Over the last 2 years I have grown very fond of Winners. This is mainly due to the fact that I graduated 2 years ago and my usual, frugal nature causes me to cringe at the normal retail price of business clothes. Winners is my go to place for basically everything with respect to clothing, shoes, and skin care products! This is by far my favourite branch, given that it is very accessible via the TTC and that it's across from the Eaton Centre. Since it's across from the Eaton Centre, I can simply march over to the mall when I can't find what I need here. This is a central spot for watching movies for me, so when I have time to kill before a showing, Winners is the best pastime.
The Best:
- Prices are often 30-40 percent off the retail value of decent to high end brands
- I can only wear pants that are Short, not Regular in length. Many stores do not stock up on Short pants in Toronto, but thankfully the pants in the Mode section of Winners are perfect for people who wear Short length pants. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Mode section caters towards teen girls, as a lot of the clothes may fit adult women as well.
- This branch tends to have better quality items or better designer items than other branches
- I noticed that in the last few months, Winners has been stocking up on many Korean skincare products, particularly cleansers and sheet masks. This has been quite a blessing for me since I will no longer have to go through the hassle of purchasing my goods via Amazon/eBay.
- There's a phone charging station that is password protected in the center of the store. Since I usually spend 1 hour on average in Winners, I abuse the charger during this time.
What Could be Improved:
- When it comes to business clothes, a staple in any woman's closet are black flats. I noticed that many branches don't tend to carry stylish black flats that would suit business/office settings. Even if they did, there would only be one or two pairs, and they would be sold off in a heartbeat! This was always a peculiar point for me because I always thought that this would be a common type of item they would stock up on as they could sell very easily, especially in this part of the city. I, unfortunately, had to make 4 trips to this branch on different occasions until I found black flats that were decent enough to wear to the office.
- Many of their makeup products (not to be mixed up with skincare products) are from brands that are not well-regarded or they are from unknown brands. I would love to see more drugstore brands here as well as some designer brands that could help Winners rival Sephora for the budget-friendly consumers. read more