Banana Republic

Great friendly service was provided they had a sale on so I went a little over board with the shopping and the staff was there to help me find my perfect sizes for everything I needed.

Alright, I came in here when they were having a super crazy sale, so they were RAMMED. Despite this, the impeccably groomed staff were still able to be quite polite, and in the case of the person at checkout, bubbly and friendly. The lineup was HUGE to pay that day, as was the lineup at the fitting room. Fitting rooms are plentiful (most days) and have a huge mirror in them.
What I like most about this place is that it has a petites section, with PANTS THAT DON’T NEED TO BE HEMMED. I’m wearing the pants right now. And I’m HAPPY.

I went into the store recently to get some nice dress pants for work. The sales lady was quite rude & huffy. She was a 40 something sales clerk but she was skinny as hell & dressed to the nines. She seemed offended that I need any size larger than a 6 (which is all they really had out). Luckily I was with my fashion savvy friend who asked if they had my size 10 or 12 in the back. Sales lady went off & got the ones we requested & though I tried on lots of pants I ended up leaving with only 2 pairs. Thank god I was I had my fashionista friend as a buffer. I let her do all the talking & styling. Otherwise, I might not have come out with anything. LOL

I have often wondered why so many retailers do not properly train their retail staff on human dynamics. They teach them how to fold shirts and sweaters, how to clean up displays and how to cash out purchases but give them zero direction in dealing with John Q. Public. At the best of times I hate chain retail stores especially ones that consider themselves a step up the ladder from their counterparts. Banana Republic would fit into this category.
A few times a year I wander into the BR looking for some office wear, primarily slacks. I’m often baffled by all the different name fits they put on the pants so yesterday I asked one of the sales clerks about the fit and the rise. Her response to me was «well…big people like you usually wear…» I looked at her and said «big people like me?» Holy crappy doodles… I wear a size 12. How big is that? I blinked. I gave her a good look and realized that I was being served by a young 21 year old chick who looked like an emaciated version of Paris Hilton, a human bamboo pole.
A few minutes later as I was rifling through another rack I am approached by literally a clone of the previous sales clerk I had just spoken to. She asked me if I needed any help and I said «well, yes, actually I have a question for you… if you are a size zero… are you really here?» She blinked several times, kind of rolling her eyes up in to her head as to actually ponder my question, obviously completely oblivious to my sarcasm.
I never did get a pair of pants. They had six pairs of size 0 or 2 but none of size 12. Guess I’m just one of the big people.