the Prada in the islands

26Jun08

i recently made a trip out to the islands to visit some family and spend some quiet days relaxing by the beach. Like always I made plans to go to at least four different beaches, but those plans quickly fell through once I had seen that the renovations on the shopping malls had been completed with whole new wings and landscaping. Why even bother traveling 6,000 miles to go to Prada when I have one two blocks from me?

Well, I’ll tell you why. My childish dream to visit every Prada store in existence again resurfaced as I noticed the huge construction board plastered with this season’s ad campaign.

Even better is that with this current slowdown in business most brands are offering sales earlier than last year and at steeper discounts. So of course, I HAD to buy something like the slaving consumer that I am.

And after working in retail, I’ve finally understood the importance of creating a relationship with a specific sales associate at all the stores I visit. It’s through these connections that you can learn so much more information that was previously unavailable. For instance, the asst. manager and the sales associate that I was working with laid out the pricing structure between different regions of the US. I didn’t think it was that much, but some of the items I was looking at were at least 22% different in price. Insane. Plus having items shipped between states – because of their legal structure – is considered tax free and can save anywhere from 5 to 10% depending on the state that you live in. This is true for most national stores that will ship from within the store. Also, because I had built relationships with the Asst manager, I was able to try on some of the fall items that were yet to be placed on the sales floor. It’s amazing how being nice can be so rewarding.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. These people will let you know of future incentives, future markdowns, future shipments and the such. Of course spending money at these places helps to build these connections, but sometimes it only takes courtesy and respect to help solidify a favorable image of yourself within the store. And also not to return items! Returning items devours commission. I don’t think I need to explain that.

Bad Bad Bad.


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