I love Crocs. I know that in the beginning they weren’t the most glamorous shoe for a woman’s foot. But wow, are they comfortable! And they have served me well over the years: during pregnancy, hospital stays, flights to Africa and back, and every day life around the house. And in recent years, Crocs have really stepped it up with more feminine styles and colors.
After the retreat this past weekend, we went a little further north to some outlet stores in north Georgia. When I saw a woman with a bag that had the Crocs label on it, I couldn’t resist asking where the store was. And I headed off in a hurry!
As I worked my way through the store, I saw a bin in the back that had children’s Crocs for $10 each. But on top of that, there was a store wide sale for “buy one pair, get 2nd pair half price”. So two pairs of kid’s Crocs for $15. What a deal! And the reason for the low price? The shoes had mis-matched straps. (Honestly, I thought it made them look very cool!)
So I started rummaging through the bin looking for shoes for our new kids. And in case you haven’t noticed, children in Africa are almost always in flip-flops, Crocs, or something similar. So I thought it would be a great first shoe for them, and then we can have them measured for tennis shoes after we have them home.
And then I had an idea… what if the manager would cut me a deal on the shoes? For example, sell the first pair for $10 and the rest for $5, say, if I bought 10 pair. See, we have one more suitcase to fill for the orphanages where our children were initially placed, and what better to fill it with than NEW CROCS!!
So I asked.
And instead of telling me “no”, the nice associate said “I’ll email my manager.” Alright!
He came back and said that he couldn’t do that, but he could take 20% off every pair I bought (including the pair for me and our own kids).
Have you ever picked out 13 pairs of children’s shoes at one time? It’s pretty fun! And I found one pair for Sweet Girl that was brown with pink straps, a turquoise pair with orange straps for Little Man, and navy with grey straps for Mr. Quality Time. Plus the new kids. And 2 bags full for the orphanages!
During the check out, the associate was having difficulties making the computer take both discounts (BO, GO1/2 price) and the 20% off. His work around: taking $2 off each of the children’s shoes. That meant half the shoes were $8 and the second half were $3. That averages out to $5.50 each! I spent less than $100 on 14 pairs of shoes. Thank you, Lord!!
My only regret was not buying more. But wow, I am thankful for the bags of shoes that we will be able to share with the orphans outside of the capital city, where they receive less donations.
New Crocs. Gotta love it. And you’ve got to love a store that will still wheel and deal in the 21st century!
