

I was then told that my order would still be filled but it may take an additional 6-12 months

Needless to say I canceled my order right then and there. I agree that it's just sad at how they treat these types of things. It's almost like the minor supplier and the customer are taking second seat to their major contracts...If that's the case, which it seems to be, it's very sad that they would have changed their business practice like that. Most of the vets on this forum, or at least the ones I have talked to, that have dealt with Alden in the past 10-15 + years can attest that this was not the case in the past. From what I've been told Alden used to be very customer oriented...Seems like the company is taking a turn for the worse in that respect...

Who are their "primary stores" and where can I place an order with them?
That's what I want to know. Who has 10E in stock?

TheMechanic wrote:Who are their "primary stores" and where can I place an order with them?
That's what I want to know. Who has 10E in stock?

I would assume stores like well "Alden" stores...the Shoe Mart seems to have a very good rotating stock....Probably any store that does a high volume of sells on the Alden product (Not just the 405 Boot) would by my best guess...

I believe that Schmidty's store only carries the 405 from Alden which in reality makes his store a low profit store for them...so that would, at this point, not make him a primary concern for stocking their product...or that would be my take on it anyway...

I could almost assure that you could call the Alden San Francisco store right now and ask for a 10E and they would have it...or at the very least be able to get it to you in a time frame a great deal shorter than Schmidty...Simply because they seem to keep their high volume stores stocked...

The good thing about Schmidty is the price (Plus he is a fellow gear head)...So for us, the Indy fan 405 boot consumer, it really boils down to paying a cheaper price and waiting longer to get the boots or paying a higher price and getting the boots a lot sooner...

the primary shoe store would be the alden shop in san francisco:

The Alden Shop
170 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (800) 273-7463
or (415) 421-6691
FAX: (415) 421-6763

10:00am to 6:00pm PST Monday through Saturday

online@aldenshoe.com

i've gotten excellent service from jim there.

then of course, there's schmidtty, and for the speciality boots, there is adam at alden of carmel and tom at leather soul hawaii.

there's also an alden shop in NYC but i don't think they have an online shop.

these are the ones i know of.

Thanks for your help. Time to sell some more stuff on Ebay to finance the boots!

Schmidty,
Oh man, the shoes are so amazingly comfortable. Thanks for your friendly service. I´ll always deal with the Geishe people. The Bills Khakis will be done with the tailor tomorrow. Can´t wait to wear them with the Aldens. I´m a big believer in Bills Khakis. Someone else on this forum turned me on to them and wow they´re so well made. Go ahead and take the plunge on a pair of twills. I think they´ll last you a longgg time. I´m imagine they sell ´em at Oak Brook or Schaumburg Mall. Good luck!
Geo

If I were in the market for a pair of Aldens right now I'd check with Schmity first on the availability of my size and the price, but I'm much too impatient to wait a month or more for something like that if I didn't have to. I bought my current pair a couple of years ago and I think IIRC that I got them from Shoe-mart (I'd have to research to find out for sure). They were like $269 which I thought was great because everyone was talking about paying $320 or so, they arrived in a little over a week. This is why I'm wondering why everyone is waiting months for boots, I assumed that something had changed. As always, I'd check around with as many dealers as possible and weigh all the issues before deciding.

Doug C

Try Schmidty, I talked to him about an hour ago and he just received a "large" order from Alden today.

Regards,

Travis

Yes, it's true, I did receive a (ahem) "large" 9 pair order from the folks at Alden today. Every pair is spoken for unfortunately, and I do have a few in stock (11, 11 1/2, and 12 D). I DO carry other Aldens besides the 405. But since I found out 10 years ago they were the Indy Boot, it's always been my little pet project, my boss humoring me. Then I joined COW...Anyway, we have carried Aldens for close to 20 years I believe, and whereas we don't carry a lot of styles, we carry 12 or 13 different styles besides the 405. And for shoes that are $300 and up, that's quite a fair amount of $$$ tied up in inventory considering we have say, 10 pair on average per style. For shoes that don't move all that fast, that's a LOT of cash tied up. Well, I've rambled enough. But to answer a question...our price is $270 for brand new first run factory fresh boots. And thanks everyone for the assists.

Be Kind

Well, I received the good news from schmidty that my 11B's arrived today. That's actually 2 days before the ORIGINAL promised delivery date. Needless to say, I've reversed field and have accepted shipment.

I'd be an idiot to do otherwise.

Well done, schmidty. If you ever get your hands on the person at Aldens responsible for jerking your orders around, choke them.


HIGH regards! Michaelson

Congrats Michaelson. I wish I was in a position to get a pair but I was in a car accident last week and my car was totalled.
A new car is a wee bit more important purchase right now.

Serious question here, does anyone else wish they had a pair for every day of the week?

No.

Actually, two pairs are about all one should need. All you require is a pair of cedar shoe trees to insert in the pair that is 'resting' while the others are on your feet.

The shoe trees help dry out the resting boots, the cedar wood absorbs any odor, and as they dry the trees hold the shape of the boots to a proper original shape.

They help boot tops last for years and years with proper and regular use.

So, two pairs of boots is the perfect number.

VERY sorry to hear about the loss of your car, Mechanic! Been there, done that, DON'T want a tee shirt to prove it either!!

Regards! Michaelson

LOL. Cedar shoe trees I do have thanks to Alden restoration. I own two pairs now and love them way too much. I want to wear them every single day. I try not to to keep them from getting over worn. If there is such a thing with these rugged boots. I rotate, don't get me wrong. lol

Thanks. I'm currently accepting donations for my Alden 405 fund if anyone's feeling charitable.

Good deal, Josh! You're already good to go in my opinion!!

Regard! Michaelson

Bogie1943 wrote:Serious question here,

Sorry, no serious questions here at COW.

schmitty just called me yesterday!
Mine are in and shipping today!!

I cant wait to join the Alden club!!!

now heres my question: can we get black 405s schmitty?