As someone who works at a local boutique, I always run to the defense of small stores in Pittsburgh just because of my personal investment and I enjoy the solidarity in it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I hate to prove people wrong because of that, but I also wouldn't want something to be written misleading about a store I love. I can possibly understand what Kaitlyn R. wrote about an employee and it can not be testified to because who knows how someone acted at a certain point on a certain day. With that said, I have always found Dina Ellen to be one of the friendliest boutiques in Pittsburgh, always happy to help to the best of their ability. Pushiness can always be misconstrued for enthusiasm.
But when I saw the review about the shoes, specifically the UGG leather Elyza sandal, I wanted to make sure that this wasn't true because I do put my trust in the local stores, and supporting them is more important to me than what Zappos or Nordstrom could ever offer.
So, I did I little research. The sandal to which Kaitlyn R. is referring to is the exact same price as on Zappos, and isn't even on the Nordstrom website, so what they are selling it for I could not say. http://www.zappos.com/product/7963165/color/23588?zfcTest=fw:0 Well you would actual be paying more on Zappos because of shipping. As far as contacting The UGG company, I'm sure they would appreciate the price of the shoes, they actually had problems with Dina Ellen running to many UGG sales in the past. Dina Ellen also carries Frye boots-- which I love. The Frye Company is great to work with especially with their repairs. Jeffery Campbell, Charlotte Ronson, and Joie are great shoe companies they carry as well but are harder to get repaired especially if they are from past seasons.
It's hard with the Internet today for locally owned stores, I feel like they are a dying breed. To keep up with sales, discounts, and corporate stores it's a daily battle. Inventory is hard because small boutiques want to be special and not over carry anything and at the same time they want to have room and money for different things. Boutiques can't repair and return everything that a corporate stores can because they don't necessarily have the means to. I'm sure in the future Dina Ellen would appreciate the constructive criticism, no one wants an unsatisfied customer. read more