Esprit

The only reason why I still wander around Esprit on Walnut is because my mom is a huge fan and occasionally pops up with a cute sweater or cardigan for me. Sadly I think those days are over since my last few visits unearthed nothing that was really cute or could fit well or comfortably on me.
My guy friend likes to rave about their fantastic markdown sales here, which earns a couple of stars for them I s’pose. The sales area can be a bit of a disaster area at times, but staff are generally sociable if a bit aloof.

Before I moved to Philly, the last time I thought about Esprit was probably around 1987 when all the trendy girls in grade school just had to have Esprit tote bags. I don’t think I even knew that Esprit still existed, let alone that they ever made anything other than pastel tote bags, yet suddenly it’s 2011 and the Walnut St Esprit is my go-​to place to shop. (Next thing you know I’ll pop my head in at Guess, the other brand I hadn’t thought about since 80s.)
Anyway, there are two main reasons I keep coming back here. For one thing, I have experienced nothing but extremely friendly service, which is appreciated on its own but also in contrast to the cold shoulder I seem to get at every other store on Walnut St. Everyone at Esprit has been fabulous in helping me, especially since I am new to the east coast and need a lot of hand-​holding to figure out how to dress for seasons and weather to which I am unaccustomed. The other reason I like shopping here is it’s in that «just right» zone for me in terms of quality and price. The size of the store is such that, from my perspective, it has a nice selection without being too overwhelming. They usually have some kind of deal or sale going on, which can really add up to some nice savings. The Esprit Club card is also a great deal, as I’ve already gotten a pretty significant voucher after only my first month. Probably my only complaint is the the sizes run pretty small, so I can’t really get pants here, but everything else is fine.
I’m a fan! Who knew?

An update to my off-​the-​charts raving, novel-​length review from last year: The Walnut St Esprit store seems to be moving in a different, less upscale direction.
I stopped in recently and saw that the «Esprit Collection» section (the more formal, pricier, higher quality clothing) is very much reduced. One the other hand, where they never used to carry anything from the «edc» line (every day collection? something like that), and now there’s quite a bit of it. («edc» is sort of lower-​end and more casual and juniors-​oriented.) Also, a lot of the price tags have «Outlet Price» printed on them, so I guess they are from some sort of separate outlet line. They had a few things I liked, but most of it was ho-​hum.
I’ve never seen a ton of people in the store, and the scarcity of reviews on Unilocal seems to be more evidence to suggest that they haven’t attracted a lot of customers. I’m guessing that being next door to H&M didn’t help any: they were aiming for somewhere between Gap and Banana Republic, I’d say, and customers who wandered in from next door may have been looking for something closer to Old Navy in price. So maybe they’re trying out a different niche to see if it works better for them.
I didn’t buy anything or try anything on, so I can’t report on whether their excellent service has become any less (or more) excellent.

I had never shopped at Esprit before, so one day I decided just to come in and look around. True, overall the selection is a bit pricey, but every so often they have incredible sales! So, next time I am able to splurge on new clothes, I’ll be stopping in.

My experience summed up below.
— Oh Mah Gawd, ESPRIT!
— Sh%&$!! I found something. How am I gonna pack this in my luggage.
— Damn, this jacket looks nice too.
— Am I really buying a dress. I don’t even like dresses!
— I wonder if they take Discover?
I remember growing up in SF and Esprit used to be the place to get all the best basics. It was kinda sad when they all closed up, but when my friend and I were walking to get a pizza and saw this place we just had to stop in. Which is saying a lot because we were on a time schedule and ended up paying out the effing wazoo for parking. Damn you Philly Parking Lots! Why are you all more expensive than SF?!?

Two things:
I am flabbergasted no one has reviewed this yet.
ESPRIT rocks my world.
I used to be a big fan back in the day, both in childhood and then when they had that brief resurgence when I was in high school. Very classic, comfortable, cute stuff. Stylish without being trendy. I swung through just to peruse and found maybe zero people shopping — I was outnumbered by the people working there like 5 to 1. Amazingly, I was not bombarded by overly-​attentive sales people trying desperately to sell me something. I grabbed a couple pairs of pants and went into the fitting room.
Now, pants are difficult because though one might describe me as «curvy» I never fit the clothing designed for that body type because I have no ass and my waist is up by my armpits. So it’s hard for me to find pants I don’t have to tailor. I never want to take these pants off, they fit so nice. Luella fit. Go.
The sales people were über helpful (perhaps an artifact of there being no one in the store but still). Once I declared my love for these pants one went to find more, and another was remarkably friendly without being uncomfortably personal. He offered to have the store call me the next time they got more colors of those pants in. I wish I got their names, they should both be commended for being generally outstanding.
I would deduct for expense, but a) 10% student discount! and b) you can get a rewards card where you amass points and then get a voucher in the mail for more discounts. Whoohoo!