Vans

I love Vans as a store and merchandise, but I went there a few days ago and it was a hot mess.
I notice the stores in the outlet come in 2 sizes, incredibly huge with lots of square footage (that’s almost unecessary and there’s a lot of extra space that’s unused), or incredibly small where you can barely walk through the racks of clothes. Why can’t they have something in between dag nabbit? But I digress.
I guess it was stock day and they had a shit load of boxes piled in the back where I couldn’t even walk. Understandable. But I looked at the rest of the store, mostly the shoe box area, and they were just so messy looking. Shoes flopped everywhere. Geez. Also the workers seemed a little unresponsive when I walked in. I expect to be greeted at least once, not have to walk to the register while your head is down and stand there until you realize I need help.
Other than that I’ll come back on a day where there is no stock and I will see how they do then. I’ve been in retail for 3 years and no matter how hectic and crazy a store can get, you always need to care about the store’s appearance and customer service. Just sayin!

We somehow managed to find ourselves at the largely pathetic Prime Outlets in Tracy this weekend … a place worth visiting once every four years or so (ha). In previous years I’ve gotten a couple pairs of shoes here only to realize after getting them home that they were slightly mismatched in color or partially falling apart, etc. Maybe that’s partially my own fault … but they certainly weren’t labeled «as-​is» or anything like that.
So it’s been *years* since I got anything here and when we went it last weekend the store was just chaotic. I mean, not their fault it’s busy I guess. But it was overrun with kids, I could barely walk through. Employees were friendly though, I do have to give them that much.
The selection of women’s shoes is small so I was done looking in here after about 5 minutes. My hubby tried one pair of shoes on (they have a larger men’s selection) but didn’t get them. Prices aren’t bad for some stuff, but if you want the «classic» styles they’re pretty much the same you’d find anywhere. Anyway, I was so relieved when he said he was ready to go. I almost want to say «This place blows,» but I think that might be taking it a little too far. But just a little.

This place would get five stars if wasn’t always a disaster inside, staff isn’t always a help but if you ask they’ll try. This store is a neccessity for me as they’re about the only game in town that carries casual kicks in my size, oh and they are freakin cheap if you pay attention to the sales. Went in last week and ended up with a couple pairs of shoes, socks and two shirts for FORTY BUCKS!

I gotta give it up for this VANS outlet. This is my secret sanctuary. Tucked in the middle of nowhere, I go here to shop my heart out.
Like Erica Said — YAY for the BOGO ½ off!!! I was able to snag 15 pairs of shoes for ~$ 15 each! That’s WAY better than Payless YO! LoLz.
Their Selection is really good and they almost always have my size. The staff is very accomodating too — they help you look for your size and the register line is so fluid. They don’t offer any shopping carts /​bags — just hog your own boxes I guess — but they’ll happily keep your picks behind the counter as you shop around even more.
I just wish this place wasn’t so far away from home — and that there were better shops around it. When I got home — I sinked myself into shoe satisfaction and an unfriendly look from SO — He knew my sickness was coming back. Compulsive Spending. How can you resist?!?

Yay for the Vans outlet… YAY for the buy one get one half off sale… Super Yay for the amazing girl at the front counter. One of these days I’ll get better at reading name tags. Of course Christmas brings crowds, long lines and annoying crying babies HOWEVER, this was still a nice quick and fairly pain free shopping experience. The store is small and a little hard to navigate around with boxes and strollers everywhere, but the selection is good and the employees are great! The line managed to move smoothly and fairly quickly with ONE cashier, yep just one. Great place to get kids shoes, especially if your kids are like mine and like variety and style! What can I say, I’ve got mini-​divas in training.