3.5 stars, rounded up for customer service.
Walking into this store after dealing with the explosion of products and colors and customers at other outlet stores was a breath of fresh air - open space, minimalist palette, clothes neatly organized along the walls by color and style.
The Good:
- Store experience.
Everything was immaculately organized and well-curated. Ranges from "business" to "casual Fridays" (i.e. jeans); no "trendy," flimsy & impractical items. Decent assortment of similarly curated items from non-Theory brands (Helmut Lang, J Brand, Mother, etc.)
- In-store customer service.
Greeted by multiple associates. A fitting room was started for me as soon as I had picked the first item, and I never had to carry more than two items in my hands before an associate would take them from me to add to my fitting room. Associates suggested other items to try based on the ones I showed interest in.
- Out-of-store customer service.
When I realized I was missing my receipt, I called and was sent an electronic copy immediately. When I called again to address a question on price, the associate was able to price match what was listed at Theory.com.
The Bad:
- Inconsistent, potentially shady pricing.
Pricing was done on a hand-held calculator at checkout to factor in discounts (so pricing is essentially up to the combination of the customer's price memory, the associate's discount memory, and the associate's ethics in actually applying all the relevant discounts) - this is surprisingly inconsistent and low-tech for an otherwise superior shopping experience.
During checkout the associate helping me said the receipt would be at the bottom of the bag, but when I got home the receipt was nowhere in sight. Sure enough, when I asked for an electronic copy, I noticed an item that showed a very different ($80+) price from the one told to me in-store. Additionally, I noticed that the same item was selling on (full-price) Theory.com for $30 less than what I was charged at this supposedly off-price store. When I called to ask, the associate said that the price was different between the two colors of the same item in store (so the dress I bought was $160 but apparently the same exact dress in another color was $70...), but that they could price match to the online site.
Additionally, one of the other items I purchased was concurrently selling for $30 cheaper at Saks Off Fifth (didn't notice at the time). Would return were it not for the unfavorable 14-day, outlet store only, store credit only policies.
TLDR: Everything else is great, but check the prices of everything you buy before you buy/leave the store. read more