This store has no dressing rooms…read more
Had I known that initially, I wouldn't have even bothered going. As it was, my mother had gotten a coupon in the mail when this location recently opened in Romeoville, so I decided to check it out.
In the new Target strip at Weber and Airport Rds, it's actually quite a large store, with *insanely* loud music playing (my mom was with me and we kept saying "What? What??" to each other if more than a foot apart). A wide variety of styles of clothing, from club-type to work-appropriate, some dresses, lots of tanks tops and tshirts, accessories, bags etc. as well. Depending on the style of clothing, the items seem comparable in quality to what you can find at a Forever 21.
I made my way around the store and amassed an armful of clothes to try on, as one normally does when shopping. The location of the dressing room was not readily apparent so I figured I'd ask at the front desk. I did see a sign on the door to the stock room that said something about "No Trying On! Staff Room Only," but my mother and I agreed that that had to apply only to that room; how could a clothing store not have dressing rooms??
So we got to the front and I asked a clerk where the dressing rooms were. She said there weren't any. Me, disbelief: "There aren't any?" She, somewhat snidely: "You've never been to Discovery before?" Um, nooo...would I have to ask otherwise? She explained their bizarre policy of no dressing rooms; they apparently expect you to buy everything you're interested in, take it home, try it on *there*, and if it doesn't fit you have 2 weeks to bring it back with tags on and your receipt for a refund. I just couldn't get beyond the no dressing room thing in a clothing store and said that was the strangest thing I'd ever heard.
Since I wasn't going to tie up a ton of money in an armful of clothes that I only kind of liked, we narrowed down the armful to 5 shirts (2 tees, 2 identical sweaters in different colors and a button-front top) and I bought those. While checking out I asked the clerk (a different one) what the rationale is behind no dressing rooms. She said it helps keep their prices low. She didn't elaborate; I don't understand how, unless it just means they're doing less work rehanging etc., but aren't they doing just as much with the returns? I also have to assume the clerks field this question 50,000 times a shift, so the insolent look on her face really wasn't called for; if you don't want to be asked what is a totally normal question for an abnormal shopping situation, don't work there.
Anyway, I got the clothes home; 4 of the 5 tops actually worked, but the one that didn't fit was because of its structuring, which made it hard to eyeball by size (With the sweaters and tees it wasn't hard to gauge what size would fit, but this had buttons and darts etc.) So it will have to go back. And though it's cute, I really don't feel like seeking out a larger size, dragging *it* home, and if *it* doesn't work bringing it back too!! When I normally shop I try on at least two/three sizes of whatever I am looking at to see what fits the best, due to the wildly varied nature of sizing, but in this case i wouldn't tie up a bunch of money doing that here, even if you do get it back when you return things. (We'll also see how smooth the return process is...)
This store could also make a lot more money on people like me if they had dressing rooms, through impulse purchases and the like. Who knows what among those items I put back might have worked, had I been able to try them on? But without being able to check, I let them go in favor of more solid "yes"es. There's also the "looks like nothing on the hanger" syndrome: the article of clothing that looks shapeless and unexciting until you try it on. I wouldn't take that home without seeing what it looked like, but if I had a place to try it on and was pleasantly surprised, they would have a sale that wouldn't have happened otherwise.
At this juncture, my time (and gasoline) are worth more than cheap clothes; I'd rather shop somewhere where I can do everything at one go and not have to make multiple trips, even if it costs me a few more dollars. After I return my too-small top, I won't be going back to Discovery.
Suffice to say that this is clearly not the store for me, but if you like loud music, snippy clerks, and the element of surprise when shopping, you may have discovered your new favorite store.
