Your Greatest Shopping Experience

[dallaslee]

hi all . i would love to know what your greatest shopping experience . why was it the best, where it was and what did the sales ppl did to make it so wonderful.

 

[softgrey]

good question...
nothing really stands out to me...
funny how you always remember the bad ones though......


guess it's true what they taught me when i was in retail...
a happy customer will tell one friend....
an unhappy one will tell TWENTY...


...

 

[GalleriaResident]

I'd have to say D&G at Willowbend(Plano/Dallas) Ive always had great service there an Macys At Houston Galleria

 

[susie_bubble]

Hmm.......probably my best ones were at smaller, more intimate affairs. The little boutiques normally have lovely sales people or even better the owners who are more than likely to be really nice and personable. I can think of a few - can I name a few?

Shopping at Verlaine in Antwerp, a vintage store where the owner was SO SO nice and we had nice long chats about the virtues of vintage. I ended up buying two dresses though I wanted the whole store....

The Boudicca sample sale last Christmas in this sweet little apartment in Paddington where they offered you mulled wine and biscuits and there were little candles everywhere. The people there were also really helpful and friendly - made the shopping experience more like a social function really.

Sniff shoes near Oxford Circus is always great because the owner is there to give you friendly advice and it's really well decorated.

Dover Street Market is wonderful if you really wanna escape and be left alone - sometimes it's nice to have those kind of shopping experiences. You get help when you want it though. It's also a little trippy walking around the store because it is such an incredible space so that's always fun.

 

[Beautiful Stranger]

I loved Hermes & Marc Jacobs in Paris. Ended up buying a lovely tee from MJ and a "twilly" (hahah. Anyway, it actually was not that expensive. 84 euros, i think.) from Hermes.

In January, i also found a perfect, black leatherjacket on sale in XS.

D&G in Milano was also quite an experience. Donna Summers, great personal service (just ashame that the clothes was not that nice. Ended up buying some nice, white shoes.).

But some months ago i found a really, REALLY nice, longsleeved t-shirt, black-whitestripes with a u-neck. It was something like 10 dollars. Still my favourite item.

 

[xcoldricex]

lift and lift ecru (tokyo)

this is the fashion i am most interested in. they are stockists of labels like carpe diem, lmaltieri, linea, carol christian poell, label under construction, rick owens, ann demeulemeester, anne valerie hash, alexander mcqueen, martin margelia, mihara yasuhiro, kris van assche, jas mb, guidi, faliero sarti, john galliano, etc. not only are they stocked well, they present each line in an environment enhancing the effect of the clothing. as they say on their website they strive to convey the designers' concepts, ideas, and message through their presentation. the workers are extremely informative- they can tell you all the special procedures used to make the product - the materials, treatments, etc. they'll even tell you about the designer's concept behind each piece so you can appreciate them even more. a very inspiring place. all the service people seem to speak extremely good english (which is totally not expected, but is a nice bonus). not to mention- the women workers in the stores are really hot...

i wish i lived closer to this store and i wish had a lot more money to spend there. oh and you would expect a place like this to be pretentious, but they are quite the opposite. i walked in the first time with a pair of jeans, a dirty tshirt, and a trucker hat- looking like the opposite of their target consumer. yet two workers answered all the questions i had and presented different things to me for the hour i was in there. there was absolutely no pressure to buy anything either. in fact, i went in and tried on the same coat about 5 times and did not end up buying it- most stores would probably put up some sort of fuss or give you dirty looks. unfortunately, i did not end up buying anything from the store- though i will make every effort to buy pieces from them before any other place.

-they also provide duty free shopping if you're a foreigner... when you're buying stuff like this, that's a good chunk of money.

 

[faust]

Mine has to be Atelier. It's along the lines of xcoldricex's experience at Lift. A small, incredibly well stocked store, and the guys who run it have A PASSION for what they are doing. It's not just a job for them, it's their dream job. They know their stuff, friendly, and no pressure. Many a time I come in just to chat and look without buying and they are totally cool.

 

[Paris20]

A couple come to mind:

Brown Thomas Dublin- I was on vacation in 2005 and the day before returning home I find out that they were having a big sale. Went to the store at 8 am with luggages in tow and nabbed an Indigo Balenciaga first for 30% off plus 17% VAT refund. The sales manager I spoke to the day before saw me and she opened a register so that I could get out of the store and get to the airport in time.

Chanel Beverly Hills- I called asking if they could find me a metallic black bowler. The SA looked in their computer and said that 1 kept on showing up but she couldnt find it. Later in the day, she gives me a call back and says she located the bag, it was placed in the wrong box. She had gone through the stock to find the bag. She offered it to me and I quickle accepted. The next day when I picked the purse up, it was waiting for me all wrapped beautifully and she had drinks and biscuits served while I waited. I havent really experienced customer service like that before.

 

[HelenF]

The Prada outlet in Tuscany. Not because the service was so outstanding (although they were very helpful with getting me the right shoe sizes), but because the selection and prices were mindblowing. I'd been to the Prada outlet in Woodbury Common and found it disappointing, but this place is actually part of the factory, it's enormous and I walked out with three pairs of shoes, two bags and a bunch of those little accessory cases ($160 U.S. 40 euros at the outlet) and spent less than $1,000.

In terms of service, I went to Chanel in Paris and received wonderful treatment. At first, the saleswoman tried to upsell me to a larger version of the bag I was intending to buy, but when I said I'd prefer the smaller one, she didn't push. The woman that rang up my purchase used to live a few blocks from me and we had a nice chat while my purchase was wrapped (I love the way Chanel wraps things with the ribbons and paper camelia). I've shopped in Chanel stores in different cities and always found the service to be perfect: not pushy, but helpful, regardless of whether or not you look like a millionaire (I just wish I could afford to shop there more...).

 

[*Happiness*]

I'd have to say my greatest shopping experience was when I was about 13 or 14 years old...and it was with my dad at the Neiman Marcus store in Beverly Hills....he was shopping and had some suits tailored for him....I felt so special to sit there was watch the tailors fit my dad and treat him so nice and the sa and my dad had personal conversation about family, work, etc...it was so cool and inspiring. I thought the sa was the nicest man in the world. I didn't want to leave.