When Nordstrom opened with champagne and fashion shows last week it was fully expected that Hawai'i women would flock to buy shoes.

And, no surprise, there they were, circling like sharks, hunting like tigers, diving like frigate birds on all the newfound prey. Sure, they cruised the other departments, but the shoes were the big bait. Some women just have a thing about buying shoes.

But who would have ever guessed that the stalwart men of Hawai'i would be tromping en masse to Nordstrom with their worn-down rubber slippers slapping on the shiny tile floor. Who would have imagined the cast of diverse characters lining up at the cash register in the men's shoe department like somebody was giving away free beer and smoked meat with each purchase.

Where have the braddahs been buying shoes all these years?

Perhaps the answer is — nowhere. They've been waiting, barefooted or imperfectly shod.

Days after the opening-day frenzy, there was still a mixed bag of guys orbiting the men's shoe department.

It's not just the kind of men you'd imagine clamoring for Nordstrom shoes. Not only the narrow-footed, creased pants works-in-an-office and only walks on carpet or ceramic tile kind of man. Not just Mr. Maxim with the diamond watch and the groomed eyebrows (what is that about anyway?)

We're talking the working man, the guy who has his own construction company, the bamboo-pole-and-scoop-net grandpa, the thick daddy wearing wide jean shorts, wide gold chains and asking for the EEEs in brown. The guys who shave with a dull razor, don't get their eyebrows shaped and use the smell test to decide which shirt to wear. Those guys.

Every girl may be crazy for a sharp-dressed man, but the not-so-sharp-dressed men have to wear something on their feet, too.

Makes them wonder if they have been walking around in shoes that don't fit, are the wrong color, rub eternal blisters on their pinkie toes and don't go with anything in their closet — an entire lifetime of making do with the wrong pair of shoes.

Not every pair of shoes at Nordstrom is high end and precious. You can buy Crocs at the hardware store or you can buy Crocs at Nordstroms, too. The guys buying shoes at Nordstrom look like guys who have bought hardware-store shoes their whole lives and are ready for something more. Maybe not the fancy stuff, but something practical and nice.

No doubt the new Nordstrom shoes will get a place of honor in the garage on top of the bookshelf holding the rest of the family's shoes. Not down on the bottom with the dirt-caked and worn-through rubber slippers, but up on the top where the dog can't get them.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.