The North Face

Do NOT order with them over the phone!!! I have never been to this store, but I ordered a jacket over the phone from this location on Saturday the 21^st and was told I would receive free overnight shipping so it’d be here (in the SF Bay Area in CA) by Christmas Eve. I gave them all of my shipping/​billing info and they repeated it back to me, all of it was correct. I was just so dang excited to finally find the jacket I wanted for my boyfriend, everywhere including all online stores and retailers which carry The North Face were sold out, but luckily this location had one available!
Fast forward to this week. First, my shipping tracker said it’d be delivered by 3pm on Monday the 23^rd… cool! But, that didn’t happen… so on Monday night it said it would be here by Tuesday the 24^th at 3pm… fine by me. On my way to work today I see that the package had been received in Oakland, CA and was in transit to be delivered. Yay! I get off work and head home, but find it odd that my boyfriend didn’t mention a package being delivered… so I check the tracker: it shows that the package was not delivered because «the business was closed and no delivery attempt could be made»… WHAT??? I was furious!!! So I frantically searched for the FedEx info and found that I had 30 minutes to get the the Oakland location to get my package in time!!! I get there in time, wait an hour, get my package and all is good… but here is where the 2 stars comes in: EVERYTHING besides the city I live in on the package was incorrect! My last name is spelled super incorrectly, and not like in a way where they misheard someone say it, it’s like really oddly misspelled as if they were typing it on an iPhone while driving. The street number was written as 24 858 instead of 29 858 and the street name was spelled wrong… and there was no unit number listed at all for my apartment! Uhmmm!!! WTF!!! It literally looks like they gave zero fucks when filling out my shipping info and honestly I am amazed that it even made it here at all!!! I’m surprised they got my billing info correct enough for my credit card to go through. If I hadn’t gone down and waited at the FedEx shipping center, this package would have never ever made it to me. That’s ridiculous. It’s clearly a time of the year when people are ordering stuff because they need it by a certain day: Christmas! If they hadn’t written the correct zip code, I’m 110% sure this thing would have never been found. I will be calling the store on Thursday when they re-​open to let them know that they should pay closer attention when taking orders… I’m just thankful that I got it at all.
And just to cover my bases: No, it was not FedEx’s mess up… it even has these stupid misspellings/​errors on my receipt that was inside the box!!! So infuriating!
The only reason I am not giving this place 1 star is just because I am happy that I was able to find this jacket and that it is in good condition!

2012 Review #331:
Full disclosure– my husband works for the company that does the majority of The North Face’s advertising. He worked on some of their advertising for some time, and because of that he gets a substantial TNF discount. So, we buy our TNF products online but we have to try them on in-​store. However, he was also given specific instructions that if we ever went to a TNF store, he was supposed to tell the staff that we would not be purchasing in-​store because we got a discount, and that they shouldn’t give us any attention.
Despite having a discount at my disposal, I actually don’t own any TNF gear. With an upcoming trip to the middle East, I took the advice of some friends and decided it was time to get a jacket whose sole purpose was not just to look cute. I don’t really understand how the store is set up; a section for dry clothing, yes, and a section for very insulating clothing, but the stuff in between? Just seemed strewn about. Luckily, I stumbled upon what I think is the perfect jacket for what I need.
Midway through my trying a jacket on, an employee came up and started talking to us about the jacket. We thanked him but also told him that we wouldn’t be buying in-​store. He was very nice, thanked us for letting him know, and went to help another customer. Despite that, another staffer came over and told us that on jackets with an inner and outer jacket component, like the one I was considering, you can use many different TNF jackets, or even other brand products (Patagonia, Columbia) as the inner layer. For one thing, it was awesome for him to tell us, and for another thing, it is incredibly nice that the products are so adaptable, and that I could turn a light jacket into a weatherproof jacket, or a heavy down jacket into a weatherproof coat.
I went over to look at some lighter, light-​reflecting items, and the same staffer we had told we wouldn’t be buying in-​store came over and talked to me about it. Obviously he was still doing his job but, we were clearly just looking for fit and style ideas, and we made it very clear he shouldn’t waste his time on us. However, he chose to make sure we understood the items, how they worked, and what to use them for, and that to me is a great example of customer service.

While I own a large number of TNF products (they make my favorite climbing jacket, the Redpoint), this store kind of blows. Customer service is far better at the neighboring Montbell store and the Berkeley TNF outlet. When I stopped in recently they seemed to be the only store in town not having a holiday sale. With the ease of finding discounted TNF stuff online you would think they would put in a bit more effort.
Note on sizing: TNF sizing seems to fluctuate between years and sleeve length between items, so try before you buy. For example, this year’s Redpoint jacket in a size small fits my arm length perfectly, but I tried on one of their down jackets (the Catalyst maybe?) in the same size and it was super short (shorter than I’d want even with a shell). Certain vintages of the Nuptse also suffer from the short arms issue.

The product: 5 Star! TNF has been to the top of the world more than any other brand, and there’s a reason for that! Price/​performance cant be beat. Fuck arc’teryx, patagonia, and FA.
The store: 2 Star. I can get the same product at SA Elite one block away and use a coupon and save myself 20%.
The service: 5 Star

Awesome store, with an awesome product line! My wonderful in-​laws got me a Denali jacket for my birthday at this store, and the sales clerks were super helpful. The jacket was perfect for my Ireland trip, and will be great for day-​to-​day use as well. I’ll definitely visit the North Face store again in Boulder when I’m in town, and would recommend it to anyone. It’s nice to be able to see all the NF products in store before buying, too. :) As to be expected, it’s a bit pricey… But you get what you pay for, and I’d rather buy one good coat that’ll last forever, than a new coat every year!

Great product line with excellent service and superior product warranty. I love this store and their employees!

As much as it sucks, one bad employee interaction can just ruin your whole experience. I am sure most of the staff are good and I love the clothing, just won’t be returning to this location. Got a Christmas present sent from a relative in Michigan. North Face jacket in a size large. Tried it on but the cut was really funny so I wanted to exchange for something else. I went to the 29^th street location with the jacket, tags still on and receipt in hand. Told the guy I wanted to exchange. He looks at the receipt, slides the jacket and receipt back across the counter to me and says «I can’t take this back here». No explanation just leaves it at that. I ask why not and he says it was bought at a North Face Outlet. I ask if there are any options to which he replies rather sarcastically, you can take it back to the store it was purchased from in Michigan. Really? Thanks A-​hole! I ask if there are any other NF outlets nearby. He says I think there is one in California. OK thanks for all your help and I leave reserved to the fact that I will have to keep this jacket that will not fit. A couple of months later I come to find out that there is a North Face Outlet right in Denver. Too bad I can no longer return (past the 30 day policy) — I also won’t be returning to North Face. Maybe I am asking too much, but I am from the old school customer service where you go out of your way to help a customer even if it doesn’t pay dividends on the spot. I guess the 20 somethings working in most retail stores don’t feel the same way.

I’m not the biggest fan of the 29^th St Mall, but I do like that it’s dog-​friendly (check with each store, though). Well, The North Face store that opened here in the latter part of 2007, north of California Pizza Kitchen, is also dog-​friendly, so that’s sweet. As far as gear stores go in Boulder, that makes sense to me, and most bike shops here are also cool with dogs. But REI across 28^th St no longer allows dogs (only service dogs).
Anyway, back to the store and products — this is a nice new store that does a decent job of showcasing a pretty extensive selection of TNF products and a lot of what you might need for some outdoor «action»: hiking, trail running, camping, rock climbing, mountaineering, snowsports, or just plain chillin’. Mostly it’s apparel with some packs, tents represented, I believe.
Of course whether you like their stuff will depend on if you’re fond of getting outdoors, prefer other technical clothing brands, or indifferent enough to fashion trends to look like a gear-​geek. Anyway, they do have some casual clothing that could be worn to the office, or even not look TOO dorky at a happy hour in Denver, but pretty much it’s more of a Boulder style (or lack of) vibe.
It looks like North Face moved their store from the Table Mesa shopping center to 29^th St, so now this is the only Boulder location. I think overall the prices are pretty competitive with similar brands, but I mostly buy during the sales — the summer sale is going on right now, and big selection of summer to cooler weather stuff is 20−40% off. I’d say there are some nice deals to be had.
I find quality good and they’ve always backed everything up with a lifetime warranty — that’s solid.