I typically love Levi's, but not this store. My experience at the Wicker Park location was very different from the Michigan Ave. store that I usually shop at. I've always had good experiences downtown, so when I needed a new pair of jeans and didn't want to schlepp there, I decided to check out the Wicker Park store instead. Mistake. From the parking to the overall store experience, I probably would have been happier had I made the trip downtown.
I walked in knowing that I didn't want to spend all day perusing the various options myself, so I immediately looked for someone to assist me. I found an associate who seemed happy to help, but she was a close talker...like, in my face we're going to smell each others breath close talker. Okay...I told her what I was looking for, and she asked if I had been I.D.'ed. I told her that I perviously bought the bold curve, but she still wanted to measure me. Ok, fine, I just wanted to get this right so that I could find something and get out since parking is metered in the area. She grabs some sizes, takes me to the fitting room that has doors that she (and others) can't seem to get open with the keys, and she tells me she'll be back to check on me.
This is where my experience differed from the Michigan Ave. store. First, these doors in the fitting rooms are terrible. I was walked in on twice by two associates. There is no lock on the inside, and if you leave the room and let the door close behind you, you're locked out. The first associate didn't bother to knock, and I heard the fumbling key, so I said something and next thing I know he opens the door with a customer. The second time someone knocks twice and I say , "Yes, hello" and another associate walked in on me. Damn people, how about you either turn down the music so you can hear people, or you look at the floor and see if there are feet underneath! I proceed in trying on my pants to find the jeans are not quite what I am looking for. The close talker woman who fitted me and and said she would return to check in, never did. When I saw her bringing other customers to the fitting room, I couldn't get her attention. There was another associate in the fitting rooms helping others, who eventually asked me how I was doing. I proceeded to tell him that the straight cut was more like a skinny to me, especially through the calf and ankle, and that I wanted a slightly fuller leg. It goes downhill from here, as I really don't think Levi's currently makes anything like I'm requesting, other than maybe men's jeans, but I can't be certain as I wasn't going to spend hours combing the store. So the associate proceeds to brings me the same style and size jean that I JUST tried on. He also brought some awful straight through the hip, relaxed through the thigh, high waisted mom jeans in an 80's light denim finish. YUCK! I was just trying on the bold curve because I have hips, so why would he bring a style that is straight though the hip? After that I decided it was time to call it a day, and that's when I found what I was looking for in the clearance section...great, jeans that I liked were being discontinued.
WARNING: This paragraph is a rant on women's jean, not necessarily specific to Levis...
Why, oh why must women's jean cuts change, and change so frequently? When you do find something you like, buy many because wherever you go, even at Levi's the different cuts will come and go, even something I would consider a basic. However, Levi's will keep mainstays (such as 501's) for women that I feel are ill fitting outdated styles. Don't most women have a hard enough time shopping for bottoms that fit? Now Levi's has to throw in all of these curves, and you have to get measured to figure out what new skin tight style you should be wearing. I usually buy a new pair of Levi's once a year. Sometimes I buy what is trending, and sometimes I just want a basic pair of straight leg or bootcut jeans. Now EVERYTHING is so fitted, and there is very little difference between skinny and straight leg. I don't want to wear mom potato sack jeans, but sometimes a girl would like looser fit that isn't like a legging. Even the boyfriend jean had a skinny tapered calf, but it also had a looser fitting thigh...Hello M.C. Hammer!
To add to the experience, when I went to check out with my discontinued jeans the registers were down, and they were writing out credit card receipts manually. So what I thought wouldn't take more than an hour to find a new pair of jeans, took two hours start to finish due to technical issues, poor customer service, and possibly lack of choices, but I can't confirm that as I didn't have the time or the patience to look at every jean available. My biggest issue with this particular location was the service. Not following through, and not listening to the customers needs are big mistakes. As for the options, possibly they were lacking because this is a smaller store. Regardless, I would recommend the downtown store over W. read more
