The Shoe Tree

After a couple of bad experience with Harry’s Shoes, I decided to try this place out. It is a slightly smaller place but the people are so friendly and make an effort to get you the right size of your choice. In Harry’s Shoes the salespeople are barely interested, they will bring 1 – 2 pairs and expect you to decide, and are eager to move onto the next customer. Here the salespeople brought several pairs and really wanted a satisfied customer. They didn’t mind bringing more pairs and we left with one that we really liked. So so friendly, after Tip Top Shoes and Harry’s Shoes I was pleasantly surprised that lo and behold good customer service in kids shoe store does exist in Manhattan. I highly recommend this store. They have all major brands.

What a gem of a place!
I had a terrible UWS children’s shoe shopping experience at Harry’s. So I was wary of what my local kids shoe store could offer.
All of the staff at the shoe tree were so lovely, attentive, patient, gentle and knowledgable. And the shoes are reasonably priced! They have my business from now on!

We were visiting NYC from California. My son’s shoes got ruined in the snow and he needed new shoes. This place was downstairs from the building we were staying in, so it was convenient. I have to say the service was SPECTACULARLY EXCEPTIONAL! I was blown away by the wonderful customer service from the owner. I wish we had places like this back home.

Everyone who works here is so friendly, knowledgable and not the least bit pushy. They are great with my son and super patient. Shop local and support this great neighborhood store!

Best shoe store for kids. Great service and I love that I am supporting a family owned and operated business. We have bought our kids’ shoes at the Shoe Tree since they were practically born!

Great for grown-​ups!
I learned on Unilocal that the store, which is adorable and in my neighborhood, carries some things in ladies’ sizes (men’s too). I found the perfect sandals, there, after looking all over. Stylish, comfortable, but without looking like you’re wearing them for comfort. The kids’ shoes I always wanted when I was still buying shoes for mine, only the old places didn’t have them in my size!
The service was superb: informative and helpful, without being pushy like a lot of independent shoe stores.

I came here because I really needed a new pair of flats. I looked up shoe stores on Unilocal and this perfect rating store caught my eye.
I came in and as I walked in, I realized I could be in the wrong place. All I could see were kids’ shoes. Despite that, I still told the sales lady what I wanted since she approached me asking if I needed help. She was really nice and listened to what kind of shoes I am looking for. When she couldn’t really help me find anything, she asked help from her boss. Her boss was also really nice and asked specifically when I was looking for.
Then I asked them if their specialty is for kids’ shoes. She said yes but they also carry some women sizes just because.
Even though I didn’t find what I was looking for, I still had a pleasant experience with its employees. I highly recommend it if you are buying shoes for small children.

Great quality shoes and service.
Let me give an example. We bought two pairs of open-​toed sandals for our 4y/​o prior to a March vacation in Florida. One pair we started using straight away, the «nicer» pair we decided to save for the summer. Come June we try on the «nice» pair and due to a massive growth spurt, they no longer fit our son. So, we look for the receipt (which we can’t find) and decide to give them a call to see if they’ll exchange the shoes for some bigger ones. Although it was way past their normal exchange period, (and without the original receipt — they quickly found the original transaction in their records) they listened to our tale of woe & exchanged the unworn pair for some bigger sandals.
This is what shopping should be like, but so often you strike unhelpful employees, stupid rules and responses like «the computer won’t let me do it».
End result? We’ll buy ALL of our son’s shoes here — several pairs per year — as long as we remain on the UWS.

I love Shoe Tree! I’ve been buying all my son’s shoes here since we moved to the area.
The family that owns the store is lovely, and everyone who works there has been great so far too. Nice selection, the shoes are good quality, and the staff is very patient!

A wonderful little shop a few blocks south of Columbia University. My son had chubby little feet when he first walked and after having a bad experience with a shoe store a little further downtown, I was thrilled to find The Shoe Tree. They didn’t tell me that the shoe fit when it didn’t!
The owner of The Shoe Tree and his staff are super friendly and not the least bit pushy. My son always goes straight to the basket of books and sits and «reads» as I look at the different styles and they measure his feet.
Some of the brands we’ve purchased/​noticed: Stride Rite, Umi, Geox, Skechers, Naturalino, Vincent. Sandals, Sneakers, Shoes, Water Shoes for the sprinklers and Snow Boots, we’ve gotten them all at The Shoe Tree.
Don’t let me forget about socks — dress socks, crew socks, fun construction vehicle socks and my cold weather favorites — SmartWool socks.
It’s been a few years now since our first visit and we’ve yet to find a reason to go anywhere else. We live way up at the tippy top of Manhattan and it’s worth the trek.
Although, with a son, we haven’t found a need to buy them (lol!), I’ve noticed they have really cute little barrettes for girls’ hair as well as the little sparkly type shoes.