^GREAT* Sale at Macy's!

When I have an amazing shopping experience I like to share it. Yesterday I popped into my local Macy's and it was incredible.

As I walked into Macy's [I prefer the entrance near men's wear] 2 sales associates were talking less than a foot from the front door, a bit odd I thought they will probably ignore me - and boy was I wrong! One of the sales associates said "Hello, how are you today? Would you like a coupon for an extra 25% off?"

Yes I would. I thanked him and he said "Happy Shopping!". He had an amazing attitude, so cheerful and a kind not at all pushy persona. Coupon in hand I stopped by the jewelry counter to see what Givenchy, Kenneth Cole and Alfini are up to - when I was offered another coupon! I let them know I already had one, thank you.

As I tried on necklaces I overheard sales people all offering coupons to all their customers and telling them about the "friends and family sale" basically an extra 25% off for nearly everything in the store.

I found 2 necklaces I liked and one that I loved! So I texted the man in Philly I am dating pics of the necklaces and asked him which one he liked [gotta love modern technology!] and tried to make up my own mind. I had the excellent sales associate "Beth K" put my necklace on hold for the rest of the night while I continues my shopping.

My necklace of choice was an Alfini silver necklace with several chains of different weight/thickness/lengths and had an unusual clasp that was super easy to use. It was $36 so I really had to think about it.

I headed off to shoes where they were swamped and had to rationalize myself out of buying a pair Anne Klein's that were slightly too big and $79.99, sigh - twas not to be.

Then I checked out the perfume area. Normally I avoid that part of the store as I am sensative to certain smells but I had seen the Calvin Klein commercial for "Euphoria" and I wanted to see what it smelled like. Also the ad said if you spend $70 you get a free orchid and I wanted more information. This is the one area of the store where I literally had to track down a sales person and when I did she did not know anything about the commercial AND her keys would not open the perfume cabinet where the larger bottles were kept. I wont print her name here poor dear, she was probably filling in and I don't think this was her counter.

She *did* tell me that after you spend $70 or more on perfume you fill out a form and they send you the free orchid in the mail - that's interesting I wonder how that works exactly. There were 2 versions of Euphoria - one was a "Spring" version which was a lighter and more floral/fruity scent. The orginal Euphoria was a bit too musky for me but the Spring/lighter scent was nice and I might go back and get that one at a later date.

Next I ventured to clothes and implimented my favourite shopping trick; I pick out everything I like in the entire department. Then I take it all to the price scanner and scan my 30-40 items to be sure nothing I picked out is over $100 or whatever price limit I set for myself/my client that day. Nothing was over $85 so I carried my giant pile of clothes to the dressing room. As I try clothing on I am always sure to return it to the hanger [this helps the over-worked sales associates more than you can imagine] and I hand things in 3 places: 1. yes 2. no 3. maybe.

I return my "no" pile to the rolling rack the sales associates leave for unwanted clothing. Then I take my yes+maybe clothes back to scanner to see now that I know how everything fits = how much each item is. There were only 2 items I really liked: a cadigan and a knitted tank that reminded me of Twiggy or Audrey Hepburn - it was black with a light band around the neck that emphasized the shape of the garment and was a calbe knit below. It was the sort of thing that you think might not look good on you but you try it on and "WOW".

The cardigan was more than I wanted to pay and my 10 or 12 "maybes" just didn't work for me so I ended up with just the cable knit top. I scanned it and it was $9.99!

I checked out kitchen wear and saw a Black&Decker rice cooker for $24.99 which made me giggle, not the brand you think of when you think rice cookers.

New shirt in hand, and on hanger, I returned to jewelry and decided that since I didn't get the $79.99 shoes or the $83 silk shirt or the $70 jacket or the $40 cardigan that I would go ahead and splurge on the $36 necklace. I had the coupon after all and I haven't bought anything at all for myself other than things like groceries and cell phone batteries in a really long time.

"Beth K" was happy to help me out. She was surprised when my fabulous shirt rang up as $9.99 but not as surprised as I was when she gave me the total: $17.79!

The necklace I had fallen in love with was also on sale - that combined with the coupon and the great price on the shirt meant I saved $67.43!

*Another great tip about Macy's: if you ask they will let you keep the hanger you clothing came on, and I kept my hanger! Also if your hanger breaks - they are recyclable.

I can't believe I only speny $17.79 at Macy's on 2 such amazing and well made items! This was less than I would have paid at say JC Penny's, TJ Maxx, or Marshall's - all places known for having cheap things and at TJ Maxx and Marshall's it would have been last season's not the beautiful current items I found at Macy's. As "Beth K" said, when "Macy's has a sale - you can't beat their prices."

Happy Shopping!

Huge Discount Watch: *Macy's* and *Bloomingdales*

Macy's just announced that they will be closing ELEVEN stores in NINE states.

Clearance sales will start next week at the affected stores.

The known locations are:
Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis.

There will be more, those are just the ones that are being announced now.

A little inside speculation and what to watch for:
Since sales are down for Macy's I am relatively certain that all Macy's will start offering great sales during this period of adjustment.

ALSO:
Since the parent company that owns Macy's also owns Bloomingdale's I suspect that there will be some amazing sales at your local Bloomingdales as well.

If you have credit cards for Macy's or Bloomingdales, first of all be certain you pay off those balances right away 25% interest yikes!, secondly check your mailboxes and emails for huge "savings passes" and discount coupons this season.

I'm a huge fan of my local Macy's and this is a great oppurtunity to pick up some wonderful items at big discounts.