AKA: Shopping on 5th with Dad
For Father’s Day, thedaughter and I dragged thedad to NYC for a little shopping. Thegrandmaman had given thedaughter a $100 gift card to Juicy Couture, owned by $LIZ, for 
her 10th birthday, having confused the name with Justice, a tweenage favorite with discount prices.
We thought a trip to Juicy’s flagship store would offer the most choices for us to peruse. Thedad, being the consummate analyst, was eager to go in order to observe the retail market in the face of declining consumer sentiment. So off we went to 5th Avenue in search of fashion and Father’s Day fun.
Juicy Couture is not a style that I seek out. I have always found those velour track suits with the Juicy logo on the backside rather tacky. A throwback to the 1970’s with a tramp stamp on the derriere. Yuck! But I checked out ideas for my little girl online before we went and saw some cute things so I was looking forward to finding something nice.
As there was nothing worth noting in the children’s section, it didn’t take long before we were looking at women’s clothes in petite sizes where prices start around $200.
Are you kidding me? Well, we were there, and we had the gift card AND thedaughter had received nearly straight A’s on her report card; she had earned a reward. I told her to choose one dress/skirt…whatever, and I would pay the difference. We chose a few summer dresses to try on.
The sales clerk was very attentive; no doubt she recognized my Dior handbag. She asked thedaughter’s shoe size and returned with a cute pair of $200 plastic bubble sandals that were a size too small, so thedaughter wore the sandals just to try on the dresses. We chose one dress we all really liked and the clerk was clearly disappointed that we were only buying one dress and wouldn’t we also like to buy the sandals to go along.
No, thank you.
Juicy was overpriced; scant customers and pushy sales clerks left us less than impressed. When we dropped into Zara’s, we figured out where Juicy’s customers had gone. Better prices, more variety, and great designs were showing throughout this Spanish discount clothier. We found a great looking shirt for thedad that made a nice Father’s Day gift. I was intrigued to hear the ice cream girl say that Zaras clothes are of lower quality than Juicy’s because they are made in China, (actually the shirt we bought was made in India but the Juicy dress WAS made in China.) Many Americans are quick to assume that cost = quality and this just isn’t the case.
We ventured back out onto the street and a few blocks up found $ANF. If you have never seen this carnival before, the people line up around the corner to go inside while bad cologne and house music waft out the front door as if by bubble machine. We decide to check it out as they have just let a hoard of people into the store and the line had shrunk to just a few stragglers. Of course it wasn’t long before the line behind us had wound its way back around the corner. Thedaughter was beside herself to get inside. Her friends at school told her A&F was the best! Thedad stood there grumbling something about the line being unwarranted. Nobody around us supported him because they all really wanted to be there.
When we were finally granted entrance as if we were being ushered into the Haunted Mansion at Disneyworld, thedad and I stopped short to giggle at the teenage boy with the washboard abs and nipples the size of plates. When you consider that it is clothes, including shirts, they are selling, it is amazing how much nudity goes on here. Thedaughter was already elbow deep in clothes racks by the time we caught up with her. People were shopping here; they stood in line to get in, they stood in line for the dressing room and they stood in line to buy. I had to admit, the designs were really nice…much more variety than Juicy. I picked up a price tag and was pleasantly surprised to see Zaras prices. And that is how thedaughter got a second new dress on Father’s Day.
While I have banked much coin charting ideas from The Analyst Bomber, his recent short idea on this name does not resonate with me. I will NOT be shorting $ANF….but I might consider shorting $LIZ.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there.
You’d be even more amazed at how much nudity goes on after-hours with the $ANF employees. Some young gun I know kept a part time summer position there for 3 years, and it wasn’t for the pay or pink polos.
lol
Sounds like theDad had a pretty good day then as well 😀
@BC – Indeed. :~D
Sometimes you gotta get out into the real world, and leave the charts alone! only sometimes! =)…of caorse a great chart, and great fundies, is the perfect recipe! great job @wife!
thanks @OOMC.