Shoe shops - a comparative study.

Recently we have been to two different shoe shops to buy new footware for our eldest and youngest. Our eldest needed new school shoes for her new school and we happened upon a small independent shoe shop whilst we were on holiday in Frinton on Sea. There was no queue and we were served by a delightful lady with many years experience of fitting childrens shoes. She found some styles that suited our eldest and checked they fit well and would last a good long time. She even advised us on how best to proceed with helping our eldest get help for her slightly flat feet. The lady also advised us to just use normal shoe polish as we have been doing for years and we left happy. Today we went to a Clarks shop in our local shopping center. After battling through the crowds to reach the store we took a ticket from the dispenser to indicate our position in the queue. The number on the ticket seemed ridiculously high compared to the number on the indicator on the wall. We then waited for an eternity and were eventually served by a lady who measured our youngest's feet. She went to get him some shoes, the first attempt didn't fit but, after returning to what must be near the bowels of the earth judging by the time taken, we got a pair that fit. This was a victory in itself as generally they do not have any of the style we like in stock in the size we need. Then after refusing the obligatory offer of an opportunity to purchase special cremes essential for the care of the shoes (quite why they make shoes out of materials that purport to require such cleaners is beyond me, it's like having dry clean only tea towels) we leave with the newly purchased footware.
I think in future it might be more pleasant to drive the two and a half hours to Frinton on Sea just to buy shoes rather than braving the childrens' footware hell that is our local Clarks.