With the current slump in sales in the retail biz, a lot of stores are stepping up their game. Old Navy started offering more fashion forward pieces and even Walmart has started stocking some decent clothes. Marshalls has got in the game by totally re-doing their shoe department. They're also embracing the new technologies and fashion bloggers. While I'm all for that, can their product hold up to our scrutiny? Click the read more link to find out whether Marshalls is worth another look.
I decided to check out my local Marshalls, because if they could improve the shoe department in that one, well, then it might actually have a shoe department. I did sacrifice getting to see a man-- who rides around in a giant red stiletto-- wearing a pink shirt that reads "Am I your sole mate?" while carrying around a silver platter to serve shoes to the ladies. Overt smiling expected. I would have had to trek out to San Francisco to see that though. So, let's deal with what I did see.
The new shoe department featured trendy shoes by recognizable names. The shoes are now organized by style, instead of size, and contain various sizes in their boxes stacked below the sample shoe, just like DSW. And in my local one, they even had an ugly--er--plain, comfortable shoe section to serve the more conservative among us. I would say that anyone could find at least one shoe they liked there. It appears that they have a fairly fast turnaover rate, since I located most of the shoes in the photo above in the clearance sections. There was a nice range in the prices and in the brands, including a few higher end brands and a lot of mid-range ones. They claimed to have halved the prices on every shoe I picked up. And despite it's relatively large size, I found the department to be a little bit crowded, suggesting approval from my fellow shoppers.
The verdict: Ivy Frozen gives Marshalls Megashoeshop 8 ivy leaves out of 10. While it is a vast improvement from the ghost town of a previous shoe section, it wasn't upped enough to be my goto spot for shoes, though I'll certainly keep them in mind. Also, bear in mind the store I visited would be the bottom of the line, so there megashop can only be better. I will make the journey to a better store later and see if I must up their score. In the mean time, I would say it's worth it to take a look at Marshalls yourself. I picked up the outfit above on my trip there, except for the socks. I'm really pleased they made the tunic long enough to be a dress without fear of the chocha showing. The shoes are Report from their new shoe section, and I'm convinced that if the Wizard of Oz took place in this modern time that the ruby red slippers would look something like these flats.
If you've got gaming skills, playing this little game could win you a free $250 dollar gift certificate! Totally worth it for less than a minute of play time. It's a matching type game, where you have to match the shoe's silhouette to the shoe. Sounds simple right? They toughen it up by not having all the shoes visible at once. You have to scroll around the store to find them. It could keep you occupied for a while.
As for the gift certificate, they hand one out every two weeks to the person who completes all three rounds of this game the fastest. Get those fingers moving for free stuff.
On the edge of my seat,
Ivy Frozen
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