Payless Closeout Sales Drawing Huge Crowds
It does feel good to pay less. Shoppers at the Lufkin and Nacogdoches stores of Payless Shoe stores are picking on the carcass of the now bankrupt shoe store. Once a staple of discount shoe shopping, Payless Shoesource Worldwide Inc. is about to close it's doors forever. I took a spin by the Lufkin location near Wal-Mart today. Cars lined the storefront seeking great deals during their liquidation.
Signs plastered to the front windows obscure the view of shoe frenzy. They are emblazoned with "Store Closing Sale!" "Everything Must Go!" "Everything On Sale!" the final billboard letting you know that the entire store is 20 to 40 percent off. That seemed strange to me, I went to both facebook pages and they mentioned a bogo sale, that adds up to 50% off.
I remember when the shoe store used to be in the Lufkin Mall. That strip over by Wal-Mart end capped by a thriving Whataburger is where businesses all go to die for some reason. Numerous renters, like a now defunct Radio Shack have been in that row. Restaurants do well there, but retail outlets have a hard time competing with the big box store.
Too much competition in a saturated shoe market finally did them in. Sorry to see you go Payless, I spent many a Saturday waiting for my Mother and Sister to find some new church shoes on the cheap. I remember getting made fun of for wearing Pro Wings instead of Nike's. I miss the smell of sneaker white.