Tad
Dimensions' loiterer
I bike to work regularly, packing work clothes to put on after I’ve gotten to work and shower. I’ve probably done this a thousand times, and for only the second time I forgot to pack a shirt. Fortunately I keep a sweater at my desk so I had something other than sweaty t-shirt to wear. I thought I was just as fortunate that there is a Sears just a few blocks away, I could go and buy a shirt at lunch, no problem!
I’d never gone in there really needing to buy something before. Hopefully never again. So let me present:
1. Piping in loud, schmaltzy, Christmas songs in the middle of November. This will not get me into the Christmas buying mood early, it will just make me homicidal. Well, that and make me resolve that when I do start Christmas shopping it sure won’t be at Sears. Note that I did not take this out on your staff, as they have to be subjected to it all day long and no doubt were even more dangerous than I was.
2. More polyester than a 70s disco. I get that polyester has gotten better over the years, I know cotton commodity prices are up something like 75%, but simply upping the polyester content of everything is not a very creative response. What if, for example, someone doesn’t like feeling like they are wrapped in a garbage bag?
3. Style. Look it up in a dictionary. How many variants of plain white or white with a blue stripe do you need to stock? Or wait, one in 100% polyester, one in 65% polyester, about three in 45% polyester….. And about 8 brands all featuring essentially identical cuts? So, yah, some variety (and no, one burgundy shirt with contrasting stitching and 3.25” collar tabs doesn’t mean you also carry ‘stylish’ clothes).
4. While you are discovering colour and cut, how about finding more cloth that does not look like it was somehow stamped rather than woven? Texture, it is a wonderful thing.
5. You might also consider quality control. I know that is a lot of syllables to swallow, so let’s give an example: people probably aren’t going to pay over $50 for a shirt with loose threads hanging off the front collar seams.
6. Making up numbers. OK, sure, you can call anything you want an ‘XL’, because it may simply seem extra large to someone on the planet (I’m not necessarily confining someone to humans, by the way, so you are good on that front). But when you label a shirt as fitting a 17 – 17.5” neck, someone who normally wears a 17” neck should not be able to fit the Sunday New York Times in between his neck and the shirt collar (OK, I didn’t literally try that, but I did measure the collar to a bit over 18”, which may not sound like a big deal, but go buy a shirt a size too big and see how it looks on you).
I will give you some credit for a liquidation rack, because if I’m going to buy something I may not wear more than once, I’m glad I only had pay $25 for it. Oddly, nicest texture I found in the whole store, although it is 45% polyester and I’m already beginning to feel overheated…..
I’d never gone in there really needing to buy something before. Hopefully never again. So let me present:
Sears, how do I hate thee, let me count the ways.
1. Piping in loud, schmaltzy, Christmas songs in the middle of November. This will not get me into the Christmas buying mood early, it will just make me homicidal. Well, that and make me resolve that when I do start Christmas shopping it sure won’t be at Sears. Note that I did not take this out on your staff, as they have to be subjected to it all day long and no doubt were even more dangerous than I was.
2. More polyester than a 70s disco. I get that polyester has gotten better over the years, I know cotton commodity prices are up something like 75%, but simply upping the polyester content of everything is not a very creative response. What if, for example, someone doesn’t like feeling like they are wrapped in a garbage bag?
3. Style. Look it up in a dictionary. How many variants of plain white or white with a blue stripe do you need to stock? Or wait, one in 100% polyester, one in 65% polyester, about three in 45% polyester….. And about 8 brands all featuring essentially identical cuts? So, yah, some variety (and no, one burgundy shirt with contrasting stitching and 3.25” collar tabs doesn’t mean you also carry ‘stylish’ clothes).
4. While you are discovering colour and cut, how about finding more cloth that does not look like it was somehow stamped rather than woven? Texture, it is a wonderful thing.
5. You might also consider quality control. I know that is a lot of syllables to swallow, so let’s give an example: people probably aren’t going to pay over $50 for a shirt with loose threads hanging off the front collar seams.
6. Making up numbers. OK, sure, you can call anything you want an ‘XL’, because it may simply seem extra large to someone on the planet (I’m not necessarily confining someone to humans, by the way, so you are good on that front). But when you label a shirt as fitting a 17 – 17.5” neck, someone who normally wears a 17” neck should not be able to fit the Sunday New York Times in between his neck and the shirt collar (OK, I didn’t literally try that, but I did measure the collar to a bit over 18”, which may not sound like a big deal, but go buy a shirt a size too big and see how it looks on you).
I will give you some credit for a liquidation rack, because if I’m going to buy something I may not wear more than once, I’m glad I only had pay $25 for it. Oddly, nicest texture I found in the whole store, although it is 45% polyester and I’m already beginning to feel overheated…..
