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| - I had never heard of nor read about Groovy when I was fortunate enough to wander in to the store on my last trip to Toronto a few weeks ago. I have only recently, within the past 18 months, made sneakers my only real shoe choice for all things both business and personal, but in that short time I have become a total aficionado.
Groovy was a bit of a wet dream in shoe terms as the selection is not only exceptional, but presented in a small space which can easily overwhelm the senses, resulting in the kind of wonderful endorphin-intensive shopping experience I adore! Not only that, but as I have made Onitsuka Tiger's my brand of choice, supplemented by Puma and Converse, this place almost immediately rose to the top slot in my list of favorite shoe stores based on the assortment of OTs.
What else made the place rock? REALLY pleasant, helpful sales staff who kept their warm attitudes intact in the face of a constant rush of a widely varied group of customers - including many which would test the patience of Job. Available sizes of every shoe, on the sample displayed, was a great feature, making it important that you know your size in your favorite brands to make shopping more efficient. Hard-to-find international editions of OTs, especially for the Mexican market, made my global non-USA-catalog taste buds salivate. Though I was only focused on shoes that day, they seemed to have some very cool graphic tees, hoodies, and track suits. They also seemed to have a nice exchange policy (not worn, all purchase materials required), and their web site features their full inventory on sale online.
On the negative side, though they may be wheelchair accessible technically, it would be a very hard place to navigate in that mode, if not almost impossible. The prices where on the high side, but that may have been in comparison to US pricing. And finally, no G-Star or Diesel shoes to my knowledge.
In summary, though the place was tiny, if I compare to my shoe shopping in Melbourne OZ in Spring 2009, where I went to over 30-40 sneaker stores, almost every one better than anything in the US (Journeys comes closest in America), Groovy was by far the best in selection terms!
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