DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse

Large selection and great service
I usually do not go out of my way to endorse a franchise or chain store, but if there is something that stands out I write about it. In the case of this case it was the excellent customer service that impressed me.
The young man, and I mean young, who helped me was extra helpful. He listened carefully to what I needed and made, not one but, two phone calls to other stores near my residence to see if they had what I needed on stock! He made sure they held the shoes I wanted for me so I could pick them up later in the week, and through all of this his behavior was very professional and mature beyond his age. Just for the excellent customer service I received, I will visit this store again if I am shopping for shoes.

Man-​centric review: (You girls already know what a fantastic variety and mass quantities of shoes are here for you).
I’ve purchased 6 pairs of shoes here over the past several years. For men, who often get shortchanged with a small amount of selections in other shoe stores that stock a mountain of women’s shoes, have plenty of styles to browse here. This is serve yourself, what’s on the racks is what they have. And if you are around a size 9, your size is probably sold out.
Admittedly most of the shoes here are made in china, which IMHO are inferior quality to shoes made in Europe or Brasil. On a rare occasion a non-​Chinese made pair can be found.
Prices? Many popular brands of the most recent styles are not discounted much from MSRP. Discounts are as low as $ 5 off a $ 80 pair of shoes. The real deals are to be found in the back of the room clearance section. But for guys the pickin’s there can be pretty meager.
So, is this a great shoe store? Depends on your preferences & expectations. If you wear Italian well made dress shoes, you are outt’a luck here. If you are a bargain shopper looking for athletic shoes, you’re gonn’a to find a pair that will fit your needs.

The shoes here were average.
Came here with a friend to browse and saw nothing special. I wasn’t feeling any of these shoes. I felt that selections here were limited for men’s, at least.

I’m strong enough to admit that there are days that I really miss shoe shopping. That almost euphoric high that comes with seeing the perfect shoe. Before I stopped wearing leather, DSW was my shoe nirvana. A huge warehouse with rows of reasonably priced women’s shoes. There was no better way to get my fix! But as I learned more about how shoes are made (animal exploitation, slave labor type conditions), I slowly began to ween myself off my addiction. It was like getting off cheese. It took a long time and at times it seemed impossible until eventually the addiction was gone! Now the difference is that I have to have shoes on my feet compared to the fact that I don’t need cheese in my diet. And as we transition into winter, I realized that I am in need of a new pair of boots — preferably black. While picking up fresh birdseed for my winter songbirds, I decided it was time to check out DSW again. Just as I remember, it is a huge, brightly lit warehouse full of rows and rows of shoes. Grouped into sections — flats, boots, athletic shoes, high heels, etc. makes it very easy to head straight to what you are shopping for. There are plenty of staff on the floor though no one offers any assistance. Though I’m assuming they would help if you asked. The boot options seemed absolutely endless. I tried on several pair before finding a gorgeous pair of black, high heel, lace up oxfords. That old rush of joy I had once been so addicted to came flooding back. Perfect! Except for one thing. I could not find anywhere on the shoe or box that explained what material the shoe was made from. I headed to the register. The staff was friendly, prompt and helpful. I explained my situation, she pulled out her iPad and looked up my item. Leather uppers with man made lowers. Oh the disappointment! I left the store shoeless and almost a bit sad. But deep down I knew that I would be more sad if I let my fashion sense become more important than my sense of compassion. As much as I miss that euphoria of finding the perfect shoe (buying my vegan shoes online has never compared to that!), until labeling is clearer on how the shoe is made I won’t be spending much time at DSW!

I love it here, because it did the impossible… it had running shoes that actually fit me, and they were less than one hundred bucks. Miracle!
I don’t know if it was just luck, or that they have a really wide variety of brands and styles so I was bound to find something, but after going to half a dozen sports equipment stores and specialty boutique-​like places I was pretty sick of trying on shoes.
When I came here it was just what I needed, to be given some space to try lots of things in lots of sizes, finding something (cue angels here) and then getting them purchased fairly quickly and super economically… 70 dollars… yay!

Atrocious customer service. The salesperson hard to give me that there was not a reward certificate on my account I told him there was a $ 5 and just forget I brought it up on my account online and showed it to him he proceeded to argue in Tommy’s and could not find it on their system and I gave him both myDSW rewards card and my phone number. Thank you to the manager step in and hold him that he should not argue with a customer gave me the $ 5 certificate that was on my account forwarded that and she gave me an additional $ 10 off to use the next time I come in. I love the shows at that store but I absolutely can’t stand the customer service. I also waited for 15 minutes while three sales people continue to bring customers they were personally shopping with in front of the line of people waiting to pay. I need DSW TO step up there games

I picked up the cutest pair of Born shoes here last week. I love that you can browse and help yourself to your heart’s content here. The prices aren’t always lower than elsewhere but I think the selection is good and prefer to serve myself…

What Gives. This DSW in Novato versus Bakersfield’s.
Bakersfield DSW peoples have better taste???
DSW corp top management not on the Ball.
Novato Unilocal’Rs gives 4.5 stars. Temp one star till I figure this out.

We have been coming here for years. We are a family of four (including a teen boy and a 10 year old daughter who is already 5′ 2″ with size 9 feet! The selection is vast so you’ll likely find something you came for. Join their rewards program and you’ll get $off coupons in the mail for your next visit.

The only thing stopping me from giving DSW five stars is their lack of sizes Paris Hilton would wear. I know, sounds funny! But Paris and I have the same shoe size though we are not related in any way! Size 11’s are hard to come by and DSW does have a few styles in 11 and even 12. But just a few! I went in yesterday and was only able to purchase 1 pair. There were so many cute shoes and so little in my size. I had to check the Zappos website while in the store to see if they had my size in any of the shoes I wanted. Alas, they did. But I wanted to be able to bring my purchases home and support my local community. DSW, please bring more shoes in larger sizes! 11M is all I’m asking for! I’m sure I’m not alone! Aisha waited on me and she was terrific!!! Hope that’s the spelling of her name but I’m not sure. She was terrific though and helped me to check for larger sizes. Thanks to Aisha!

I love DSW!!! They have the largest selection of heels, pumps, and booties I’ve ever seen. They have every style of shoe you could possibly think of… everything from comfort mules and clogs to club heels. I bought this fabulous pair of Audrey Brooks (DSW brand I think) black suede pumps with an ankle strap for about $ 65 and I have to say they are my favorite shoes ever. They are easy to wear yet still totally sharp and sexy looking. Love love love them! Their clearance section is awesome too. I found some black suede Guess booties for about $ 40 bucks, super cute. They have cute purses and accessories but a little too pricey for me. They have a large variety of flat shoes but also a little too pricey. Look to Ross for a nice cheap pair of flats.
The customer service is great, the store is clean, and I can always find exactly what I’m looking for here!

Veritable gold mine — impressive, large, selection — prices are exciting –they are so low. Plus — outstanding Sales Rack in the back… and the staff is really Istellar — Met Matt on one visit — helped me located the perfect pair of shoes I was looking for — Chris at Check out– a true professional — the Manager was cordial, gracious and polite. Very impressed and there very often.

Very, very thankful that this shoe store opened a (more accessible for me) location in the North Bay– even though it will no longer mean that I get to talk shoes with the glorious drag queens in the Women’s Size 11 Clearance Section at the DSW in Union Square. Maybe I’ll get lucky in Novato, too.
Anyways, that Clearance Section is the biggest draw for me whenever I visit. This location always stocks a bigger assortment of marked-​down shoes than anywhere else in Marin, and you can definitely find current season styles there, usually reduced by only 30%. Off season items can be reduced by almost 70%. Outside the Clearance Section, there are neatly organized aisles of many, many different kinds of shoes, for all genders, ages, styles and price ranges. There are also handbags, scarves, socks, tights, and wallets for sale, but the reason you go here is for shoes, right?
So for a woman with feet like mine, it always feels great to walk into a shoe store and NOT have to see the same, tired menagerie of comfort sandals, Converse sneakers, ugly platforms, and neon slip-​ons in my size section. Yay!

Friends had been encouraging me to go to this warehouse, but I was still sad over Ben Franklin’s closure and had no reason to visit. Then I needed shoes for a wedding and another friend said that I just needed to go LOOK. Just look? I did more than that! I was in shoe heaven! Came back with the perfect nude heels for the outfit. Also got a scarf I’d been searching for, Spanx pantyhose, a wallet, and some jewelry. Wow! Loved the customer service, the prices, and the selection. I’m a huge fan!

This is a friggin’ enormous store and of course, in order to fill up a friggin’ enormous store with shoes (and handbags), you have to have a friggin’ enormous amount of shoes and handbags in there (if you didn’t get this, please contact me, we need to talk), which they do. They have an incredible selection of women’s and men’s shoes at very reasonable prices. Their bargain racks in the back are full of greatly reduced zapatas.

The best part of this store is the rewards program! I don’t have to spend money to earn money. I get $ 10 here, $ 10 there sent to my account and to my home.
Usually I stop by here on my way to Sephora and/​or Target. But more and more often, I find myself coming up to Vintage Oaks shopping center for DSW, and I’m stopping by Sephora and Target since I’m out there.
I like to roam the aisles and peruse the shoes, but today I discovered the CLEARANCE SECTION. My gawd. I had no idea. So you walk through the clearance and everything is organized by size. I cruise through the 8.5, seeing a couple markdowns that catch my eye, and then I notice that they are all color coded. Red, for example, is an additional 50% off. Purple was an additional something off, green and yellow. I don’t recall exactly what each color amounted to, but what a deal! I ended up getting a gorgeous pair of tan sandals for the upcoming spring/​summer dresses/​rompers, Nine West, originally $ 99, rang up as $ 35, and I had two $ 10 rewards cards with me. What? I walked out of there feeling like I stole them.
It is always clean. Sooooometimes I have trouble finding my size, but I so love all their selections, and that there are always boots, always sandals, always heels, always sneakers… I can always find what I’m looking for.
Go, and sign up for their rewards program!

Great shoes at a great price. They carry lots of brands too not like that other discount shoe store! I buy most of my work shoes here and all of my casual shoes.

Ooooh wait, what did I see on my way into Vintage Oaks?!
A DSW!!!
My, how things change when you go away. In my absence, my new favorite discount shoe store popped up in my old favorite discount mall.
I don’t think I need to tell you that I took my sweet time trying on lots and lots of shoes in the huge clearance section, and finally picked out two pairs of comfy-​cute work flats (Ann Taylor and Aerosoles). I don’t think I need to tell you that I walked out for these two pairs of shoes for less than $ 50. I don’t think I need to tell you that with the huge selection, I was picky as hell and love my new shoes.
Because that’s just how it’s done at DSW.

I’m a big fan of DSW and this is hands down the best location I’ve ever been to. I go in to poke around and leave with 6 pairs. The clearance section is amazing. Not picked over last season stuff but really amazing can’t believe it’s on sale shoes. The staff is very friendly and helpful, even when I went in 2 days before Christmas when it was a madhouse, they still managed to smile and stay cheerful. It’s basically the only place I go for shoes anymore.

It’s a shoe warehouse, you’d think I would find something I could wear for work? Not so much. Women’s shoe selection was very heavy on decorated ballet flats and high heels. There were some athletic shoes, but the selection outside of ballet flats, heels, and strappy sandals was limited.
Thought I’d check out the mens, but they only stock 8.5 and above in most men’s shoes.
Their bargain section was actually appealing with stickers carrying anywhere from 40−70+ percent off the already reduced priced. Quite a variety in sizing for women, didn’t look like they had much for men.
They do not carry kid’s shoes at all, fyi.