Next door to Greggs, at 2 Palace Parade is Tower Boots, which has a bright yellow shop sign with tough looking lettering, rather reminiscent of the logo for the rugged Caterpillar walking boots they stock. When Tower Boots stocks boots they are of a serviceable variety their customers can be active in, in contrast to the high-heeled knee-length boots at, say, Nikki, where they are more likely to be worn as a statement of sexuality. That is not to say that the womens' boots here are not feminine (though they have mens boots, if contrasted with somewhere like Eastman Army Camp, Tower Boots has to be described as predominantly a shop for women. Nevertheless, a trip here and then over the road to Blue Inc will spruce up the image of most young men without them looking ladylike.)

As well as the Caterpillars, they stock a range of Grafters and Timberland boots complemented by an extensive collection of outdoor canvas and denim numbers, with rubber or waffle soles from Vans, Levis Moschino, Red, Converse All Star and Kickers. This shop is not cheap, despite the Made in China and Made in Vietnam labels giving the lie to the New England image of the Timberlands. They stock what for me seem to be quite expensive Birkenstocks, seeing as they are just sandals, though being Made in Germany, perhaps one can't expect them to be in the lower price ranges. The shoes and boots on offer here all have strong brand images, and sell at a premium as a result. Levis has spent a fortune on its image. Moschino have an impressive website to help buyers identify with their purchase.

Some of the image-making of these brands is somewhat contrived - Vans, advertise in-store as 'The Original Since 1966', yet it is in fact a resurrected company bearing little relationship to its original incarnation in Southern California. In 1966 it was called the Van Doren Rubber Company. In the 1980s, Vans lost much of its core customer base among the skateboarder/surfer/youth market, when the company diluted its appeal by producing baseball and football shoes. The corporation was forced into bankruptcy in 1984. By 1988, the very uncool investment bankers McCown DeLeeuw Company had bought the brand. It is now listed as the property of the Tavistock Group, the investment vehicle of Joe Lewis, a British billionaire who lives in the Bahamas. He was the 16th richest British person according to the Times Rich list in 2007. This may change, as Lewis is reputed to have lost $1.6Billion on 16 March 2008 when Bear Stearns was taken over at $2 a share by JP Morgan as a result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Vans have meanwhile been able to invest in a web presence.

Still, despite the big money reality behind these 'street' fashions, the shoes and boots give a great many people pleasure and the brands do represent good quality, which is more than can be said of many of the copies which are on sale along the market.

As at 29 July 2008, they are holding a 50% off sale.