Short Fiction by Brooks Brothers

[goodlife]

This is most likely completely inane, but I thought I would share my mornings experiance at Brooks Brothers. I will not indicate which one to protect the guilty.

After reading the the Brooks Boot Sale Thread over the past few days, and seeing some other sale items on their website, I decided to pay a visit to my nearest Brooks Brothers to take a look and try out some sizes before I placed an order. I had a look around (incedentilly they have some really nice skinny wool ties in the women's department), and everything seemed fine until I got to the shoe department.

I had not been there more than thirty seconds and the sales associate was looking over my shoulder. So as I inspected the shoes I was forced to make small talk. I noticed some made in USA calf shoes and asked if they too were made by Alden or if it was just the cordovans (I actually did not know), and he said they were.

As I approached the English shoes, still making with the small talk, I mentioned Alfred Sargent and Crockett &Jones. This is when the sales associate made his bid for the pulitzer. He told me that the shoes were not made by AS and C&J, but by Peal & Co. which had been bought by Brooks Brothers in the 1960s. He said that while they may do additional private labels for comanies such as C&J and AS, the name on the factory is Peal.

He told me all of this as I was holding a slipper foil stamped Brooks Brothers Peal & CO crafted by Alfred Sargent, North Hampton England. The worst part is I did not even bother trying on any shoes, I just had to get out.

 

[forex]

Originally Posted by goodlife

This is most likely completely inane, but I thought I would share my mornings experiance at Brooks Brothers. I will not indicate which one to protect the guilty.

After reading the the Brooks Boot Sale Thread over the past few days, and seeing some other sale items on their website, I decided to pay a visit to my nearest Brooks Brothers to take a look and try out some sizes before I placed an order. I had a look around (incedentilly they have some really nice skinny wool ties in the women's department), and everything seemed fine until I got to the shoe department.

I had not been there more than thirty seconds and the sales associate was looking over my shoulder. So as I inspected the shoes I was forced to make small talk. I noticed some made in USA calf shoes and asked if they too were made by Alden or if it was just the cordovans (I actually did not know), and he said they were.

As I approached the English shoes, still making with the small talk, I mentioned Alfred Sargent and Crockett &Jones. This is when the sales associate made his bid for the pulitzer. He told me that the shoes were not made by AS and C&J, but by Peal & Co. which had been bought by Brooks Brothers in the 1960s. He said that while they may do additional private labels for comanies such as C&J and AS, the name on the factory is Peal.

He told me all of this as I was holding a slipper foil stamped Brooks Brothers Peal & CO crafted by Alfred Sargent, North Hampton England. The worst part is I did not even bother trying on any shoes, I just had to get out.

They always say that,that's what they are told to tell customers,who gives a ****.If you know they are made by AS or C&J,that should be sufficient.

 

[nmprisons]

I had a sales associate there, wearing cordovan wingtips made by Alden, insist that they were made by brooks brothers.

"Oh," I said, "I though that Alden made your codovan shoes"
"No," he said, "These are our 'cordovan collection.' Brooks Brother's makes them."

He said it in front of a friend of mine I was helping pick out a suit. It made me look like an idiot in front of him. It took all of my strength not to let him have it.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

I have never had an experience like this since I shop at Brooks Brothers in Manhasset. The shoe guy there knows his shoes and we had a great conversation about the different manufacturers. Apparently, the owner of BB lives in the area and the Manhasset store is his "baby." They always carry the best BB merchandise including BF & GF. (Although there is a terrible lack of size 38 suits.)

 

[Mentos]

I thought BB was owned by some multinational corporate conglomerate-type thing?

 

[Doc4]

Originally Posted by Mentos

I thought BB was owned by some multinational corporate conglomerate-type thing?

They were bought by Alfred Sargent back in the 1960s ... didn't you notice??

 

[goodlife]

Originally Posted by forex

They always say that,that's what they are told to tell customers,who gives a ****.If you know they are made by AS or C&J,that should be sufficient.

If that is what they are told to say, it is even worse. If it is just that individuals pitch, it is just one ignorant person. If however, it is policy then it speaks to the service culture of Brooks Brothers. To tell someone a bullshit story when you know they know the truth is rude and insulting, and quite frankly I have had **** service pretty much everytime I have been in a Brooks Brothers. So no, my opinion of the Peal shoes has not changed because I still know that they are of good quality, but this is yet another instance where my opinion of Brooks Brothers has been degraded.

I respect the tradition, and I think they provide a fairly decent quality product at a price that is not outrageous. I also appreciate the fact that in many areas Brooks is the only decent shopping option available.

 

[EasyGoing]

I've had salesmen in the NY and SF stores point me down the street to the Alden stores in each city to find a fuller selection of cordovan shoes while explaining that BB carried the same shoes rebranded. There are always people who aren't particularly good at their jobs or are sleazy no matter where you look.

 

[AnGeLiCbOrIs]

Originally Posted by Mentos

I thought BB was owned by some multinational corporate conglomerate-type thing?
They are owned by a company privately held by Claudio Del Vecchio. (Interesting Time Article) A whitepages.com search reveals he lives nearby in Oyster Bay.

 

[Tarmac]

Who cares man. You are like the Trekkie correcting William Shatner on how many horses he has on his ranch.

 

[pitboss12]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

Who cares man. You are like the Trekkie correcting William Shatner on how many horses he has on his ranch.

 

[lee_44106]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

Who cares man. You are like the Trekkie correcting William Shatner on how many horses he has on his ranch.

Amen.

 

[goodlife]

Originally Posted by Tarmac

Who cares man. You are like the Trekkie correcting William Shatner on how many horses he has on his ranch.

Funny, but not really an accurate comparison, but I digress. I do not want to start anything

since I have apparently raised the forum's collective ire for starting this thread.

 

[rssmsvc]

I will take a bet and say this is the North Michigan avenue store that sounds like their patented blather. I know of no other BB with such poorly informed sales people.

Go to the Rookery , the woman look like they came out of the catalog.

 

[forex]

Originally Posted by goodlife

If that is what they are told to say, it is even worse. If it is just that individuals pitch, it is just one ignorant person. If however, it is policy then it speaks to the service culture of Brooks Brothers. To tell someone a bullshit story when you know they know the truth is rude and insulting, and quite frankly I have had **** service pretty much everytime I have been in a Brooks Brothers. So no, my opinion of the Peal shoes has not changed because I still know that they are of good quality, but this is yet another instance where my opinion of Brooks Brothers has been degraded.

I respect the tradition, and I think they provide a fairly decent quality product at a price that is not outrageous. I also appreciate the fact that in many areas Brooks is the only decent shopping option available.

There is no doubt that BB customer service is not superior and its stuff is not knowledgeable. I have had several SAs telling me that bullshit, on numerous occasions. Some stores have stupid SAs, should we stop buying anything there?