Sunday, August 27, 2006

winners & losers


I have to admit, I've never really been a big fan of winners. (the Canadian discount store)
I've never been able to figure out what the big hoopla is all about.
I know, I know..This will probably make me pretty unpopular.
There seems to be a lot of die hard Winners fans out there.
But I just don't get it.
The buzzing florescent lights.
The over-crowded racks of what seems to me like a bunch of crap that regular retail stores don't want to carry.
The prices never really seem THAT great to me.
People are darn right aggressive too.
"umm, excuse me..."
"hands off! I saw that pilling polyester sweater first!!"
geez, I just wanted to get by...
But I do have several friends that always seem to come out as winners at Winners.
Me "Oooh, great top. Very cute."
Friend " Thanks...Marc Jacobs, regular $250. But I got it for $19.99...at Winners..." said with smug satisfaction.
me..."sigh.."
This never seems to happen to me.
I inevitably leave the store feeling overwhelmed and annoyed.
I know, you have to be patient and go often and have a good eye for a good bargain.
But patience really isn't one of my strong suits.
I would much rather pay more, and leisurely browse through rows of neatly, thoughtfully merchandized clothing.
A little customer service is greatly appreciated too.
You won't find that at winners.
It's every man err...woman..for themselves.
But there is definitely one big fan of winners in our household.
Lulu looooves the place.
She was in heaven there the other day.
She was trying on hats, purses, scarves, socks, you name it.
She was totally diggin' the toy section too.
She scored a cute pair of suede Mary janes regular $45.00 for $14.99,
a fabulous metallic pink purse for $3.99 and a My Pretty Pony for $9.99!
I could have been imagining this, but when I put her back in her stroller and we left with all her winners loot,
I swear she looked up at me with an expression of smug satisfaction.....

9 comments:

metro mama said...

I can never be bothered digging through the unorganized racks.

Sheena said...

I don't think I've ever bought anything there, though my sister always seems to luck out, and she's bought some cool gifts for me there.

For a while I was checking their dishes quite regularly. We had bought our mother the cutest ceramic heart-shaped casserole dish there and it quickly became her favourite. Until one night coming home after a family pot-luck and my sister got into her car, threw her "Club" anti theft device into the backseat and we heard a thudding clink.

Still haven't found a replacement.

Anonymous said...

I hate Winners too. It smells like dirty shoes and their sizes are funny.

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear there are some other non-winners. I never do well in that place.

Completely off topic, I was just going through your archives and saw a pic of your daughter in a white highchair- what make is it? I'm on the hunt for a simple white chair.

kittenpie said...

I have to confess, I'm a winners fan - but you're right, it's a different mindset. If I'm looking for something specific, it's not the place. If I'm browsing or need to, say, replace all my summer shoes at once because my feet grew over pregnancy, it's the shit. (Enzos, Francos, etc. for half off? I'm so in!)

petite gourmand said...

grace: The high-chair is from Nestings Kids here in toronto. It was a custom order which took around 12 weeks to get.
In hindsight, I wish we had just picked up the white
"Antilop" highchair from Ikea. My parents got it for lulu and it was $39.00 bonus that it is light and portable and available same day.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to check out the Ikea chair today. I've bought things from Nestings Kids in the past - great stuff but it takes forever!

great blog....one of my favs

Sandra said...

I am not a Winners "winner" either. Too much work and I never get the good stuff or the good deals.

My husband?

He scores there everytime. Buying clothes I mean.

Anonymous said...

I don't mind Winner's, but never do get those fabulous bargains. I think it's because I'm not up on the designer stuff.

What I do buy there are toys for my son. They have a fairly decent rotating selection of wooden toys and puzzles. I'm into the natural toys as much as possible, and have picked up a few things there that were more at Mastermind or Toys R Us.