Edinburgh - Cruise

[helena]

I was in this shop at the weekend and they appear to be selling last winter's stock at full price & telling customers that it has just come in ( I know it hadn't because i bought the same skirt there last winter).....Vivienne Westwood especially. I think this is TERRIBLE and I told them so. ...they clearly didn't give their customers enough credit to know the difference.....a double whammy in terms of offensiveness I'd say.....

BEWARE!

 

[PrinceOfCats]

I just bought a pair of trousers in Cruise Newcastle's 90% off closing sale and their buyer didn't know the difference between Burberry Prorsum and Burberry London...

So I wouldn't be so sure they know the difference themselves...

 

[helena]

that doesn't surprise me PoC - the SA's seem to know NOTHING about fashion. Its embarassing for them. I would have thought it would be important for an employer to hire sales staff who are interested in fashion and who have some knowledge of it.

 

[dragonlance]

you all got a point on hiring the right staff. however, the people whoare interested in fashion often doesn't apply to sales assitants position whatsoever. Plus, it would be cheaper to hire normal people to be sales assitants as some fashion oriented people might get a little demanding for their salary!

 

[helena]

well maybe if they employ people who know about the product & are passionate about it, then they'd sell more and be able to pay the staff more.

 

[Meg]

ehh, I think I have reasonable fashion knowledge and i couldn't get a job whatsoever in retail when I was looking. All high end boutiques want you to have a min. of 2 years luxury experience, and Liberty told me they have an abundance of people with that on their CV's....clearly people lie.

 

[helena]

sorry to hear that Meg. The people in Cruise have never displayed any knowledge of fashion whatsoever. In fact there is a store where I live that is supposedly a fashion store and they know NOTHING.....some of them haven't even heard of Marni!!!! I get embarrassed for them like i say....I would be hung drawn & quartered if I didn't know that basics about the job I do.

 

[Meg]

I guess managers don't find this important. SA's in general are so disappointing these days. I shouldn't be really impressed when someone actually knows the products they are selling. Even if you go into Chanel and ask about something from s/s or f/w they often don't know what is going on. I think half the time they just hire people based on looks. It's getting quite bad really-no wonder the retail market is struggling. No one knows sh*t about what they are selling. Knowing 'trends' doesn't get anyone anywhere. ugh. Am really glad you told those people off H.

 

[faust]

I think a lot of these people simply get jobs because they know somebody. Clearly it's not rocket science .

 

[softgrey]

that's true faust...
i always make a point to find the manager and let them know if i have had particularly good or bad service...
the good staff should be rewarded as much as the bad ones should be reprimanded imo...



on topic...
i'm not shocked to see them selling last season merchandise...
a lot of smaller boutiques do this...put stuff in the basement and then pull it back out the following season...
they just can't afford the markdowns...
it happens especially in smaller markets where the turnover isn't as high and the customers might not know the difference...

i saw this in Vancouver Canada as well...
some ann demeulemeester was there for about three seasons...
sort of like carpe diem's 'never go on sale' rule...

but not really....

 

[helena]

Faust its clearly not rocket science which is why they should not be selling last year's products at full price.

 

[Meg]

faust are you saying that being an SA is clearly not rocket science or that it's obvious that they get jobs through knowing people? Need to know what you mean.

I don't necessarily have a problem with a smaller boutique selling older items at full-price but to outright lie and say it just came in? It's completely uncalled for.

 

[susie_bubble]

A lot of the luxury retail ppl come in via agencies (at least in London they do). I have a friend who works at Gucci, Bond Street and bless her, she really has no clue about fashion. She just happens to have retail experience and the agency can pass her on from one retail store to another.

 

[faust]

faust are you saying that being an SA is clearly not rocket science or that it's obvious that they get jobs through knowing people? Need to know what you mean.

I don't necessarily have a problem with a smaller boutique selling older items at full-price but to outright lie and say it just came in? It's completely uncalled for.

Being an SA is not a rocket science .

Softie has a point, they don't have to discount the clothes at all if they don't want to. When I was in Cielo in San Fran, I pointed out that some of the fully priced Ann Dem was not marked down. The saleswoman tactfully pointed out that they have a monopoly on Ann Dem in San Frand and they couldn't give a s**t that it's last years merchandise, cause they'll sell it anyway...

However, Cruise is a chain, not one small store, and I'd think that they should have clear policies of getting rid of stock.

Besides, to misrepresent it as current merchandise is just wrong . I'm sorry you had a bad experience, Helena