John LOBB factory sales

[greasymonkey]

Not surprised as i called up today and apparently they were not taking telephone orders at all.
i could here from the background that that the place was rammed up.
Well am gonna wait another month and go over to Burlington Arcade for the Crockett sale.

 

[Ich_Dien]



Not surprised as i called up today and apparently they were not taking telephone orders at all.
i could here from the background that that the place was rammed up.
Well am gonna wait another month and go over to Burlington Arcade for the Crockett sale.

Why bother when they send all the stock down from the factory anyway?

 

[greasymonkey]

Popped in today and the lady at the factory shop said it was manic on saturday with long queues from 1 end of the road to thje other.
Apparently 1 chap came in to buy 30 pairs and the Mrs bought 24 pairs all in one day; Lord have mercy.
Most of the sizes left were not of interest to me and was told some were still in the warehouse to be moved over to the shop.
Might pop in on Friday before sale ends as am in town for the week.

 

[eddievddr10]

they look to already be on ebay for 750 a pop

 

[MalfordOfLondon]

If the shoes that are slowly filtering their way onto eBay are anything to go by - I'm glad I didn't make the trip.

 

[ljrcustom]



If the shoes that are slowly filtering their way onto eBay are anything to go by - I'm glad I didn't make the trip.

Do the shoes sold at the factory sales always have the R stamped on the inside?

-LR

 

[tj100]



Do the shoes sold at the factory sales always have the R stamped on the inside?
-LR

Yes.

 

[MalfordOfLondon]



Do the shoes sold at the factory sales always have the R stamped on the inside?
-LR

No idea. I should think it's a mixture of "S" (Sale) and "R" (Rejects)

 

[tj100]



No idea. I should think it's a mixture of "S" (Sale) and "R" (Rejects)

(S) denotes a first-quality shoe sold at a discount; (R) denotes a second quality shoe.

As explained to me, they do this because they have an unstated "100% satisfaction" policy that doesn't require that you have the receipt, and they don't want people buying a shoe at a discount and then exchanging it for a non-discounted shoe for full-credit.

 

[ljrcustom]



(S) denotes a first-quality shoe sold at a discount; (R) denotes a second quality shoe.
As explained to me, they do this because they have an unstated "100% satisfaction" policy that doesn't require that you have the receipt, and they don't want people buying a shoe at a discount and then exchanging it for a non-discounted shoe for full-credit.

Interesting, as far as I know that's definitely not the case at the retail stores in the US.

-LR

 

[greasymonkey]

(S) denotes a first-quality shoe sold at a discount; (R) denotes a second quality shoe.
As explained to me, they do this because they have an unstated "100% satisfaction" policy that doesn't require that you have the receipt, and they don't want people buying a shoe at a discount and then exchanging it for a non-discounted shoe for full-credit.

Their QC must be very strict as i bought a pair of St Crepin with the R stamp inside it and i must say the quality looked fine to me bearing in mind that after a few months of wear and tear you hardly will be able to tell that they are factory seconds.

 

[tj100]



Interesting, as far as I know that's definitely not the case at the retail stores in the US.
-LR

It was explained to me by the manager of the South Coast Plaza store (~3 years ago) as he was stamping one of the pairs I bought with an "S", so I presume it is or was the policy in the US stores.

 

[empty]

Let me contribute my 2 cents to this thread.

The factory shop opened its doors at around 9 am but by that time about 300 people had already gotten tickets.

The people that showed up early were about 50% black, 30% Japanese, 20 % other
Most black customers were in groups and were not born in the UK

You could take up to 30 pairs per person

From what I saw (note that this was after a few hundred people marched on):

Stuff like bright red City shoes, and the Arima, Lopez loafers/boats could be had by £150
Non loafer non prestige (with colours that would not blind you) were going for £250
Past seasons Prestige models were available at variable prices (£200-£450)

There were some bargains to be had even at a later stage.

I count myself lucky for having bought two prestige (Portman and Hastings) in nice colours and what seems to be essentially perfect condition (after 3 min saphiring) for £600 total

Note: The S and R 'thing' described above does not match my experience of buying in the JLP factory shop and i suspect there are other factors at play

My lessons for the future:

-Do not believe what anyone tells you before-hand in terms of ranges on sale
-Rent an hotel room in Northampton on friday
-There are still things to be had after saturday

I discussed with some of the JLP people that the whole thing was a little sordid and there is awareness by some of the staff that things could be improved- but i suspect the management likes it this way for a variety of reasons

 

[tj100]



Note: The S and R 'thing' described above does not match my experience of buying in the JLP factory shop and i suspect there are other factors at play

Could you clarify that?

Presumably you mean that shoes were being sold "clean"?

It wouldn't shock me if they were selling some 1st quality merchandise with an "S" stamp, but I would be surprised if they were selling shoes with no stamp at all.

I discussed with some of the JLP people that the whole thing was a little sordid and there is awareness by some of the staff that things could be improved- but i suspect the management likes it this way for a variety of reasons

It's probably the better methodology to get rid of their old stock. Historically (I haven't made it to the store in a little more than a year) they had sort of a "list" of sale shoes behind the counter, and the salesguy would rather discretely tell you if they had something available in your size in a similar style to what you were looking at, and the price was almost always 50% off the original retail. It seemed to me to be a really inefficient way to clear stock. They were clearly sitting on some shoes in oddball sizes for years, waiting for somebody who was a size 13 (or 6) to walk through that door and have their pick of 50% off shoes.

 

[MalfordOfLondon]

What's the fixation here on the race of the customers?