Disclaimer: This review is for this particular Zara, rather than the brand as a whole.
I love Zara, I really do... to me they strike a good balance between the trendy, but "oops I'm just a tad too old for that" look of H&M and, sadly, even Topman at this age, with the chic, but "oops I can't afford much in here" look of Reiss (and the higher end "maybe I could afford a wallet in here, oh... never mind " shops we all love to loath)... personally I think this comparison works well in regards to their style, quality, and price... Zara is not the top of the food chain for fashion, and their clothes may or may not last a lifetime, but for commoners like me the balance is a completely acceptable one. (Side note, I especially love their coats!)
Now, on to the reason for the three stars, had this been my first experience in a Zara I may have been a bit put off... I felt more like I was in a TK Maxx, but more black, white, and tan given Zara's preferred colour schemes. (I'm a big fan of simple colours with the uniqueness coming in the design, but you're not reading this trying to get an idea of my often random fashion sense.) The TK Maxx comparison comes in that there was stuff scattered everywhere on my last two visits, which is to be expected at some shops, but it just stood out in the wrong way for a Zara... of course you can rightly blame the shoppers for the mess, as it's obviously not the staff throwing things about, but many of the Zara stores that I have visited in the past have been larger and in some of the busiest shopping districts while still managing to maintain a clean and orderly look.
I know it's funny for such a thing to really matter, but experience and presentation play into the overall experience in my humble opinion... I like to have a pre-shopping martini somewhere (I'm lying, it's usually a few gin & tonics, or something more exotic if I'm lucky... "martini" just sounded fancier), walk into a decent shop and pretend that I'm somewhere posher with more money than I actually have... Zara normally lets me escape into my little fantasy world, but it just didn't happen for me at this one.
On to the shop itself sans the aforementioned mess, the men's section is definitely small(ish), but suitable enough so I'll still give them three stars based on the brand... perhaps four stars if it were a larger shop, but as it stands I can't justify more than three. read more