# Northampton factory shoe shopping



## Drogue (Mar 24, 2009)

Cross-posted with StyleForum but I thought people here might be interested.

I just got back from a shoe shopping expedition to Northampton. Lots of great stuff (pics to follow when I get a chance). Here's my impression of the factory shops I went to and what's in stock at the moment (and what I ended up getting, in case anyone's interested )

*Church's*: I always like the shop and the people in it, but there didn't seem that much in classic styles. A few loafers, a few quite elaborate brogues and the odd 'interesting pair' (green pony-skin boots, bright gold suede shoes, etc.). A couple of pieces they made for Jil Sander too. Worth a visit, though seemed to have less that I'd consider buying than on previous occasions. I was very tempted with a pair of burgundy Oxford toe-caps, but decided against after finding better elsewhere. Range from the odd £75 pair with most half price at around the £150 mark.

*Trickers*: A pretty good and mixed range here, by annoyingly not all out on the shelves. A lovely collection of exotics on display (not for sale) - ostrich, lizard, shark, cordovan, crocodile (freshwater and saltwater) and snake, IIRC. The man who works there is an acquired taste, being very dismissive of most other shoe makers (inc. Church's and C&Js) and with a very dry sense of humour - verging on offensive (at one point he said, in a very snooty way in response to a question on sizes: "you've got to remember these are English shoes, so sizes will vary and you need to try them on", not realising that my family are born and bred Northampton and, having quite a few English shoes are well aware that sizes vary, but wanted to know how Trickers lasts compared to others' to know where to start looking, as my feet aren't a standard shape), but an interesting guy to chat to. I ended up getting a pair of very dark brown Oxford toe-caps which were a discontinued line from their Corniche collection. Seemed a bit strange to have a plan Oxford in a country shoe collection, but I was very impressed. Almost everything here was ~£125, around half full price.

*John Lobb*: They're full of loafers at the moment, but have little else as apparently other lines have been selling much better. They've got the 2008s and a couple of laced boots in a range of sizes though (sadly none in mine though). Most just in boxes though, so you have to hunt for things. Prices range from £200-270, which seems very good value for Lobbs.

*Cheaney*: The highlight of the trip for me and well worth the visit to Desborough. A large selection and many perfect quality. Cheaney seem to make for a lot of other people as well, so I picked up a pair of black Gieves & Hawkes Oxford toe-caps and a pair of burgundy wholecuts and black medallioned Derbys that were both due to go to Paul Smith Japan. Some were on sale at ~£80, though most were £100-130. While possibly not quite the quality of some other Northampton makers, I've always thought Cheaney were great value. Incedentally, I had a brief chat to one of the workers who popped into the shop looking for a pair, and was very pleasantly surprised to see the passion and pride he took in their shoes, which made me feel a lot more confident about their quality.

*Crockett & Jones*: A pretty small selection, much smaller than usual in my size (UK 7). A much better range in sizes 8 and 9, though still nothing that stood out to me. Quite a few loafers and patent shoes, the odd Oxford and brogue, etc. Prices seems strangely variable, with some almost identical shoes ranging from £110-180. They had some handgrades at £250 a pair, though a smaller range than I've seen before. Indeed I walked away with a pair of Rosemoor handgrades in tan which I was very taken with.

If anyone's planning a trip at the moment, I'd recommend having a look through Church's, C&J and Trickers, though accepting that the factory shop sells a pretty eclectic selection. Unless you're a fan of loafers, I wouldn't bother hunting through the stacks of boxes at Lobb, though it might be worth a quick visit if you like the 2008 or Jodpurs. I was surprised at how much was at Cheaney's, so if you have a car I'd recommend the trip, though it'd be a pretty expensive taxi from Northampton.

As an aside, does anyone have any good recommendations for leather shoe conditioning (ideally that I can buy in the UK or online)? Is it really necessary?


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## pkincy (Feb 9, 2006)

Thank you for the detailed post.

No visit to EG or just nothing there to like?

Unfortunately in dry Az we have little need to do any conditioning of our shoes other than constant light polishing.

If you are in the UK I would imagine you need to search the many threads on both AAAC and SF for conditioning and waterproofing threads. Before a trip last week to wet Houston, I did that search and there is a wealth of information although most of it leaned towards overshoes if it was really wet and simple polish if it wasn't and natural non heated drying with newspaper stuffing if your shoes did get wet.

Perry


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## caf flow (Oct 11, 2009)

Interesting thanks for that
I called the c&j factory shop sat morn to see if they had any chelsea's in my size
Lady who answered said best to pop in or call fri afternoons as it when they get all of their 'faulty' line in
She said to call back next fri but being impatient i popped down to jermyn st and paid full price :icon_smile:

Interesting what you say re trickers being dismissive of most other shoe makers. I heard that from most shops about other rival shops i visited last friday


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## Drogue (Mar 24, 2009)

pkincy said:


> No visit to EG or just nothing there to like?


EG is by appointment only and still charges an arm and a leg for slight seconds, so I've never bothered.



caf flow said:


> Interesting what you say re trickers being dismissive of most other shoe makers. I heard that from most shops about other rival shops i visited last friday


Not Trickers as a firm - I saw a lot of camaraderie and mutual respect between the few people employed in the factories I met - but the guy who runs the factory shop. It is true that they make great shoes and don't get the recognition that Church's and C&J get in most places, but I found his style a little jarring.


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## Pipps (Dec 20, 2005)

Great post! Great reading! Thank you!


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## Kingstonian (Dec 23, 2007)

I have always found the Trickers man extremely helpful and knowledgable. He is happy to share advice and opinions on shoes.

He went out of his way to get me a contact number for Edward Green. 

The Northampton shoe people seem to know one another. I never found David (I think that is his name) from Trickers snooty or dismissive of other makers.


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## Drogue (Mar 24, 2009)

Kingstonian said:


> I have always found the Trickers man extremely helpful and knowledgable. He is happy to share advice and opinions on shoes.
> 
> He went out of his way to get me a contact number for Edward Green.
> 
> The Northampton shoe people seem to know one another. I never found David (I think that is his name) from Trickers snooty or dismissive of other makers.


Perhaps it's just how we came across, I don't know, but this isn't the first time we've been in and felt that. I would agree he is extremely knowledgable and helpful, though I certainly felt talked down to. Perhaps there's more than one person? Though I didn't want this thread to turn this thread into a discussion about him, and I hope I've been fair in describing him as an acquired taste - I'm sure some people will get on really well with him - but while he was very helpful and found me a lovely pair of shoes, I didn't feel at all comfortable shopping there.


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## cmavity (Feb 5, 2009)

Sounds like the same gent I talked to. He was dismissive of Church's, but suggested I pop in at C&J. Since I really didn't know much about "true" English shoes, I welcomed his dissertations and felt very educated by them. I could see how he might rub you the wrong way, but I enjoyed him. Wearing the Trickers I picked up today, as a matter of fact.

And to get back on topic, too bad that Lobb didn't have much. When I was there in March, I picked up a pair of Oakley (2008, prestige line, derby). Only had time to hit those two, and felt fortunate at that, since my darling wife let me take a half-day out of our London vacation to take the train to Northampton.


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## Tbolt (Nov 7, 2009)

*Cheaney visit*

Hi folks, this is my first post.

I have recently found this excellent forum and this thread inspired me to visit the Cheaney factory shop yesterday (140 mile round trip). I had telephoned some of the other factory shops and I did not find them all to be very welcoming.

I am very pleased with my decision and believe I obtained great value for money. Also, the service was excellent, I was not pressured in any way and the two gents serving were very helpful, giving me advice on the best value shoes on offer. I asked them to compare the difference between Cheaney and my Barker 'Venice' shoes and they showed me how they were built to a price with a plastic layer on the sole and the patent effect on the upper was to mask the quality of the leather.

The shoes I saw on offer were perfect discontinued stock or over stock of special orders.

I purchased a pair of brown 'Cheam' shoes (special order for Spain) for £100 and discontinued black 'Jasper' shoes for £80. I also bought a pair of slippers for £20. As the shoes would retail at £200 and the slippers at £85 (made by Church's) I have made a great saving.

The Paul Smith shoes for Japan order were very tempting but were understandably only available in small sizes.

Pics of shoes below.

Cheam shoes - Bench made - covered stitching on sole










Jasper Shoes - Bench made










Slippers










Thanks for the info on this great forum.

I hope more people will support Cheaney Shoes that has recently been bought from Prada by the local management team and is led by descendants of the founder of Church's shoes. I certainly wish them well.

I will go back again and will also look out for the sale days (slight seconds) that they hold twice a year.

Regards
Gerry


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## kev777 (Jul 14, 2009)

Those Cheam shoes look very very nice indeed :icon_smile:


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## Tbolt (Nov 7, 2009)

Thanks Kev777

I am very pleased with the Cheam shoes they are in my opinion made to a very high standard of quality. :thumbs-up::thumbs-up::thumbs-up:

Gerry


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## bryand (Aug 11, 2009)

*Barker's are worth a look*

After my tour of the English Shoefields, I have become a great fan of Barker's shoes. Their factory shop in Earl's Barton is in dedicated premises next to the factory. It has knowledgeable staff who will make sensible and imaginative suggestions as to what you might like (having established your size and initial style preferences). It's always worth asking if you don't see what you like on display - they have much bigger stocks than they can display. An altogether satisfying retail experience.

I find their styles more interesting than many of the more traditional Northamptonshire manufacturers, and their prices are reasonable. I now have four pairs in daily use and they are all wearing well.

They will accept Barker's shoes for reconstruction/repair and will add your name to their database so you can be informed when their Sales are on.

All in all, worth going out of your way for.


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## Franko (Nov 11, 2007)

*I will never tire of "Northamptons".*

Rest assured young Drogue, everyone will be interested.:icon_smile:

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to set out the results of your adventure up the M1, fun isn't it ?
I enjoyed sharing your experience, (please note three smileys) I'm also absolutely sure many other members enjoyed shopping with you and are looking forward to seeing pics of your purchases.

I will respect your wishes, to not divert the thread into a discussion about particular individuals, I will just say, to know him is to love him.:icon_smile:

Hope the breaking in goes smoothly, could be quite a workload if your wallet was busy.:icon_smile:
Wear in good health.

@Tbolt.
Welcome to the forum.
Good contribution.

Liked your post and the shoes you bought, especially the Jaspers, great pics too.

If you will permit to say though, I think you should have started a seperate thread of your own, not least, because a good post with clear pics on such a great and interesting topic deserves it.
Sincere best wishes, have fun.

F.


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## Philo Vance (Jan 13, 2009)

Not to hijack the thread, but here's a link to my northampton shopping thread from the beginning of October that you guys might like. . . . people seemed to enjoy the pics :icon_smile_big:

https://askandyaboutclothes.com/community/showthread.php?t=99135


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

Bumping this one also, very interesting and and would like to see if there is updated info on which of these shops might still be open.

:chinese:


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

^^
No please don't bother, you will be far better served looking in Jermyn Street and Bond Street, or for that matter Central Avenue. It is a very long and rather tedious journey to Northampton and the factory shops are quite capricious with what they will allow you to buy or even try on.


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