The Myth of the “Maxxinista”

[meshaliuknits]

Heh I was just at Marshall's. It's nice to have confirmation that the "original" prices are BS.

Sent from my EVO

[NitaX]

Sept 28, 2014 16:16:05 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Heh I was just at Marshall's. It's nice to have confirmation that the "original" prices are BS.

Sent from my EVO

I feel that way about Kohl's. You know good and well nothing in that store is worth $60.

[meshaliuknits]

Sept 28, 2014 16:18:01 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Sept 28, 2014 16:16:05 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Heh I was just at Marshall's. It's nice to have confirmation that the "original" prices are BS.

Sent from my EVO

I feel that way about Kohl's. You know good and well nothing in that store is worth $60.

Also Carter's!

Sent from my EVO

[stealthmom]

Ok. I'll admit I thought the dress I bought on clearance two years ago at tjmaxx was actually an elie tahari dress if only bc the store does have a section of true designer clothing. I looked bangin' in it anyway.

But I knew the stuff about the "outlet" and factory stores.

[BeagleMama]

I knew the stuff about outlets but had no idea about the licensing with brands and the store!

[sushi]

I knew about the outlets (although there are a couple super outlets that are legit like the gap one in Casper wy).

And I'm still going to believe that the clearance deals i get at the rack are legit deals, but that original prices are inflated. I've gotten Calvin Klein dresses for about $25 at the track that i saw 3 months prior in the regular store for just over $100.

[callie]

Sept 28, 2014 16:08:49 GMT -5 @soudesafinado said:

I rarely shop in these stores for clothes because it's all a jumble and I hate that kind of shopping where I have to go through each piece to see if it's something I might like that could fit. -- Sou D

I don't like TJ Maxx and Marshalls for that same reason. I just don't have the patience for it.

I do shop at Nordstrom Rack though. Only because I'm familiar enough with them to know which clothes are made for the Rack and which ones actually came from Nordstrom. It's all in the tag ;-)

[eclaires]

All of these stores will occasionally have the real deal and you will get an awesome deal. But it's like .1% of the time.

I hate shopping at outlets and TJ Maxx style stores because most of the time they are a hot mess. I would rather pay more than dig through mounds of sloppily organized clothes. But that's not just outlets - I won't shop at certain department stores (Dillard's, Macy's, etc.) if it's one that is packed full and messy. I just can't handle it. It overwhelms me and I just want to leave. My local Dillard's and Belk are pretty good but I've been to ones that are terrible.

And I hate Kohls. HATE. My mil loves that dumb store and is always telling us how much she saved. You're not saving anything!!!!!!!!

[rosiedozie]

Sept 28, 2014 16:58:11 GMT -5 callie said:

I do shop at Nordstrom Rack though. Only because I'm familiar enough with them to know which clothes are made for the Rack and which ones actually came from Nordstrom. It's all in the tag ;-)

Please share! 

[blink]

I'm only here to ditto the Kohl's hate. MIL is also in love with the store and seems to buy everything from there. Everything is always "on sale" and the quality doesn't seem any better than JCP and JCP always seems to be cheaper (even if they went back to sales and coupons).

I also knew about outlet stores and just hadn't really thought much about TJ Maxx or Marshall's.

[pamela]

Sept 28, 2014 16:59:55 GMT -5 eclaires said:

All of these stores will occasionally have the real deal and you will get an awesome deal. But it's like .1% of the time.

I hate shopping at outlets and TJ Maxx style stores because most of the time they are a hot mess. I would rather pay more than dig through mounds of sloppily organized clothes. But that's not just outlets - I won't shop at certain department stores (Dillard's, Macy's, etc.) if it's one that is packed full and messy. I just can't handle it. It overwhelms me and I just want to leave. My local Dillard's and Belk are pretty good but I've been to ones that are terrible.

And I hate Kohls. HATE. My mil loves that dumb store and is always telling us how much she saved. You're not saving anything!!!!!!!!

All of this. My mom and grandma have finally given up on getting me to shop in these places. It just truly overwhelms me. I already hate trying to dress myself and to have it all mounded up around me and on top of that, to have to sort through for real values, is just too much. I'd rather pay full price at some place like Talbots and have it brought to me. I'd say Nordstrom's, but there isn't one in the state.

[MrsAxilla]

Sept 28, 2014 17:03:58 GMT -5 rosiedozie said:

Sept 28, 2014 16:58:11 GMT -5 callie said:

I do shop at Nordstrom Rack though. Only because I'm familiar enough with them to know which clothes are made for the Rack and which ones actually came from Nordstrom. It's all in the tag ;-)

Please share! 

Yes, callie - please share!  I have a GC to the Rack and I'm heading over there tomorrow. 

[alexis]

None of this is surprising to me. It does surprise me that companies think it is wise to degrade their brand by allowing its name to be used on low quality goods. When I buy something that is a respected brand and it ends up being garbage, then I make note that their products are not worth the price. It doesn't matter if the low quality item came from a discount store. How can I know that anything else they put their name on is worth it? It just seems like a bad long-term strategy.  It would make more sense to me to create a low-end brand that is associated with the better brand but not the same, so the brand name still denotes a specific quality.

[Miss Phryne Fisher]

Sharing the Kohl's hate.

The only outlets I have been to in the last ~10 years that were legit an outlet was the Pottery Barn outlet in Lancaster, PA and an LLBean one. Lots of returned, second quality, and slightly damaged stuff. It was great and I wish we had a bigger vehicle. I ended up just getting a cover for our Everywhere Chair, which had a wrong name on it, I had to take a seam ripper to it. Same with the personalized LLBean stuff.

[darthnbjenni]

This is why I shop at Goodwill. Ours is in a good area, and I let the people who have more $ than I do take the original price hit. Last week I bought a Land's End swim coverup, LOFT dress pants (with tags), Banana Republic dress, and a Max Studios tunic for $4 total.

[Velar Fricative]

It's all well and good that some people (including me) choose to pay more to not have to dig through piles of unorganized shit, but a lot of people don't have that luxury and this demonstrates yet another way that some people who can't afford to shop at the Nordstrom or wherever are being deceived into believing they're getting a great deal on something they'd otherwise be unable to afford. Everyone should know what they're paying for.

[UMaineTeach]

Sept 28, 2014 17:07:27 GMT -5 blink said:

I also knew about outlet stores and just hadn't really thought much about TJ Maxx or Marshall's.

I'd never thought about the exact logistics, but I have always known that Calvin Klein's hands had never touched that design and Ralph Lauren has not a clue what underwear he's selling at TJ Maxx.

But it's not like I live in an area where I could go to the "real store" vs. outlets. Outlets is as close as I can get to most brands, but I always buy based to price tag and design, never on brand label.

[laurenpetro]

Sept 28, 2014 17:48:44 GMT -5 socratic said:

So this has totally blown my mind. I didn't know any of this and thought WOW what a deal! What about the Coach outlet?

They have about 90% straight to factory stuff and 10% legit stuff.

Not that I window shop there or anything.

Williams Sonoma used to have a legit outlet in NY but they fucking closed on me and I am NOT driving to LI. Well, not yet.

The one good thing about Marshall's is their cooking section. You can find legit good deals in there.

[meshaliuknits]

I mostly troll the kids clearance section at Marshall's. I can find some fantastic stuff there. And other times jack.

Sent from my EVO

[josieposy]

Sept 28, 2014 17:03:58 GMT -5 rosiedozie said:

Sept 28, 2014 16:58:11 GMT -5 callie said:

I do shop at Nordstrom Rack though. Only because I'm familiar enough with them to know which clothes are made for the Rack and which ones actually came from Nordstrom. It's all in the tag ;-)

Please share! 

Yes please! They're putting one in my area next year.

[Cicero]

Honestly, there isn't much of a difference in quality between JCrew and JCrew Outlet. That's not to say that the outlet's stuff is super well made, but that JCrew isn't exactly what it used to be.

[MrsAxilla]

Sept 28, 2014 18:16:25 GMT -5 Cicero said:

Honestly, there isn't much of a difference in quality between JCrew and JCrew Outlet. That's not to say that the outlet's stuff is super well made, but that JCrew isn't exactly what it used to be.

I always thought the outlet prices were outrageous.  $50 for an outlet caridigan?  No thanks.

[eclaires]

Sept 28, 2014 17:48:44 GMT -5 socratic said:

So this has totally blown my mind. I didn't know any of this and thought WOW what a deal! What about the Coach outlet?

The coach outlet has a mix. Years ago it was more likely you were getting Coach products but made for the outlet exclusively has become more common and now that's most of the product there.

I got a beautiful coach purse and wallet that were from the retail store for like $150 and the purse alone retailed for $800 or so. Kate Spade is another one that used to have more of a true outlet but now it's all designed exclusively for the outlet. Their sample sales used to be almost all retail stuff but now if you look most of it says designed exclusively for the outlet in the description.

I don't pay full price for a lot of things but I usually stalk the Nordstrom sale section for handbags and things like that.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I love home goods, but I never venture into the clothing section of TJMaxx or Marshall's. It's just a big mess.

I do like Gap Outlet for basics, but I know full well that that stuff isn't real-Gap quality. I'll still buy their $25 pea coats, tyvm.

[v]

Sept 28, 2014 17:14:58 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Sept 28, 2014 17:03:58 GMT -5 rosiedozie said:

Please share! 

Yes, callie - please share!  I have a GC to the Rack and I'm heading over there tomorrow. 

It's easy to tell.

Stuff from Nordstrom has a Nordstrom tag with a colored strip on it.  Straight-to-Rack items have white Rack tags.



At other stores, you can often tell by the language on the tag.  Straight-to-outlet stuff will often have a "valued at" or "comparable value" indication rather than "was" because the item was never actually offered for sale at the higher price.  Like look at sales items on the JCrew website as compared to the items on the JCrew Factory website -- regular Crew says "Was $39.50 Now $19.99."  Factory says "valued at $44.50 your price $34.50." 

[elleblue]

Sept 28, 2014 16:44:04 GMT -5 BeagleMama said:

I knew the stuff about outlets but had no idea about the licensing with brands and the store!

Me either! And that also means that there's no clear way to know for sure if they're sourced and produced ethically - the main label may have good practices but what about the discount store using their label?

[Deleted]

Sept 28, 2014 16:18:01 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Sept 28, 2014 16:16:05 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Heh I was just at Marshall's. It's nice to have confirmation that the "original" prices are BS.

Sent from my EVO

I feel that way about Kohl's. You know good and well nothing in that store is worth $60.

Joanns behaves similarly as well. Guess what? If that's the price more than half of the year, it's not a fucking sale. If it's new merchandise, then it's not a fucking sale.

But you know, I've never seen an Old Navy or Gap in an outlet mall that I thought was a true outlet. Osh Kosh and Carters aren't outlets either though they are often in that space and Maurice's despite their usual location in outlet space doesn't even pretend it's an outlet so yeah.

[sushi]

The gap i mentioned is a factory store, and they have all 3 gap brands. I think that's how you can tell the difference. That's also where 2nd runs will go. So you have to look clothing over carefully to make sure the defects are ones you can live with.

Sometimes the defects work in my favor, like the pants were too long sometimes it's as minor as a missing button. Sometimes it's a big rip or permanent stain.

Also, how often do people go to Casper wy?

[thebreakfastclub]

I am a retail buyer so no surprise to me. I had a coworker who use to work at TJX.

They do chase deals in the market but only rely on it for a small part of the assortment. Ever since the recession, brands have tightened up production and it is harder to cancel goods. It is usually easier to mark it down and ask them to help cover the cost with a check.

We don't do msrp, but if a ticket references original retail, it must have been offered for at least 4 weeks at that high price. A lot of stuff is purchased with a planned high/low strategy.

[josieposy]

Casper was an oil boom town wasn't it? Or at least at one point I thought it was.