Payless ShoeSource Children’s Airwalk® Compel Shoes

What went wrong

The notice saysPlastic rivets used to attach the strap to the shoe can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Here the loose piece is a working part of the shoe, not an add-on decoration. Fasteners such as snaps, rivets, zipper tabs and tags are pressed or sewn in at the factory, and when that attachment is weak they can work free with ordinary flexing. Because the part looks like it belongs there, parents rarely think to test it; a firm pull with your fingers is the quickest check.

How to tell if your pair is affected

Product description in the noticeThis recall involves Airwalk® Compel clog shoes sold in prewalk sizes 3 through toddler size 10. The flexible shoes have air ventilation holes on the top and side and plastic rivets with the Airwalk® logo attached to the strap. Airwalk® and the shoe size are printed on the sole of the shoe. No other sizes, styles or models are included in this recall.

The notice gives no style numbers or barcodes, so you match on what it does give: the brand and style (Children’s Airwalk® Compel Shoes), the sizes (sizes 3 through toddler size 10), the sale period (January 2007 to March 2007), where it was sold (see “Sold at” above) and the “made in” label (China). If a detail does not line up, the recall contact below can confirm.

What the notice tells you to do

RemedyConsumers should take the shoes away from young children immediately and return them to the store where purchased for a refund or exchange.

Recall contact, as printed in the notice: For additional information, call Payless at (800) 654-0697 between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday. Consumers can also visit the firm’s Web site at www.payless.com

The recall is 19 years old, and the last pairs were sold about 19 years ago. A child who wore these at the time has long outgrown them, yet sandals like these keep circulating through younger siblings, swaps and thrift racks. The notice gives a phone number and a website for the firm; details that old may have changed, and the CPSC notice stays online as the record.

How this recall compares

• With about 690,000 units, this is the 3rd largest of the 95 footwear recalls in our archive that give a U.S. unit count. The median recall in the archive covers about 7,200 units, so this one is well above typical size.
• 41 other footwear recalls in the archive cite the same kind of hazard (choking), 41 of them in children’s footwear. The earliest in this group dates from 1993.
• The notice puts the sales window at about 3 months (January 2007 to March 2007), against a median of 7 months across recalls that state one. The recall came 2 months after the last sale date.
• The notice gives a price of $115 to $130. For sandals, clogs and flip-flops in the archive the typical stated price is about $24, so this pair sat at the pricier end of its group.
• The notice cites 1 report before the recall. 36 of the 95 detailed notices in the archive cite no incidents at all.

Year, part, store and origin

• 2007 brought 8 footwear recalls in our archive, covering about 1,262,600 units in all. This was the 2nd of the year by date and the 1st largest by units.
• The notice names the rivet or stud as the part that fails. 5 other footwear recalls in the archive name the same part in their hazard statement; the most recent is Birkenstock Kids' Mogami Sandals Sizes 24-28 (2021).
• Made in China. 61 of the 91 notices in the archive that name a country list China (67%).
• 1 report on about 690,000 units works out to roughly 0.1 reports per 100,000 units. The median across the 55 recalls that give both figures is 16, so this recall drew fewer reports per pair than most.
• At the stated price, the 690,000 units come to roughly $85 million of retail sales, one of the ten largest recalls in the archive.

Against the other Payless ShoeSource recall

Payless ShoeSource also recalled Toddler Clog Shoes on July 17, 2007. This recall came 2 months before it. It covered about 2.6 times as many units (690,000 against 270,000). Both notices give the same kind of failure (the rivet or stud), so treat a pair from either line the same way. These sold for more, $115 to $130 against $15 to $20. They were on sale for a shorter time, about 3 months against 18 months.

Comparisons use the 103 footwear recalls in our archive, read from the CPSC recall database on October 20, 2026. See data and methods.