shopping experience conclusion (part 3)

Nordie’s shoe department

The shopping saga carries on. I last left you last after Sherree nearly lost her lips in the MAC store. Beaten down but not conquered, we found ourselves completely overwhelmed in the Nordstrom’s shoe department.

The anniversary sale was in progress, so our timing should have been good. Shopping in the Nordstrom’s shoe department is like Candyland to shoe lovers everywhere. They have something for nearly everybody, so I couldn’t possibly go wrong (right?).

Lesson #1 should have learned about too much selection from the lipstick fiasco

We perused the floor and quickly realized that not only was the sale unimpressive, but there was way too much going on for either of us to focus. True, Sherree needed shoes, but we needed to get out of there before we could become frustrated and leave another store empty-handed.

After a quick side trip to the Nordstrom’s coffee bar, we were caffeinated up and moved to my old stomping grounds Banana Republic. Definitely more of a specialty niche, definitely good for work or casual clothing. Yep, this was to be the turning point in our shopping trip.

is anyone there???

Upon entering the store, we encountered no sign of a sales associate. Product was neatly displayed but where were the signs of life? Perhaps the staff was all engaged with customers in other areas of the store. My customer experience spider senses were twitching with disbelief.

Ten minutes later, we saw items of interest but still had not encountered a living soul with a name badge on. Besides the blaring music, the place was eerily creepy and quiet. I felt like shouting out, “hey is anyone there?” but decided against it.

Instead, we glanced through the racks and left completely disgusted by the lack of human contact. Sheree was prepared to try on and buy a new wardrobe. She deserved not only my attention, but also from a trained sales associate as well. Banana Republic was not to get any money from us that day.

finally the experience changes!

Was there such a thing as customer service? Was I going to help my friend update her wardrobe? Were my feet going to last in the shoes I was wearing? All these questions and more flooded my brain as we crossed the mall over to our final clothing store destination; J. Jill. This was to be our last hope.

With a swig from my iced coffee, I took a deep breath and entered J. Jill. No lightening struck us down, so we pressed on. A smiling sales associate greeted us (whew!) and I knew things would improve.

We took a moment to explain our fashion situation to the associate and sent her on a quest to correct the situation. Sherree needed clothes that fit, were fashionable and were not black. Color was definitely in her forecast.

From the vantage point of a comfortable chair outside the fitting room, I directed our helper. Yes, no, too old, too frumpy, great pattern, what other colors did they have in those pants, etc. We were in business.

When Sherree emerged from the fitting room, she now had the beginnings of a fabulous new wardrobe. The shopping trip was a success! We decided to end it on a high note. It had been six hours of hard work, but totally worth it.

what did Sherree learn from all this?

I am so proud of my newest shopping maven. Since our shopping experience a few weeks ago, she has ventured out alone to purchase shoes and a dress. Items of clothing she would have previously passed, were now leaving the hangers and going into a fitting room. When we met up in Reno for our #birthdayweekend getaway at the Peppermill, she also showed me the coral lip gloss she purchased at Sephora.

The lesson I learned from all this is that perseverance can pay off. By not giving up, we were able to move Sherree forward into the present with her wardrobe, and renew her confidence that she could embrace style and color. In the end, I wouldn’t change a thing.

shopping sistas

 

 

Related articles

• the shopping experience continues… (miriamgomberg.wordpress.com)
• Fall Shoe Shopping Has Begun… (stylepoohbahs.com)
• Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2012 Starts July 20! (stilettojungleblog.com)
• Retailers from Penney’s to Nordstrom to Macy’s try to find and master market niche (oregonlive.com)