Thursday, October 6, 2011

New This Week + Some New Philly Stores (non-Daffy's)

Well stopped in for a quick look around. Again, not very much new stuff in-store -- there were a bunch more winter coats from John Barritt, decently made; and a huge load of pants from Banana Republic came in, all retailing for $19.99. Honestly, I don't know why Daffy's is carrying that stuff again, when it didn't really sell last season. People aren't exactly coming to Daffy's for Banana Republic closeouts - that's what the BR Factory Store is for.

The only thing really noteworthy were some boots in from Canadian company Pajar. Most were retailing around the $79.99 mark. While they're made in China, the quality on these things for a nice and solid winter boot is pretty good, and styling is decent as well.

And now for you Philly people out there, wanted to mention a few stores which opened up recently on Walnut Street -- Jack Wills, a British clothing retailer opened a store in Philly a few weeks ago (strangely, it now has more locations in the U.S. than in the UK). The sales staff said it's now the biggest location worldwide, though the square footage is still pretty small. Decent stuff - the aesthetic is more of a preppy version of Abercrombie/Hollister - certain items are not worth your time, such as the shirts and 'WILLS'-embossed hoodies, as you can get those sorts of things anywhere if you actually want them. But a few of the blazers were nice, though for $400, I would expect much better construction. The only thing that really intrigued me were some of the shoes. They're apparently made by a company in England called NPS. From what I've read over at SF, NPS are middle-of-the-road quality shoes - definitely not anywhere near the quality of a Trickers or Church's, but may be worth your money if they go on sale.

Also new on Walnut St. is a North Face store, but more importantly, a few doors down from Jack Wills is a Barbour store. I never actually realized that Barbour produced that much merchandise, but it's some really great stuff - includes lots of coats, of course, but also blazers, sweaters, hats, gloves, some awesome leather and waxed cotton bags...just lots of nice stuff. A bit pricey, and quality varies depending on the item, but definitely a cool place to stop in and look for a few minutes if nothing else.

2 comments:

  1. Good evening-

    I was in Daffys tonight, and I was told that the company is looking to have an on-line sales presence (like Bloomingdales has, for instance). Moreover, they're opening a Flagship store in Times Square.

    I thought you might want to offer your services - and pitch yourself as the guy who can develop the blog side of the on-line sales, or who can direct the on-line sales to be more like Yoox (but at reasonable prices) than Bloomingdales.

    Either way - you seem destined to work for the company in some form or another - and, as I discussed your blog with a manager who had heard about it but never been on it, he asked, "What does the guy do? He goes to all the Daffys? What does he do for a living? What does he get out of it?"

    I think there might be an interesting answer to that question.

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  2. Ha...yes, I do actually have a full time job. I just happen to love shopping, and have found Daffy's to be the best merchandise out there for the price, and may or may not have developed a slight obsession with the chain :)

    The new store was scheduled to open this month; unsure if that's still on track. Would love to work for Daffy's if the right opportunity arose.

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