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mebiuspower

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I totally disagree my Porsche salesman is well versed, trained and has tracked everything that Porsche makes. Comparing Porsche salesman to HR’s is not a good comparison. Porsche dedicates a lot of time and does not leave anyone on the floor to just push someone to sell a car.

I have never felt pushed into buying a Porsche. Harry Rosen is a nice retail and one should make a purchase if they know what they want.

My SA quit in April or May 2020 and he's a real estate guy now.

"Sell Me This Pen"
 

othertravel

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I totally disagree my Porsche salesman is well versed, trained and has tracked everything that Porsche makes. Comparing Porsche salesman to HR’s is not a good comparison. Porsche dedicates a lot of time and does not leave anyone on the floor to just push someone to sell a car.

I have never felt pushed into buying a Porsche. Harry Rosen is a nice retail and one should make a purchase if they know what they want.

There are a few things to unpack.

1. Places like Holt's carry classic tailoring, in addition to more casual 'fashion' brands. Which also means that some SAs are more passionate about the latter than they are the former. So if you want to buy a 'classic' suit from an SA who's more passionate about say, streetwear, then you may leave a bit disappointed by the experience. Holt's has been leaning more heavily into casual/streetwear lately, and the makeup of their staff will reflect that. It's not their fault - they just like streetwear. It is in those situations that you should be prepared with your own knowledge.

2. Harry Rosen leans toward classical tailoring, and some of their SAs have really good product knowledge. That said, the commission-based structure can also incentivize making a quick sale as opposed to making sure the customer is fully satisfied with their garment (I mentioned before that I've had some experiences at Harry's where they were trying to sell me a garment that didn't fit well - but I also had very positive experiences).

Overall, it's not unreasonable to expect staff to have high levels of product knowledge, as well as know-how on how a garment should fit. But don't expect them to have the wisdom of a cutter who has decades of experience working on Savile Row - two different professions.

Lastly, I do consider myself a difficult customer (not rude, but with a high expectation on the outcome of MTM commissions). Some SAs are turned off by that, but others have the patience and knowledge to work with it. I also know I'm in a minority in that respect.

On a separate but related note, Holt's used to have an amazing RL presence. You could find tailoring from their Made in Italy Polo line, black label, and purple label (the high-end RLPL made by St. Andrews). I wish I had made more purchases from them at the time.
 

othertravel

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Harry's just came out with another promo today. Spend $50 in points, and get another $50 in points back. It appears to be all about the giveaways these days.
 

chiggyv

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Let's just go back to talking about Leatherfoot and the Nigerian owner...

Arne is a Realtor now

I get not job shaming...but realtors are an exception, right?

(Trying to buy a house right now and it's open season on any thing real estate related as far as I'm concerned ? )
 

partenopean

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Let's just go back to talking about Leatherfoot and the Nigerian owner...

Arne is a Realtor now


LOLOLOLOL you are as bad as I am!

DId you go to Linkedin last week, and put in "Leatherfoot" and "Arnie"? and found Mr A.P.?

I saw Arne of Leatherfoot is a realtor now, but that's only now. Between leatherfoot and the realty, Arne had an even cooler job....very close to where I live, in fact....
 

mebiuspower

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DId you go to Linkedin last week, and put in "Leatherfoot" and "Arnie"? and found Mr A.P.?

I did search for LF and Dubai, to see if that was purely a rumor or if it held any candle. Turned out they were already talking about Dubai at the old/original LF location. Nothing about an actual store in Dubai turned up.

 

partenopean

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LOL...you are making me waste time... Biden is talking now, so who cares.....


Arne mentions Dubai here ..... along with Singapore.....

To re-quote Arne in that article ---
“The owner has a passion for good-quality, handmade shoes," explains Arne. "This ran in his family so he decided to open a business to fill a niche that was lacking in Canada."

I can vouch for this. I spoke with the Nigerian owner for a long time, he seemed a nice guy! He knew his stuff -- this struck me like a ton of bricks. Everything from the shortcomings of mocassins to how Goodyear welting made Edward Greens and Church's watertight for rain weather....

He was the polar opposite of Arne -- who treated me with such haughtiness and condescension, it was slightly off-putting -- despite knowing nothing himself...

Another thing I noticed, Arne was not so grovelling around his boss as the other salesperson Nikki...

I wonder where the Nigerian gentleman is now....
 

mebiuspower

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I wonder where the Nigerian gentleman is now....


 

rwtc

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LOL...you are making me waste time... Biden is talking now, so who cares.....


Arne mentions Dubai here ..... along with Singapore.....

To re-quote Arne in that article ---
“The owner has a passion for good-quality, handmade shoes," explains Arne. "This ran in his family so he decided to open a business to fill a niche that was lacking in Canada."

I can vouch for this. I spoke with the Nigerian owner for a long time, he seemed a nice guy! He knew his stuff -- this struck me like a ton of bricks. Everything from the shortcomings of mocassins to how Goodyear welting made Edward Greens and Church's watertight for rain weather....

He was the polar opposite of Arne -- who treated me with such haughtiness and condescension, it was slightly off-putting -- despite knowing nothing himself...

Another thing I noticed, Arne was not so grovelling around his boss as the other salesperson Nikki...

I wonder where the Nigerian gentleman is now....

+1

The owner was a real gentleman

Some staff at his new location were competent enough - don't recall their names though
 

partenopean

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Nice to finally be able to put a name to the face -- Ideyi.

Incidentally, after all the interactions at Leatherfoot in 2013 and 2014, on June 22 2015, I was walking home from work along King Street East, and ran into Arne on the street. (I know the date -- it was my birthday!)
He was going home from the gym with another friend. He nodded, and smiled...acknowledged recognizing me.

A true shoe salesman would have relished this sighting of "the creature in the wild, in its natural habitat" and looked straight down at my feet and cast judgemental glances (I was wearing Aldens 990 black shell cordovan that day)......Arne did not look. He is no shoe salesman!


Nicolas ran into me on the street on another occasion, and made sure I noticed that he looked up and down to see what I wearing....
 
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djdanniedee

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Leatherfoot was one of the first places where i started to shop for good quality shoes so i always have fond memories . I've always had great experiences with Arne and Nikki. I remember i was looking to get a pair of tan suede Carmina wholecuts and they had a stain on them, Arne offered to clean them for me but i'd have to come back to pick them up which i couldn't so he offered me a Saphir Omni for free.

I would say tho that i never had a long discussion about shoe construction, how they're made etc with Arne, but then again i never asked and never started that type of conversation. But they definitely were very pleasant and i never got a feeling they were judging me or looking down at me.
 

partenopean

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Arne was a master at polishing shoes, using outre materials like single-malt whisky and a deerbone tool. He was doing that for other customers when i went there on 2 separate occasions.

I am guessing at his heritage from his surname, but I would have paid to see him burnishing a pair of burnt-sienna shell cordovans with Icelandic brennivin....
 
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SFA_CA

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Can anyone recommend a steam cleaner who is good, knows 3R2 and won't iron it out?

anyhere in GTA is fine.

I called Creed to inquire if they know how to work with a 3R2, and was told to just “bring it in we will see”.. not the answer I was looking for and I am not willing to go down that path again with a cleaner pressing it as a hard 3.. To be fair to them and most cleaners, they are just not used to seeing a 3R2 come in.

If anyone else has any suggestion in the GTA for somewhere else to try, please let me know!
 

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