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03/08/2005: "Does price matter?"
Song of the Day: Candee Jay - If I Were You
Today as I was lacing up my $14 running shoes from Target, I started wondering if I was killing my body by not wearing $80 name brand running shoes. I started off by thinking, Nike has high maintenance celebrity spokespersons to pay, so I'm quite sure that not all of the $80 is an indication of quality. But is any of it? I'm pretty much assuming that some 7-year-old Chinese kid put together the Nike sneakers I passed by at the store. Now, maybe Chinese kids are running shoe experts because Nike has been exploiting them ever since their little "swoop" became a sign of status. However, I'm gonna bet that none of them ever advanced to Nike's R&D department.
So you take away the celebrity athletes. You take away the swoop and all the status it carries. What's left to differentiate the $80 Nikes from my $14 Target shoes? Very little, I'm guessing. And really, I'd be glad to buy swoop-less Nikes that don't get advertised by Michael Jordan if the quality is really there. But until Nike comes out with its discount line, I'm gonna be sticking with my Target shoes.
Replies: 3 Comments
Actually, I think that sometimes, price does matter. I went through a phase where I would buy shoes mainly from cheapo places like Payless and Kmart. First of all, they were uncomfortable. They seemed ok at the store, but once I started wearing them outside- man, my feet would hurt all the time. They just don't provide as much padding in the soles, I guess.Toni, Wednesday, March 9th
I've worn plenty of expensive shoes that fell apart just as fast (or faster) than the cheap versions I've tried from Target (or even, dare I say it, Wal-mart).Jin, Wednesday, March 9th
It looks like it probably all depends on the shoe! So far my Target ones have held together really well.Brooke, Wednesday, March 9th