Going into luxury/high-end stores with no intention of buying anything?

Imhoff said:

Couldn't tell you his name. But I remember him being a little bit older (probably 50's), white hair, and a white bushy moustache. A car salesman best described his look. I legitimately had questions about shirt fits as I have never owned anything Brooks Brothers at the time. He acted like I asked him to go to the moon and back and that he had better things to do.

Unfortunately, I still walked out of the store having purchased a couple shirts.

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Try Denise next time. The fact that she got my dad to jump from Lands' End to Brooks Brothers after 30 years of wearing LE speaks volumes. He really had no idea what he was doing (a solar physicist at a research institute in SA....not really ever cared), and she was happy to respond to text messages involving the wearing of his first BB suit before some meeting.

...

jeff13007 said:

The senior guys at TF madison make about 150k a year and Loro Piana (i only know this cuz one of my friends dated a chick who worked there) about 100k. Im guessing the other high end stores will be around there. I think Hermes is 1-200k a year as well, my friend dated one guy who worked at their wall street location and he was driving a brand new porsche cayenne(sp?)

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I've got no experience with Tom Ford stores, but I seriously doubt that associate-level retail store employees pull down $100-200K per year (regardless of how senior they are). There may be one out there, someplace, but he's in a class of his own.



VinnyMac said:

I've got no experience with Tom Ford stores, but I seriously doubt that associate-level retail store employees pull down $100-200K per year (regardless of how senior they are). There may be one out there, someplace, but he's in a class of his own.

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You have good reason to doubt and i was surprised at first when i heard it but when they broke it down to me in terms of the sales they make with their commission and all it did make sense. Btw this isn't me speculating on how much they make or doing made up calculations in my head this is straight from the horses mouth, for the year 2010-2011 this particular employee at TF pulled in 150k

Keep in mind a place like TF only has stores in places that sell very well. Yes, you can make over $100k. Infact it is often very hard to turn a top seller into management for the reason that they would sometimes take a cut in pay.

Ps to the person making that stupid comment about skipping college for retail. Places like TF are looking for the best, it takes a pedigree. Do you really think they hand out 100k+ if it did not take any qualifications or skills?



SkinnyGoomba said:

Keep in mind a place like TF only has stores in places that sell very well. Yes, you can make over $100k. Infact it is often very hard to turn a top seller into management for the reason that they would sometimes take a cut in pay.

Ps to the person making that stupid comment about skipping college for retail. Places like TF are looking for the best, it takes a pedigree. Do you really think they hand out 100k+ if it did not take any qualifications or skills?

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These guys making 100k plus are usually the more senior ones with years of high end sales experience , they already have established client books. I know one had 5 years plus at Zegna before going to TF, another had 10 at Bergdorf's. These two i know for fact where they came from the others apparently came from places like Brioni and Armani. I must emphasize again that these are their senior sales guys, how it works is they will usually have associates under them which as per the last time i checked at TF were not allowed to sell to customers because of the actions of one of them. This might have changed though as this was info from last year.

I was recently in the Brioni Store in Vegas and the SA looked at me like I was a thief before any words were even exchanged....which, by the way were limited to "Hello"..... Nice suits though...

I don't frequent high-end men's stores often, and when I do it's only to browse. I do think employees at some stores will treat their customers according to how they present themselves, so someone walking in wearing jeans and a t-shirt probably won't be taken seriously, versus someone in a suit who is likely to buy something. I think the key is to know what you're looking for and to know what you're talking about. I went into one store specifically looking for Alden and a few English shoe brands (ie. Lobb, EG, etc), and the salesman was very cordial. If you go into an expensive store expecting something cheap then I think you're less likely to be helped......this is what stores like Macy's, offfifith, lastcall and nordstrom rack are for.

With that said, i've never gone into an expensive store and made any purchases, mainly because none of the stores i've gone to in Minneapolis have what i'm looking for, so i'm forced to buy online

I have to admit, I once spent a good hour in a store trying out various RLBL and Corneliani suits, with the SA running up and down looking for items for me.
My only intention was to find the right size and model, so that I could later go on the web and order said suit for a much,much lower price.

Felt a bit bad about it, since the store is a small non-chain boutique. (But what the hell, I've bought two suits there earlier)

I have to admit, I once spent a good hour in a store trying out various RLBL and Corneliani suits, with the SA running up and down looking for items for me.

My only intention was to find the right size and model, so that I could later go on the web and order said suit for a much,much lower price.



Felt a bit bad about it, since the store is a small non-chain boutique. (But what the hell, I've bought two suits there earlier)

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I don't have a problem with this in theory, but people that habitually waste someone's time just so they can shop for an item elsewhere should be banned. if you've purchased from that store in the past then I think it's ok, as you're more likely to go back and spend money there.

I would find this behavior inexcusable if I were the owner of a high-end shoe store. not only is it disgusting for a complete stranger to come in and put his nasty feet into a $600 pair of shoes (or $1000 pair for that matter) but if he had no intention of buying from me and made a habit of doing this i'd ask him to leave.

Well yeah, but how do you know if the guy has no intention of buying or if he just wasn't satisfied with the goods on offer? I'm not going to buy something I don't want or deem unsatisfactory just so the staff or owner feel that their time hasn't been wasted.

*Bump
I've recently been going to the Nordstrom across the street from where I work to try on shoe lasts and styles to latter buy online or from the shoe banks.
Is it wrong for me to do this?
I have previously purchased from this Nordies and will probably do so again if the price is right. (Nordies anniversary anyone??)



donjuan17 said:

*Bump
I've recently been going to the Nordstrom across the street from where I work to try on shoe lasts and styles to latter buy online or from the shoe banks.
[COLOR=FF00AA]Is it wrong for me to do this?[/COLOR]

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Do-able but unethical. Your choice.

I don't think it's wrong at all. Their job is to make the store and shopping experience so enjoyable that you eventually buy something there. Or you pass on word how nice their store or knowledgeable their staff is, leading someone else to buy something there.

donjuan17 said:

I've recently been going to the Nordstrom across the street from where I work to try on shoe lasts and styles to latter buy online or from the shoe banks.
Is it wrong for me to do this?

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