The good: polite, cheerful, professional employees.
The bad:
Prices are outrageous. I mean, like eyes pop out of your head insane. That pale blue polo shirt you just saw at Walmart for $4...quick jig through their embroidery machine and it'll cost you $28. Want an acrylic sweater kissed by the golden needle of their embroidery machine? That'll be $47 to you. Literally.
Now if our parochial school PTO bought their own machine and did the embroidering as a fundraiser it would be easier to part with the cash. But who are these people and why are they taking my money?
Also, don't go in person to the store. Seriously just don't do that to yourself. And if you feel like you must, don't bring your poor child. It's a field trip to the general store on Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. All the merchandise lives behind a counter and you can't touch it until it's your turn to be helped. Waited in line behind three families (only three!) for 40 minutes just to get new sweats for gym. I would have left except I had already snapped at my child for whining early on that he didn't want to be there and said "Nobody cares that you don't want to be here. This is life and some things aren't fun." I was too stubborn to admit I could have pre-ordered online and at least skipped the experience of waiting. The highway robbery is unavoidable but the store visit is....a real character builder.
Everything is manual and the employees painstakingly write down every item on triplicate paper. But they only help one family at a time. Say Johnny in front of you doesn't know if he will fit a youth medium or large? No problem sweetie, go try on the large while we all wait. Like, stand in line and wait for you to use the dressing room. Oh no, looks like he is coming back out carrying the large. Seems a bit too large. Could they go fetch a medium for him to try? Yes of course just wait right there. Here's the medium, off to the dressing room you go my child. We'll all wait. And that was just the short sleeve polo, don't forget to try on the long sleeve, the sweater, the gym uniform, the pants...praise the lord: Johnny doesn't need new shorts! We just saved ten minutes. Once the people you are watching ahead of you in line finally try on a million things and choose the list of items they would like, it's time to do paperwork to backorder the ones that require the sewing machine, and wait while they screen print the gym clothes. For reals. I know this because when we finally got our turn 45 minutes later we had to wait for them to screenprint a T-shirt, sweatshirt and sweatpants for his gym clothes. We got handed them hot off the press and my seven year old wrapped the sweatshirt around himself and said "oooh this will be nice on cold days!" And I had to explain to him that the heat would not still be in the sweatshirt come winter. I mean, maybe they weren't printing them, maybe they had been heated for some other reason? It seems insane that they would make people wait in line while other people had their shorts printed. Maybe there was a baking hot warehouse out back?
After that we headed over to wait in line at the cash register to give them $50, which shouldn't feel like a bargain except for one regular uniform sweater is $47.
It's not their fault I dislike them. They are doing a good job taking my money and making a living and employing people so that's something. Unnecessary and antique, the whole operation just makes me wonder WHY? What is even happening here? And why are schools not embroidering their own stuff for a small fee? read more