Big department stores

Most of the shopping that I do at Macy's would be in the housewares section. The thing about Macy's is that you have to schedule your shopping around their sales and coupons, both of which are frequent and great. Also, always, always, always scan the items you are looking at under the self-serve scanner.

Once a woman was interested in this frying pan, looked at the price on the bottom and put it down. Since I knew that Macy's could be lax, I took it over to the scanner and saw that the labeled $100+ pan was actually about $40 and I took it home.

 

I always love department stores to browse and look through the beauty counters. My favorites are Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Barney's (my aunts work there so there is discount) and Neiman Marcus. Often they have good sales and as I have a non-USA passport, Bloomingdale's and Macy's give you 10% off all your purchases.

For women, they are good places to try on lots of outfits and also having a coffee shop or restaurant allows you to relax and shop in comfort.

 

My family used to shop at SEARS a lot, but that was before Wal-mart came along. I haven't been to a JC Penney's since I went to the one my younger brother used to work at two years ago - their products are simply to high in price for my check to check type of financial situation. However, I do shop at Burlington Coat factory form time to time, they have some good deals on mens clothing if one shops at the right time.

 

Macys and JC Penney ? Hells no. I've gotten most of my T-shirts for free and I get decent pants from Costco. Any nice, or expensive rather, clothes I do have were gifts. It simply is not that important to me. Correction it is not important to me at all.

And Costco has everything from boxers to pants to socks. I'll shell out more for some good dining or a computer but not for clothes.

Some women (and men) are really obsessed with the designer outlets and their clothing. Dockers, Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren or whatever else they have... pfft.

 

We shop at Belk's every time we visit my Nana in North Carolina and she buys us something so I love Belks! But the other department stores you mentioned are only fun to 'window shop' in for me. It is nice to see everything displayed and to sample some of the new make-up lines, but other than that I agree that the prices are too high. I used to shop at Sears all growing up because my dad got a 10% discount, but other than that, I only go if there is a special make-up deal.

 

The only reason I shop at a big department store is if I am looking for a specific thing that I can't get anywhere else (evening dress, suit, or something like that), or if I happen to have a gift card or some major special discount that would by silly to pass up. They are just too expensive for regular shopping. I'm like you, JCPenney is my first stop for higher end items, and if I can't find it there, then I will go to Dillards or Macy's.

 

I pretty much ONLY shop department stores for clothes, save the occasional trip to Gap or Banana when I have a good coupon. Macy's and Dillards are my favorite places for clothes and shoes and ironically, their sales prices are the best deals anywhere in my experience. Sure if you buy things full price they are expensive, but who buys things full price?

Plus, if you have a credit card with the department store, you get tons of good coupons and rewards, and they aren't the frilly rewards that look good but actually aren't. They are usually pretty good savings.

Dillards has the best shoe department in my town and I go every January and get a new pair of boots on sale for New Year's.

 

I've shopped at JCPenny's in the past but not for years. Sometimes we shop at Macy's, primarily because my husband's Aunt and Uncle are managers there, and they get a pretty significant discount and special offers on things. Without the discount? Way overpriced for most things.

 

As for clothing, the only thing I would buy at Penny's would be Dockers or Levi's merchandise, as well as shoes (dress shoes or tennis shoes). I'm not too fond of their "St. John's Bay" line of men's clothing as I've found the quality of it to be rather poor - shirts fit poorly and shrunk/faded easily, and their jeans are really thin and feel flimsy. Their cologne section is also pretty dated, they don't seem to carry as many high quality men's fragrances and those that they do, are from several years ago. I feel like their men's section overall is lacking compared to it's competitors.

I used to shop at Macy's quite a bit about 10+ years ago, because I liked their cologne counter, as well as their Chaps & Dockers & Levis selections. But back then I was pretty much paying full price for everything, aside from the occasional sale. I was much younger then, and rang up my Macy's card pretty quickly.

In more recent years though I've switched over to Dillard's instead. They are generally more expensive, but if you shop smart there you can save a fortune. I really like their Roundtree & Yorke store brand of men's clothing. It's very high quality, and still priced less than other brands such as Nautica or Polo, plus it's consistent. I don't even need to try any of it on, I know what sizes I need so I can buy just about anything from that brand without hassle. The big key is to simply shop for stuff off season and save it for the following season. They mark their store brand stuff down to like 75% off or more when they are really desperate to sell it off. I go in there with like $100 and walk out with stacks of shirts that I got for anywhere from $8 to as little as $4 in some cases, that normally would have sold for about $40+ each. I've gotten $270 jackets for only $50 as well. The only important thing is to make sure your weight doesn't fluctuate during that time, lol.

 

I am actually happy that all of the above folks go to the larger department stores. Now, I can take a breath of air and not feel so guilty about not supporting the over-crowded establishments. By the time I find a place to park, and then having to dodge the carts and people in the stores I'm too worn out to buy anything. No, I think I can stick to the local shops. They like my business more than the larger places and I get to know folks instead of trying to protect myself from the mob.

 

I only really shop in department stores when I am looking for a gift or if I want a special piece of clothing. For example, I found a lovely dress to wear to my birthday celebration this year in my local Debenhams. When I lived and shopped in London I visited stores such as John Lewis, Selfridges and House of Fraser, but now I live elsewhere there are not so many around.

I do like to visit department stores when they have sales on as they have some great bargains, especially on items such as shoes and jewellery.

 

I don't shop at department stores anymore. I have come to realize that even the sale price is out of my budget. Clothes at those kind of places, well, new clothes in general, are so expensive now I just can't afford it. It isn't worth it in the long run.

 

I tend to mix it up depending on what I'm actually looking for, for what purpose and my budget at the time. I mainly do my shopping at TK Maxx (TJ Maxx in the US) as I still get to enjoy all the brand names I like at heavily discounted prices. For casual or lounge wear I usually shop around for bargains, and will often look in high street stores such as H&M. Because I'm only petite, I can't really shop in supermarkets like Asda (Walmart) as the sizes are always off. I've even struggled to find my shoe size, womens UK size 3, it would appear supermarkets are not huge fans of petite ladies LOL

 

I used to shop at big department stores a lot before I started buying online more. I still go to these big department stores nowadays especially for my own wardrobe because I find it still a bit more practical to get to try out the clothes before buying them as I wouldn't have this luxury if I bought online. Also the clearance sale areas do give out some great bargains so I'm always looking through those bins.

 

I don't have many stores like these near me, so it would mostly be online if I shopped with them. I used to though, and I would mostly hit the clearance sections, since like you I think they tend to be a bit pricey. JC Penney isn't bad. I do visit Penney's on occasion.

 

Big department stores can be kind of magical this time of year, especially the window displays at Sachs 5th Avenue, Bergdoff Goodman and Macy's on 34th street, but ultimately they are all temples to rampant consumerism, luring us like sirens to buy things we don't actually need, want yes, need no. There is a difference.

 

I love shopping at Macy's, J.C. Penny, Sears, Lord & Taylor, and Best Buy. All of those stores offer coupons because friends of mine have those credit cards.
The shopping experience in those stores is a lot better than Walmart. Sometimes the store clerks in Kmart, Walmart, and Sears are unpleasant and unwilling to help you. However, in the higher end stores will show you where to find any given item. That goes for Best Buy also.

 

Generally, when I want something I have a reasonably clear idea of what I want and thus I can look online for the best deal. However, I can't say I'm too comfortable purchasing clothing online and that's when the department stores tend to come into play. I prefer these larger businesses to the smaller stores you'd see in a mall partly because I feel pressured or even confined in the little shops. Overall, I just prefer to keep it casual and that's when a department store tends to be the best fit for me.