Yes, I’m again following the strategy of “comment on another blogger’s post, then link to your own post on the topic.” Megan McArdle is talking about Penny’s, and I figured, “hey, I have something to say about that” so here it is:
I remember Penny’s from when I was a kid. Mom would order out of the catalog, and we would go to Penny’s to pick it up. That freestanding store doesn’t exist any longer, nor does the world of ordering out of the catalog to pick up. (I don’t remember what she would buy out of the catalog, really — did she buy clothes for us or herself? Linens?) We were a frugal household at the time (key line from my childhood: “Other families go to Disneyland, but we are responsible and save our money instead” — mom and dad had better have a hefty 401(k) after all those missed chances to meet Micky!).
Now we’re more likely to go there to get basics for the kids — school clothes (uniforms — light blue polos and navy blue pants) which they stock in a good wrinkle free version and whatever weekend wear I can’t pick up at Meijers (local Target-equivalent). I was so pleased when they went to an “everyday low prices” format, so that I didn’t have to worry about whether their “uniform” section was on sale or not, and I haven’t been back since they abandoned that, so I don’t know what their pricing looks like now. But I was really, really disappointed when it didn’t work. (I am still curious as to, when they abandoned this pricing strategy, they had one really late night marking up their merchandise by 50% in order to mark it down.)
I can’t stand the approach of overpricing and then putting things on sale. To a moderate degree, I’m fine with it, but not the Kohl’s approach of putting half the store on a 50% off clearance, and, if the collection you’re interested in isn’t in the rotation when you’re there, tough luck — you know better than to buy something that’s clearly overpriced if it’s at “full price.” It took us forever to settle on a new couch because I didn’t trust the “50% off” Lay-z-boy offerings and the upscale stores were too far out of our price range (finally settled on a local store with middle-ground offerings). Maybe my two years in Germany spoiled me — sure, there were sales, but they were 25% off, not 50% off.
And this game of Sale! Sale! Sale! makes me all the more reluctant to buy because I’m skeptical of the quality of the clothing that they sell at these prices — the fabric seems to be thinner, the sweaters pill easily, the quality finishes aren’t there. (This seems especially the case at Target — though I don’t like to shop there anyway, ever since my first encounter with a stocker who didn’t speak English, and the big “now hiring” signs in Spanish irritate me greatly.) Yet I’m just not confident enough in more upscale clothing being higher quality rather than just higher status. So in the meantime, I tell myself that I’ll frequent the resale shops until I lose that after-40 10 pounds!
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