I was never a jeans snob. I used to just go down to Sears, long before there ever was a store just for Levi's, and buy pairs of 501 blue jeans in progressively larger sizes as high school transitioned into college into post-college. But then girlfriends came and went, and more than a few of them tried (with varying degrees of success) to get me to wear a different kind of denim, like Lucky Brand or True Religion.
And that was all fine and dandy for a while, but since the economy has refused to get up off the mat for four years now, I've had to go back to the beginning. Luckily for me, there are dozens of different Levi styles now. 501, 505, 508, 510, 511, 513, 514, 517, 520, 527...etc.
While that array of jeans now lets them approximate the cut, style, and fabric of jeans sold at other, more expensive stores, the one thing Levi's can't duplicate is service. Maybe it's because the retail associates here are constantly passing through a revolving door, are bored college students, or simply don't earn enough to care.
My visit went something like this: I wander into the store (enticed by large 50% off signs). Girlfriend wrangles an associate (boy with piercings) to help. I tell Piercing Boy what I want; he suggests two styles of jeans and hands me four pairs to try on. As I'm making my way to the dressing room, I spy something I might also want to try on. Piercing Boy comes back and actually says "You don't want to try the jeans?" (great sales technique). Strike #1.
I go to the dressing room and try them on. Now, I don't sell jeans, but I know that one pair of 30x31 jeans aren't cut/sewn exactly the same as the next 30x31 pair. So does the girlfriend. So do people who sell jeans for a living. Except for Piercing Boy. As I'm standing in the shallow doorway of the dressing room, I hear the girlfriend ask Piercing Boy if he could bring another pair of 30x31. Piercing Boy looks at me, then looks at her, and says "Why? What's wrong with this pair?"
Be rude to me, I'll take that. Be rude to the girlfriend, well. That's strike #2 through strike #30x31.
In the end, I didn't want to make a scene so I told him I'd have to think about whether I liked the styles I'd tried. As I handed Piercing Boy the jeans, he actually rolled his eyes and stomped off. No thank you, no "come see me anytime you have questions." Just the thanks-for-wasting-my-time eye roll and the exaggerated exit.
And that, boys and girls, is how you get a one-star rating for your store. read more