Families feel the pinch of higher children's shoe prices as kids head back to school

NEW YORK (AP) — When Jonah Seidenberg found out about Nike Minds, a futuristic-looking sneaker that claims to improve concentration by stimulating the soles of the feet, he had to have them.

On a recent Saturday, the 12-year-old from the Chicago suburb of Northbrook and his mother searched StockX, an online sneaker marketplace, and other sites looking for a discount but struck out. They eventually found the last available pair in his size on Dick's Sporting Goods' website, but for the full price of $145. They grabbed it anyway.

“It was 10:30 at night and we finally threw in the towel,” said Lisa Seidenberg, a publicist. “I felt it looked like a Tesla in a shoe, but something sparked for him.” The price was more than she and her husband had budgeted, so Jonah chipped in $40 of his own money.

As summer fades and kids head back to school, the pressure to stand out or fit in with the right footwear is colliding with higher prices. That's straining family budgets that are already being squeezed by rising costs for food, gas and other essentials, so parents and kids are spending more time looking for deals or buying fewer pairs, according to analysts and retailers. And many parents are simply saying no, whether it’s for $150 soccer cleats, Adidas Sambas reimagined as Mary Janes, or the $300 Kobe Bryant kicks Jonah initially hoped to get.

Children often outgrow shoes faster than other clothing, and footwear typically costs more. Shoe prices rose by 3.2% in the first half of the year, putting full-year prices on pace to increase at the fastest pace in 34 years aside from the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers Association.

Some parents like Elizabeth Powers, a 37-year-old San Francisco real estate agent, said it’s “frustrating” to see shoe prices continue to climb while, she believes, quality has declined.

“Their feet grow so fast as it is,” said Powers, who has two children, ages 7 and 11. “It's incredibly frustrating to have to replace shoes before they’ve grown out of them due to poor quality.”

Powers said she's sticking to spending a couple hundred dollars for each child for the year, including for shoes. She's also looking for DSW and Zappos coupons, and buying shoes that are more versatile.

Buying kids shoes can be trickier than the rest of their outfits, which can be easily altered. Shoes require an exact fit for growing feet, according to Priya Parthasarathy, partner of the U.S. Foot & Ankle Specialists in Silver Spring, Maryland, and national spokesperson for the trade group American Podiatric Medical Association.

Kids ages 7 to 10 outgrow footwear every six to nine months, and teens typically outgrow them every year, she said.

But footwear prices don't look like they'll level off anytime soon because of President Donald Trump's tariff policies and the Iran war, which is driving up petroleum-derived products like shoes, according to the footwear trade group.

As with adults, shoes carry social status with kids.

And many kids feel pressure to wear the right sneaker brands, more so than with other types of clothing, said Casey Lewis, a trend analyst in New York.

“I think shoes are just so immediately identifiable as like, ‘I’m in the crowd,’” she said.

Jonah Seidenberg, the suburban Chicago kid, said he and his mom turn to thrift stores for certain clothing brands like Hollister and Polo Ralph Lauren to save money so they can invest more in his shoes.

“You can wear any kind of clothing and it would be fine, as long as it’s the right size,” said Jonah. “It doesn’t matter what brand it is. But shoes could be ... high-tops, low-tops. Whatever the person likes better is what will make them feel confident.”

The wrong shoes, or ones that are tattered or out of style, can invite bullying, he said.

They can also prevent kids from joining sports teams or even showing up to school. Worn-out, ill-fitting shoes remain one of the most visible signs of childhood poverty, according to Almi Guajardo Abeyta, the school superintendent in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Abeyta said families in her community are finding it harder than ever to make ends meet, and she's seen students fixing their shoes with duct tape.

“If you have to make a decision of feeding your family or a pair of shoes, you’re going to feed your family,” Abeyta said.

Lucila Castillo, a food service worker in the Boston suburb, said she's struggling to afford shoes and other back-to-school items for her 14-year-old daughter and her 19-year-old daughter, who is starting community college.

Castillo, who moved to the U.S. from Nicaragua with her family more than four years ago, said she earns about $700 a week and is the family’s primary breadwinner. After paying $2,200 a month in rent and utilities, she said about $600 remains for other expenses for her husband and daughters.

When her younger daughter asked for Sambas or a new pair of soccer cleats, Castillo had to say no.

“We have to pay the rent,” she said.

With rising shoe prices, shoppers are being more selective, said Beth Goldstein, an industry adviser for footwear and accessories at the market research firm Circana.

From January through June, adult footwear sales rose by 1% from the same period a year earlier. The number of pairs sold fell by 7% as the average sale price rose by 8%, according to Circana. As for children's footwear, sales slipped by 3%, with pairs sold dropping by 9% and average sale price rising by 7%.

Children's footwear sales should be stable as kids grow out of shoes faster than adults, but the data shows parents are buying fewer pairs, Goldstein said.

Retailers, including Target and JCPenney, are offering back-to-school deals, including on shoes.

“I can’t say the gas price is impacting this sale or that thing, but you just feel it,” said Michelle Wlazlo, JCPenney's brand chief executive officer. “And so they’re being choiceful.”

Wlazlo said the sneakerina, a sneaker and ballet slipper combo, is resonating with certain shoppers looking for footwear that can be worn for different occasions.

Lisa Will, who founded and runs Vancouver, British Columbia-based children’s outdoor footwear company Stonz Shoes, said customers are gravitating toward neutral-colored shoes that can be passed down to younger siblings. Versatile styles, such as insulated rain boots that can double as snow boots, are also faring well, she said.

Secondhand retailers like Goodwill and ThredUp also report more interest from customers wanting to buy gently worn back-to-school shoes.

Children's footwear is a small but fast-growing part of ThredUp's business as shoppers look for steep discounts while searching for hot shoe styles that were discontinued, said the online retailer’s senior vice president and head of marketing, Kristen Brophy.

Adidas is among the most popular sneaker brands for children, she said.

“We do see the back-to-school trend definitely happening on ThredUp,” Brophy said.

AP Business Writer Adriana Morga contributed to this report.