Just dropped by quickly about 20 mins before closing, I was well aware of their closing time, but wanted a look without trying anything on, to either follow up later or forget it.
Good thing I went in at that time, because I got to see what the staff was like. First the "look" from the behind the counter person, as she did not say hello and welcome, but gasped at the idea that someone unsuitable, ie not one of their skinny regulars, would come in at such an hour. We assured her that yes, we knew (A) what time it was, and (B) that they closed in under 1/2 hour. After that we had 2 more people say in a patronizing tone - "do you know what time it is?" or "you know, we close in 15 minutes", to both, we gave the same answer, although the third one got cut off before she could finish saying her bit. Maybe there's a staff competition. Do you seriously think that women in Calgary don't know what closing time is? Do you really think I was dying to buy that stuff?
To quote Edwina in AbFab "You only work in a shop you know, you can drop the attitude."
After those unfriendly questions from the staff, we heard one of the preppy blonde customers who obviously was one of the charmed circle, ask "Is it too late for me to try this on?", and was assured that "no - of course not". Strangely, no reminder of the extremely late hour for her.
Dear staff - sales lesson; you have no idea how much money I have. You have no idea whether she is in hock up to her eyeballs.
To the merchandise. The racks are packed, but not much jumped out at me. Dull colours prevailed, probably because textiles only have a certain lifetime, and the life goes out of used textiles eventually.
For some strange reason they don't have a size posted that's bigger than L, no XL are allowed to be visible? we're a quality skinny store here, you have to look as much like a castoff-fashion maven as possible to even come in here.
The XLs are there, but they're mixed in with the L's.
The overall impression was that it was definitely used, some of it looked fairly new or well kept, and most of it was *way* overpriced. Too much limp fabric, and really - a name brand doesn't make something that can be destroyed very easily, and is nearing the end of its life, become suddenly valuable. That only happens if it belonged to Royalty, and it's 400 years old.
I also am aware that people will buy consignment clothing, and return it to consignment when they're done - so that bothers me. Like a used book store.
Jackets and coats - couple of tweed blazers that looked like they were once nice, but now a wee bit too limp. Very overpriced puffy coats. Like $500.
I called once to see about consigning clothes, and was told, without an ask as to what I had - that we're "full", don't even bother. So where do they get their clothes from, Winners?
A pair of Jimmy Choo shoes for almost $300, worn by someone else ew, I do not need, neither does anyone else. Ridiculous prices for disposable materials. They're SHOES.
If the attitude wasn't so snotty -- I might have gone back to dig through it more, but honestly I doubt it. Even without the lack of courtesy, it is still a very underwhelming store. Fancy building, I expect we'll see it turned into a restaurant at some point.
Wouldn't go back under any circumstances. read more