Take a walk down the main shopping street in any major city and you’ll notice that several of your favorite department store brands, like Coach, Juicy Couture, and Ellen Tracy, have begun to develop their own stores.
Wait a sec before you get ideas of terry cloth jump suit heaven. Brands are creating boutiques not just as a direct route to customers , but to help monitor their brands and to reign in the massive discounts budget shoppers like ourselves find when shopping at a good end of the season department store sale. According to a New York Post article two weeks ago, “By opening their own stores, these labels hope to better control their image, rein in discounts, and avoid, margin-eroding negotiations over markdown money.”
So what does this mean for us? It means that we will truly become a slave to brands and it will become more difficult to find truly designer lines in our local department stores, making offline comparison-shopping nearly impossible. However, all is not lost. We bargain shoppers still have the Internet and can use it to comparison shop for bargains. Here’s how, using Coach handbags as an example.
Let’s say you’re in the market for a new Coach bag. You head into the Coach boutique and find the bag you like. At this point you should write down the SKU (the numbers below the barcode), name, color, style and price of the bag. If you have a digital camera take a picture as well. Then head home, juicy up the computer and enter the SKU number and/or bag style into google. You can also use comparison-shopping tools like Pricegrabber and Shopzilla or search on eBay. Also check with Coach outlet stores. I recent purchased a white leather bag for a client at the outlet in Naples, Florida and saw the same purse, two days later for $100 more at the Coach boutique off 5th Ave in New York. Gather the information from the store, outlet store, and sites and compare the prices to ensure you get the best deal. This can be done with practically ANY piece of clothing.
Time consuming? Yes.
Money Saving? Yes.
(Originally posted on April 13, 2006)
Founded in 2003, TBF is a fashion blog dedicated to helping you live your best for less. We give you the 411 on the latest fashion trends & tips and sample sales. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Tracy-
1. Thanks for commenting, although I do ask to keep the personal attacks to a minimum.
2. I find it very interesting that you blame customers for the fact that some retail businesses are not doing so well. Retail is a business that serves customers and if you’re customers are not buying in your store, it probably means your not serving their needs- whatever those needs maybe.
3. Coach is doing very well and I see no reason why someone should pay more for a bag just because the store wasn’t able to negotiate better leasing terms.
4. Thanks for giving me a new tagline “Retailers headache”
5. My towns are Minneapolis and New York and never in this blog have I ever complained that they’re no good stores in my towns. There’s tons of good stores and I shop in them- especially when they have a good sale. Gotta be careful about the assumptions you make about people- especially about people you don’t know
6. What would have been a more constructive comment would have been to refer to an earlier post http://www.thebudgetfashionista.com/archives/shopping/walmart_love_it.php in which we had a very interesting discussion on what to do when what is good for your community, isn’t necessarily what’s best for your wallet.
You are the type of customer retail owners really hate! You have no idea about supporting local stores in your area. You come to a retail store touch and feel OUR products,ask US questions,WASTE our time so not only can you go home and buy it online but first you make it point to tell us how cheap you can get it somewhere else. Nine times out of ten you have not included shipping. Oh, but you will be the first to call when there is a problem or a question about the product. Your NOT a bargain shopper…your a retailers headache and the first to complain there is just no good stores in your town. Because you drove them out of business! Remember your internet stores don’t have million dollar building and rent payments and light bills etc….gee but they are there for you to come and see the products you are going to order offline.