CASA Shoe Sale

Each year here in Lynchburg, there is a HUGE shoe sale, and my friend Chrissey and I went yesterday morning.  This is one of those sales that people wait for all year long. The shoes range from $5-$25 and are from some very high end designers. 

It never ceases to amaze me what Lynchburg has to offer.  At one time, Lynchburg was home to one of the largest shoe manufacturing company in the country, Craddock Terry Shoes.  Here is what this article says about it, “In the early 1900s, Craddock Terry Shoe Company was one of Lynchburg’s largest employers, one of the United States’ most faithful suppliers during World War II and the fifth largest shoe manufacturer and distributor in the world. That’s a pretty hefty tout for a city with only around 18,000 residents at the time, according to U.S. Census records.”  Craddock Terry shoe factory has now been turned into a fancy hotel and resturant in downtown Lynchburg, but the shoe industry is still strong around the ‘Burg. 

Today, Lynchburg still is home to several shoe companies.  The headquarters of Consolidated Shoe Company are located just down the road from my house.  They are the manufacturers of Apepazza, Ipanema, Madeline, Nicole, Palladium, and Poetic License.  Another shoe distributer here in the area is Old Dominion Footwear.  They are responsible for distributing brands such as Duck Head Footwear, AquaDuck Waterproof Footwear, Lalla and Lalla Lew. 

Each year these companies donate shoes to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for their annual shoe sale, and so all the proceeds go directly to CASA.  CASA of Central Virginia recruits, trains, supports and monitors volunteers to advocate for abused and neglected children in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. It’s a worthy cause and I’m sure that they make thousands of dollars every year at this sale for their programs. 

For the sale, the doors open at 8 and people start lining up outside the door around 6 or 6:30.  My friend Chrissey and I decided to get there around 7, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that we were only about 30 yards from the front of the line.  It was a cold and rainy morning, and there was a J.Crew Sample sale going on across town (more on that later), so luckily we were able to get so close to the front.  By about 8, the line was back about 2 blocks! 

Here is a picture of the line (the people go so far back, you really can’t see the end of the line in this picture)  All the pictures were taken on my phone, so they are a little blurry.

Here I am waiting in the sprinkling rain for the door to open :)  And below is Chrissey.

 

As soon as the door opens, it quickly becomes a madhouse with people grabbing shoes and running around with piles of shoe boxes in their hands.  We came prepared with big bags to hold our boxes this year- I learned my lesson last time.  Stacks of shoe boxes and I don’t work well together!

Once you grab all the shoes you think you might want off your shoe size table, you take all your loot to the sides of the building and start trying on.  This is the scene that you see all the way around the building as people try on and decide which shoes they like and want to buy.

I ended up buying two pairs of high heel shoes for $10 each this year.  I was looking for some sandals to wear at the wedding, but there wasn’t alot of flat shoes to choose from.  Here are the pairs I bought:

These are Naked Feet shoes, which are a high quality handmade shoe from soft leather.  They sale here for $125, and I only paid $10!

This pair is a Madeline Stuart shoe and I think retails for around $50. 

Overall, a fun and exciting shopping day!  Later that evening I went with a couple of girls from work to the J Crew Sample sale after I got off.  I’ll share with you about that sale tomorrow!