The Sak

I got word of this mega warehouse discount event through the grapevine a week prior and decided to check it out. It was held in an unmarked building on Harrison distinguished only by the line of women outside. Upon entering, I was handed a folded garbage bag and a price list. All handbags were priced according to size and material.
The area itself was large enough to accommodate the massive flurry of greedy women as they snatched and hoarded their ways around the room. The leather bags were the first to disappear off the floors; a small percentage of them resurfaced later as women started eliminating selections from their stashes. Some items were damaged or missing parts, others had department store return receipts inside, and many were still in plastic bags, completely untouched.
I was momentarily swept away in the madness of bargain hungry women and by the rush of having so many deeply discounted handbags in my garbage bag when I suddenly realized… I don’t really like Sak bags all that much. Nevertheless, I picked up a few gift items and one bag for myself.
My recommendation: Do not bring your man to this event; it gets ugly in there and you probably wouldn’t want him to see that side of you. What happens in the warehouse should stay in the warehouse…

My first sample sale at The Sak was an eye opener! When it comes to purses at cheap prices, beware of the women who become packs of rabid wolves! Oh my god. All manners are thrown out the door. Women pushing, shoving, running to get the purse (s) they have their eyes on. I avoided the frothing packs at all costs. Like a stealth jack rabbit, I darted and made beelines to opposite ends from the rabid packs. I did good, though – snatched an Elliott Lucca purse for $ 45!

I was just at this warehouse sale this weekend and it was a madhouse. All I can say is that you cannot nor should you every attempt, to ever get between a woman and an inexpensive handbag. To do so would mean risking life and limb and at the very least, getting a sharp «Get outta the way!» thrown at you.
That being said, here’s the other lessons I learned:
1.) Show up early
2.) Wear comfortable clothes and shoes
3.) Try to show up with a few other close friends and family so that you can employ the «divide and conquer» strategy.
Other than that, expect to run into a huge crowd of women, and strangely, some men, who are all ready to grab as much as they can and buy very good-​quality handbags for fairly cheap prices.

Once or twice a year, The Sak has a warehouse sale where everything is something like 50−75% off. I’ve gone to two of these so far. You will snag terrific deals as they make great leather (and crochet) goods, and sometimes they have more designy things at the warehouse sale that aren’t available in stores. The Sak also makes Elliot Lucca, and their popular bags are there at the sale though you have to snatch them up fast. Pricing is based on the size of the bag, quite literally — I believe the last round had small bags at $ 25 (less than 1 foot wide), mediums at $ 40 (about 1 foot wide), and larges at $ 60. Keep in mind that my little $ 60 steal retails for $ 225 or so. Can’t wait for the next sale :)
edit ⁵⁄₀₈: The spring sale happened last weekend. I scored a bunch of gorgeous leather Elliot Lucca and Sak bags. Unless the dates get posted on DailyCandy or Splendora or something, you won’t hear about the sale unless you’re on their email list. I missed the December one because I thought I’d hear through the grapevine (nope!) They’re usually the first weekend of December, but send them an email through the website to get on the list.