A new "Pseudo-Ross's" with "Pseudo-Brand Name" selection...next to our best Farmers Market?
A somewhat "welcomed" "pseudo-upscale" addition to SLO County and the Madonna area shopping scene.
We decided to check out this store right after shopping at the next-door site of the Saturday Farmers Market [every Saturday 8AM to 10:45AM].
Sadly, I need to deduct one star for the decision to hinder and push away the location of the Farmer's Market. It is now "pushed away" from the store fronts and could be due to some of the newer vendors in some of the building including the Hobby Lobby. Hindering our beloved Farmers Market on "off" hours is petty at best. In fact, many of these shoppers would not even bother going to this Nordstrom store unless they were already here for the Farmers Market.
In any case, as opposed to most, if not all, local stores, there were at least 3 uniformed security guards hanging out in front of the outside of the store. It was likely more for show, than effectiveness. It was vaguely annoying and incongruent with the SLO local scene.
There was no flash mob in sight. The only huge group of people were the locals at the Farmers Market, who were hardly disruptive...and more focused on locally grown/made produce or products.
Inside, the store appeared generally rather pleasant, except for maybe the excessively large shoe section, which was congested. The selection was interesting but tended toward rather overpriced junk with Pseudo-designer labels. We found nothing that we wanted to buy.
If one even looked at something like New Balance sneakers, they were not discounted all that much, were generally ugly, and made in Vietnam, Indonesia. None were from the USA. I am well versed in New Balance and have worn the 100% USA made ones for decades. Some of the ones that can cost $200 or more are still excellent choices....but are hardly available here at all.
In fact, most of the sneakers looked poorly made and overpriced even with an outlet discount.
While we found a random hat that my honey liked and one single Ralph Lauren pajama that I liked, most of the well stocked store was a general disappointment. In general, it was nowhere near as fun, nor as useful as our local TJ Max, Marshalls, or even Ross's. There was no food, nor bath nor kitchen items. Unless one is specifically looking for over-priced somewhat generic copies of poorly designed "designer items" for the masses, there was not much of use.
While there were some sections of up to 70% off, again it was not impressive. There were some gaudy ugly women's bags or purses that were reduced from $300-500+ to about $100-200, but they were still unsold since they were still gaudy and ugly.
The service person that we used in the middle of the store [CC only], was really nice and helpful, and it was a great option to avoid the all too congested front cash register section.
Sadly, while the cashier was able to retrieve my account, that did not gain me anything...there was no additional grand opening discount, nor really anything special for a past long time Nordstrom customer....just ordinary points from the current purchase.
To sum things up:
1) Service = Excellent
2) Selection = Limited to lower end items/ e.g. No USA made New Balance.
3) Value = Poor
The one thing that helped a bit, was that we were able to get Farmers Market incredible food just dozens of yards away, then browse here and there at some of the stores, and then finish are food shopping at Sprouts. read more