Wow, this year has flown by! There are less than 6 weeks until Christmas.
Are you someone who gets all their shopping done early or are you a last minute shopper? I started mine last month; which is kind of late for me, I usually have most of mine done by now.
My daughter has been wanting a Hollister T-shirt for a while – I won’t buy online unless I am sure of sizing and fit. Most of her wardrobe consists of Gap, Aeropostale and Old Navy which all fit very differently from each other. I was going to Toronto for the Blissdom conference so I thought I would stop in at the Hollister store nearby while I was there.
Once I got into the Eaton Center, I asked someone for directions to the store, I was told I had passed it. I swear I went by the store three times before I realized where the store was. I finally saw the name of the store along the bottom of the wall, near the floor. Not where I usually look for the name of a store!
I walked in and was hit with blaring music and feeling like I was inside a dark cave. I was totally unprepared for this experience. I like to see what I am buying and also like to see where I am going.
Things were thrown everywhere, I don’t think the staff could really see that the store was a mess, it was too dark. Anyway, I was finally able to make my way to the back of the store and amidst all the t-shirts and sweaters I was able to find a couple of shirts my daughter might like and might fit into. Wasn’t too sure of the colours because of the lighting, luckily she looks good in any colour so it was a risk I was willing to take. I also figured they were Hollister shirts, so how could I go wrong?
I finally found the cash so I could pay for my purchases and head out. My head was really starting to pound from the music at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I love music and I like it loud at times. However, it was the combination of the narrow aisles, loud music, perfume and the dark cavernous atmosphere that was getting to me. There were only 3 people in line ahead of me and two others getting served at the cash. I figured how long could it take?
Well, 20 minutes later I finally got up to the cash to pay; why it takes that long to serve anyone I don’t know. Oh wait, maybe it could be that the male sales associates kept coming into the cash area to talk to the girls at cash and distracting them. You know, the whole social thing at work.
The girl behind the cash was far from friendly when I got up to the cash. When I tried to ask a question about how these shirts fit in comparison to others, I was given the “how dare I ask that question” look, then she asked “well, do you want them”? If I had not promised my daughter that I would get her a Hollister shirt and wasted so much time in line , I would have left them right there and walked out. Unfortunately, I had already invested time. So I purchased the t-shirts, promising myself that I would never walk into a Hollister store again.
I understand that I am not their typical consumer, the store is geared toward the kids [apparently geared toward 14-18 yr olds] that actually wear the clothing. They market to them, and they make it so uncomfortable for us “older” folk to be in there that we will only shop for their clothing online [if we shop for their clothing at all]. Smart marketing or not? You tell me.
