Alden shop of Washington, D.C.
Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:17 pm
Well, just last week I took a family trip to Virginia and managed to take a day to walk through D.C.. Check out the national Mall, see some guys rappel off the Washington Monument and thoroughly get ticked off at the detours, road blocks and idiot drivers. That said I did manage to take a peek in the Alden store just on block away from Ford's Theater. So, after the quick history lesson of Lincoln I headed over to Alden for another lesson (killed two birds with one stone that day 
maybe that's not the best way to word those two... hmmmm)
Anyways, I walked in the Alden store which was rather small but very eloquent. Cherry wood, leather seats... $500 shoes, you know. As I walked in I was greeted by the store manager, Kathleen. An extremely pleasant woman that was more than happy to talk about shoes. I told her I was looking for the 403 and she walked me over to them, well we took 4 steps, it's a small shop. Either way, she asked if I had ever owned a pair. I told her I currently have a pair of 405's and loved them but wanted to see the 403's to compare the two.
The shelf she took me two had all 4 variations of the 403/405 with a few exceptions (light tan and a new Cordovan color being made as a special run). I noticed the 405 on display was a lot browner than mine (being the pumpkin run) and the 403's were almost chocolate with a reddish under tone. As I picked up the 403 she said the new feature about this boot is that it's made of cowhide whereas the 405 is made from horsehide.
That blew me for a loop... All I could think was jackets for a brief second but then turned that off and went back to the boots.
She also mentioned that while she has been working for the company 20+ years the 405 has always been a big seller. While looking at the boots she mentioned that it had only been in the last 2 years that the 405 had increased in offerings. She said the company decided to expand the styles of the 405 since the boot had been picked up in fashion magazines, and had already been made in small batches for individuals in different colors and with alterations. We also discussed J Crew's offering and at this point I mentioned the Indiana Jones connection, since I had seen it was called the "Indy" boot online for the J Crew boot. She said they never call it that and that only 2 other people had ever told her that in the store.
I then pulled out my "I'm a dork card" and proceeded to recite Khan's monologue from Star Trek II.... in Klingon. ](./images/smilies/Indy_wall.gif "Brick wall")
Honestly, she didn't seem to care or mind. I told her about our group and said it was certainly a niche crowd to which she replied "all of our customers are niche". I asked if I could take some photos for the site and she was more than happy to allow me to do so. After the pictures were taken, Kathleen discussed some of the history and details about the making if the boot. I told her I had seen an online "making of" video and she said she hadn't seen it but had heard about it. She said that after working there 20 years she knew of almost no one who got a tour from the outside so that video was kind of surprising when they released it.
Anyways, it was a wonderful trip and I had my feet properly measured by the store (already knew but just wanted to try on a few of them). I didn't get any boots but my wife did like the 403's a lot so... maybe Santa 
I highly recommend anyone in the area to stop by the shop and talk to Kathleen, it was a wonderful visit.
Here are a few pics.
Enjoy!
-TS
Nope, not pecards!!!!
maybe that's not the best way to word those two... hmmmm)Anyways, I walked in the Alden store which was rather small but very eloquent. Cherry wood, leather seats... $500 shoes, you know. As I walked in I was greeted by the store manager, Kathleen. An extremely pleasant woman that was more than happy to talk about shoes. I told her I was looking for the 403 and she walked me over to them, well we took 4 steps, it's a small shop. Either way, she asked if I had ever owned a pair. I told her I currently have a pair of 405's and loved them but wanted to see the 403's to compare the two.
The shelf she took me two had all 4 variations of the 403/405 with a few exceptions (light tan and a new Cordovan color being made as a special run). I noticed the 405 on display was a lot browner than mine (being the pumpkin run) and the 403's were almost chocolate with a reddish under tone. As I picked up the 403 she said the new feature about this boot is that it's made of cowhide whereas the 405 is made from horsehide.
That blew me for a loop... All I could think was jackets for a brief second but then turned that off and went back to the boots.
She also mentioned that while she has been working for the company 20+ years the 405 has always been a big seller. While looking at the boots she mentioned that it had only been in the last 2 years that the 405 had increased in offerings. She said the company decided to expand the styles of the 405 since the boot had been picked up in fashion magazines, and had already been made in small batches for individuals in different colors and with alterations. We also discussed J Crew's offering and at this point I mentioned the Indiana Jones connection, since I had seen it was called the "Indy" boot online for the J Crew boot. She said they never call it that and that only 2 other people had ever told her that in the store.
I then pulled out my "I'm a dork card" and proceeded to recite Khan's monologue from Star Trek II.... in Klingon. Honestly, she didn't seem to care or mind. I told her about our group and said it was certainly a niche crowd to which she replied "all of our customers are niche". I asked if I could take some photos for the site and she was more than happy to allow me to do so. After the pictures were taken, Kathleen discussed some of the history and details about the making if the boot. I told her I had seen an online "making of" video and she said she hadn't seen it but had heard about it. She said that after working there 20 years she knew of almost no one who got a tour from the outside so that video was kind of surprising when they released it.
Anyways, it was a wonderful trip and I had my feet properly measured by the store (already knew but just wanted to try on a few of them). I didn't get any boots but my wife did like the 403's a lot so... maybe Santa
I highly recommend anyone in the area to stop by the shop and talk to Kathleen, it was a wonderful visit.
Here are a few pics.
Enjoy!
-TS
Nope, not pecards!!!!
