I just hate how itās the only retail space left that never bothers to organize things beyond menās sections, womenās sections, and the dreaded kidsā section. I had to go shopping today to get long sleeve black shirts for my job (long story). All I needed were like 3 larges that were black. Thatās it! But it took me well over an hour because of how much of a nightmare it is. I even had to go to another store down the road because the first one I tried was just a maze.
What I canāt get over is how even the consumer big box stores donāt bother to organize shit. You get menās, womenās, kidsā sections like stated previously and thatās like it? Thereās been times where I wanted to grab some jeans but I had to dart around the store because there just wasnāt a centralized jean section. Itās like if I went to a sporting goods store to buy a tennis racket but the tennis rackets were divided into 3 separate corners of the store. Justā¦ why? And the worst part is I have yet to go to a place where the sizes were actually organized beyond thrift stores. Oh you need a large? Be prepared to sift through 10 mediums and 14 smalls before getting there, and sometimes your large might not even be there but you just spent 10 minutes of your life searching. Iām not kidding when I say this, I once went to Value Village which is a big box thrift store and got jeans that fit me in less than 10 minutes because the jean racks were all in one place (!) and organized in ascending order of waist size (!!). But heaven forbid JCPenney or Kohlās or Target or Old Navy or any of the other stores for āregular peopleā do this.
I ended up finding the shirts I needed at Old Navy but they werenāt even the type of fabric I wanted. Apparently weāre in the season now where 90% of menās section tops are heavy jackets or graphic tees. (hate graphic tees btw, just wanted to say that).
And donāt even get me started on jeans. Iām quite a tall fella and so I need to buy jeans from storesā āBig & Tallā sections (Big & Tall the retail chain doesnāt even exist where I live), but their āBig & Tallā sections only ever have the ābig.ā I once went to every clothes store in my area that I could think of and none had an āaverageā waist size pair of black pants that I also needed for my job that were also tall. They just had big waist sizes that were also like 40 inches down.
And then letās say you finally find the stuff youāre looking for, now you gotta wait in line and when you finally get to the checkout they ask if you want to register for their accountā¦ then their credit cardā¦ then do you really not want an accountā¦ then they ask if you want a couponā¦ and then you finally get to pay for your stuff. To use the sporting goods analogy again, I donāt remember Dickās Sporting Goods asking me all that BS just to buy exercise equipmentā¦
The shirt thing has actually gotten to the point where I usually order my shirts from LL Bean online because they donāt shrink much in the wash and they always fit. Only downside is they take like 2 weeks to ship and only come in solid colors, so I had to go in person for shopping because I needed these shirts by tomorrow.
/rant.
Anybody else struggle with this to such a degree? If you know any retail chains in the west coast US that arenāt Value Village and arenāt a total maze to navigate then please drop them down below.
edit: to drive home the first point about organization, if I go to buy a baseball bat then most sports stores will have a Baseball Section but itās like if those stores had a āStick and Ball Game sectionā that also included Cricket bats among the baseball bats.
that is not the point
After thinking about this more i think I donāt understand because Iām not American and Iāve probably never experienced stores as large as you have over there. Over here baseball and cricket section would take up half a shelf each and be put in the same isle and probably have tennis and table tennis mixed in.
My point was that itās just not organized. I know I can ask an employee but I shouldnāt have to when itās all right there! My point about sports stores is a bit america centric but just think about other stores and it applies, right? Thereās sections, aisles, and things are grouped together. At least at the clothing stores Iāve been to, itās just āmensā and you gotta sift through things on your own.
Like if I want to go to the grocery store and buy jam, there isnāt a ājam aisleā but thereās an aisle that has jam and its almost always listed on the sign for the aisle! If it were like a clothing store then there would be no aisles and it would have a sign that says āprocessed food lol good luck!ā
I think itās a tactic they employ to make you wander their store and stay longer so you will accumulate impulse purchases. Just like the grocery, they properly under staff the checkout counters to make you stay longer and buy the displays on the checkout counter.
Just shop online.
Why donāt you find something that fits well, from a large, established company, and just buy the same thing again when it wears out?
Literally everything I own comes from American Eagle (jeans only), Uniqlo, or Muji. When I need something new, I just buy it online because I know neither their sizes nor my ass has changed significantly enough that I would be required to try something on.
If you are being a minimalist about things, you could break down your entire wardrobe to 2-3 pants, 10 shirts, 2-3 shorts, socks and underwear. If you can replace them all at the same time, all of the shopping you would do in 12-18 months can be finished in 10 minutes.
Iāve been doing this personally for something like 15 years.
Facepalmā¦ I literally do. From ll bean. Wrote about it in the post. I also wrote that the reason I had to go shopping was that I couldnāt wait 10 days for the shirts to ship.