New Balance Kid's 680 V6 Lace-up Shoes

I love NB shoes for me so thought they would be a durable choice for our daughters ages 7 and 5. (This was after buying other NB kids styles without reinforced toes which were quickly destroyed so I guess I should have learned my lesson.) I bought these shoes in September for the start of school. By the end of October a gaping hole formed between the reinforced toe area and the upper on each of our 5 year old’s shoes. I decided to go with another brand for her after this because I figured that something about her gait/toe strike must have worn the shoes unexpectedly quickly. Nope. Now it’s mid-November and our 7 year old’s shoes are also totally busted and doing the same thing (see picture). It’s the same pattern of destruction as what happened with our 5 year old’s shoes. I’m incredibly disappointed because I spent almost $100 on shoes that I thought were going to at least last most of the school year and instead they cumulatively lasted 3 months for both. As I mentioned, with other NB kids styles this has happened for us in the recent past. Unfortunately I won’t be buying any more of their shoes anytime soon.