Gap

Is it just me or is it an irritation of others? When I’m shopping (especially spending $ on christmas), and the need to use the restroom hits and takes my focus off shopping I would think a retail store as nice as Gap would accommodate. Well not this store. The response to my inquiry was,“we do not have a public restroom”. Odd but there has to be a restroom in the building. They lost between $ 100 and $ 200 sale. I told the associate I had to leave and would not make a purchase. I guess they do not need the sales for this quarter.

It was tough just getting into the parking lot! I turned right on to McDumfries and then had to stop pretty quickly to wait to turn left into the long parking lot. There were a few cars waiting to go straight at the light so I patiently waited my turn to turn. Unfortunately, some jerk behind me started honking repeatedly and when I had an opening to turn, I could see him yelling out his open window in my side mirror. Adorable that he thought I could hear him, much less that I cared about his opinion as I obeyed traffic laws. Then, I had to slam on my breaks because the car in front of me who came from the opposite direction and turned into the parking lot stopped immediately after she got into the parking lot to wait for someone who was very slow in getting into their car and out of their parking spot. Almost not worth it to go through the drama to return a shirt I bought online. I was initially closer to the Galleria Gap, but did not want to deal with that parking garage or crowds on a Sunday afternoon.
Luckily, in the actual store itself, it was clean and bright and not very crowded. So I walked through quickly eyeing the goods on display and made my way to the register. The return process was painless, the staff was courteous, and I had a much easier time exiting the parking lot.

This Gap rocks. Why? It’s often overlooked, therefore empty! You can dominate the floor — picking and choosing without anyone getting in your way, have at it on the sales racks, and the employees are eager to help — almost acting as personal shoppers because, after all, there really isn’t anyone else to assist.
One problemo for me was that almost all the smaller sizes in everything were gone. The selection isn’t as large as The Village or The Galleria, but they were happy to call them up and have them hold whatever I needed. Also, you get a discount when you use your Gap or Banana Republic card on Tuesdays.

This is the happiest Gap I’ve ever had the pleasure of setting foot in. Perhaps something’s changed since Lisa A. visited a few years ago, but when I stopped by a few weeks ago, EVERYONE, from the assistants to the checkers to the manager on duty, were super nice. I was asked if I needed help several times when I was browsing – and not in an intrusive way, but a warm, friendly one. I got zero attitude from the fitting room attendant when I returned a pile full of clothes that didn’t work out (such is the fun of having an «outside the norm» body type), the cashiers were super sweet, and when I went to exit the store I set off the alarm. Instead of swooping down on me as if I was a nasty shoplifter, the manager cheerfully went through my bag of clothing until she found the offending sensor, removed it for me, and wished me well as I left.
I love the Gap for many reasons – chief among them is the fact that they seem to be the only store that make jeans in my size that actually fit me properly – but I’ve now found my default location. I will definitely be back to Happy Gap soon.