I am recovering from my third foot surgery and am having trouble
locating shoes that fit comfortably.  My particular concern is
locating shoes that will enable me to continue ballroom dancing.

The brand and styles that are the most promising are under the
"comfort line" by "Werner Kern."

I first saw those shoes at "Carmen's Dance Shoes" in San Diego,
California.  The problem is that the comfort line is stocked in very
limited supply (style, size, and color choices) and even the ones they
carry can be unavailable for many months at a time.  I am hoping that
by contacting the company and/or manufacturer directly, I will be able
to order the color, size, and styles I need.

My question is how to contact the company that makes Werner Kern shoes
so that I can order ballroom dance shoes in their "comfort line"
directly from them or locate them successfully through other stores.

If you found other stores that carried the "comfort line" styles by
Werner Kern besides Carmen's, I would be interested in that
information.  I would not be interested at this point in companies
that sell other lines of shoes described as "comfortable" or that sell
Werner Kern shoes, but don't carry the comfort line.  (So far I am
aware of the style names:  Heike, Silvia, Nadja, Ines, and Laura. 
There may be others)

(I don't think you need this information, but just in case, let me say
that I am looking for size 3 1/2 or 4 in black and a light neutral
such as beige, nude, tan, or taupe.)

Thank you for your assistance.

Greetings, dancing-on-a-cloud!

I took dancing lessons for many years when I was younger, so I can
understand why you are so reluctant to give it up.

  Werner Kern's website is here:
http://www.wernerkern.de
       (Select "English" if you don't speak German)
They are located in Germany:
Werner Kern Tanzschuh GmbH
MaybachstraBe 12
63456 Hanau
Germany

phone: +49 6181 / 62 07 6
  fax: +49 6181 / 65 05 86
eMail: info@werner-kern.de 

I didn't know whether the phone number was correct, since it is
shorter than the fax number, but Researcher Scriptor, who lives in
Germany, was kind enough to help us out:
"German phone numbers do not have a static number of digits - after
the local code (06181 in this case), the number can be as short as 3
digits, but it can also be 8 digits long."



I have also located a number of US Dealers for Werner Kern shoes, in
addition to the one about which you already knew:

--------------------
Carmen's Dance Shoes
--------------------
        Address: 6506 Suite "D" El Cajon Blvd
                 San Diego, CA 92115 
      toll-free: (800) 854-4318 
Outside of U.S.: (619) 287-5787 
            Fax: (619) 287-5790 
         e-mail: carmen1@flash.net
http://www.carmensdanceshoes.com

--------------------
Champion Dance Shoes
--------------------
  Address: 3383 Barham Blvd.
           Los Angeles, CA 90068 
    Phone: (323) 874-8704 
Toll Free: 1 (800) 40-DANCE 
      Fax: (323) 656-3256 
    Email: info@championdanceshoes.com 
http://www.championdanceshoes.com

---------------------
  Salsa Dance Shoes
---------------------
Experience Shoe Company
912 Alaskan Way
(Seattle Waterfront) 
Seattle, WA 98104 
Phone: 206-624-0960
e-mail: info@experienceshoes.com
http://www.salsapromotions.com/salsadanceshoes/wernerkern.html
http://www.experienceshoes.com

-----------------------------------------
  Royal Impression Ballroom Dance Shoe Co
-----------------------------------------
209 South High Street,  Lobby
Columbus, OH 43215
FAX: (614) 463-1078
Phone: 1-877-546-1301 (Toll free!)
e-mail: shoes@royalimpression.com
http://www.royalimpression.com

---------------------
  Lonnie's Dance Shop
---------------------
3300 Chimney Rock Rd Suite 206
Houston, Texas 77056
United States of America
Phone: 713.838.7773
Fax: 713.526.7463
Email: lonnie@lonniesdance.com
http://lonniesdance.com/shop

----------------
  Stardust Shoes
----------------
55 Deerfield Cres
Brampton ON L6T 1K8
Canada
Tel/Fax: 905.793.7681
Toll free: 1.888.793.7681 
e-mail: sales@stardust-shoes.com
http://www.stardust-shoes.com

----------------------
  West Coast Swing USA
----------------------
P.O. Box 206502
Louisville, KY 40250
(yes, that's really their address,
 even though their name says "West Coast"!)
toll-free: 866-290-2020
e-mail: info@wcswingusa.com
http://www.wcswingusa.com

-------------------------
  Dance Time With Friends
-------------------------
8700 W. Dempster St. 
Niles IL 60714
ph: 847-966-1671
or: 847-298-5795
e-mail: edlum@dancetimewithfriends.com 
http://www.dancetimewithfriends.com/products


As well as this company in Germany, which will ship overseas:
-------------------------
  Tanschuhe Otto Muenchen
-------------------------
Tanzschuhe Otto München
Justinus-Kerner-Str.1
D-80686 Munich
Germany 
Phone: +49/89/83 18 33
  FAX: +49/89/57 96 92 41
E-Mail: order@tanzschuhe-muenchen.de 
http://www.tanzschuhe-muenchen.de/dance-shoe/shop/index.htm

Before Rating my Answer, if you have any Questions, please post a
Request for Clarification, and I will be glad to see what I can do for
you.

You have my best wishes for a speedy recovery, and I hope that, with
your new shoes, you will soon be whirling around the dance floor
again!

I hope this Answer has provided you with exactly the information you
needed!

Regards,

aceresearcher

---

Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 04 Jan 2003 15:32 PST

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