I just hate how itā€™s the only retail space left that never bothers to organize things beyond menā€™s sections, womenā€™s sections, and the dreaded kidsā€™ section. I had to go shopping today to get long sleeve black shirts for my job (long story). All I needed were like 3 larges that were black. Thatā€™s it! But it took me well over an hour because of how much of a nightmare it is. I even had to go to another store down the road because the first one I tried was just a maze.

What I canā€™t get over is how even the consumer big box stores donā€™t bother to organize shit. You get menā€™s, womenā€™s, kidsā€™ sections like stated previously and thatā€™s like it? Thereā€™s been times where I wanted to grab some jeans but I had to dart around the store because there just wasnā€™t a centralized jean section. Itā€™s like if I went to a sporting goods store to buy a tennis racket but the tennis rackets were divided into 3 separate corners of the store. Justā€¦ why? And the worst part is I have yet to go to a place where the sizes were actually organized beyond thrift stores. Oh you need a large? Be prepared to sift through 10 mediums and 14 smalls before getting there, and sometimes your large might not even be there but you just spent 10 minutes of your life searching. Iā€™m not kidding when I say this, I once went to Value Village which is a big box thrift store and got jeans that fit me in less than 10 minutes because the jean racks were all in one place (!) and organized in ascending order of waist size (!!). But heaven forbid JCPenney or Kohlā€™s or Target or Old Navy or any of the other stores for ā€œregular peopleā€ do this.

I ended up finding the shirts I needed at Old Navy but they werenā€™t even the type of fabric I wanted. Apparently weā€™re in the season now where 90% of menā€™s section tops are heavy jackets or graphic tees. (hate graphic tees btw, just wanted to say that).

And donā€™t even get me started on jeans. Iā€™m quite a tall fella and so I need to buy jeans from storesā€™ ā€œBig & Tallā€ sections (Big & Tall the retail chain doesnā€™t even exist where I live), but their ā€œBig & Tallā€ sections only ever have the ā€œbig.ā€ I once went to every clothes store in my area that I could think of and none had an ā€œaverageā€ waist size pair of black pants that I also needed for my job that were also tall. They just had big waist sizes that were also like 40 inches down.

And then letā€™s say you finally find the stuff youā€™re looking for, now you gotta wait in line and when you finally get to the checkout they ask if you want to register for their accountā€¦ then their credit cardā€¦ then do you really not want an accountā€¦ then they ask if you want a couponā€¦ and then you finally get to pay for your stuff. To use the sporting goods analogy again, I donā€™t remember Dickā€™s Sporting Goods asking me all that BS just to buy exercise equipmentā€¦

The shirt thing has actually gotten to the point where I usually order my shirts from LL Bean online because they donā€™t shrink much in the wash and they always fit. Only downside is they take like 2 weeks to ship and only come in solid colors, so I had to go in person for shopping because I needed these shirts by tomorrow.

/rant.

Anybody else struggle with this to such a degree? If you know any retail chains in the west coast US that arenā€™t Value Village and arenā€™t a total maze to navigate then please drop them down below.

edit: to drive home the first point about organization, if I go to buy a baseball bat then most sports stores will have a Baseball Section but itā€™s like if those stores had a ā€œStick and Ball Game sectionā€ that also included Cricket bats among the baseball bats.

    • Fizz@lemmy.nz
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      1 year ago

      After thinking about this more i think I donā€™t understand because Iā€™m not American and Iā€™ve probably never experienced stores as large as you have over there. Over here baseball and cricket section would take up half a shelf each and be put in the same isle and probably have tennis and table tennis mixed in.

      • bermuda@beehaw.orgOP
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        1 year ago

        My point was that itā€™s just not organized. I know I can ask an employee but I shouldnā€™t have to when itā€™s all right there! My point about sports stores is a bit america centric but just think about other stores and it applies, right? Thereā€™s sections, aisles, and things are grouped together. At least at the clothing stores Iā€™ve been to, itā€™s just ā€œmensā€ and you gotta sift through things on your own.

        Like if I want to go to the grocery store and buy jam, there isnā€™t a ā€œjam aisleā€ but thereā€™s an aisle that has jam and its almost always listed on the sign for the aisle! If it were like a clothing store then there would be no aisles and it would have a sign that says ā€œprocessed food lol good luck!ā€

        • Liempong_pagong@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          I think itā€™s a tactic they employ to make you wander their store and stay longer so you will accumulate impulse purchases. Just like the grocery, they properly under staff the checkout counters to make you stay longer and buy the displays on the checkout counter.

          Just shop online.

    • thelastknowngod@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Why donā€™t you find something that fits well, from a large, established company, and just buy the same thing again when it wears out?

      Literally everything I own comes from American Eagle (jeans only), Uniqlo, or Muji. When I need something new, I just buy it online because I know neither their sizes nor my ass has changed significantly enough that I would be required to try something on.

      If you are being a minimalist about things, you could break down your entire wardrobe to 2-3 pants, 10 shirts, 2-3 shorts, socks and underwear. If you can replace them all at the same time, all of the shopping you would do in 12-18 months can be finished in 10 minutes.

      Iā€™ve been doing this personally for something like 15 years.

      • bermuda@beehaw.orgOP
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        1 year ago

        why donā€™t you just find something that fits well from a large established company

        Facepalmā€¦ I literally do. From ll bean. Wrote about it in the post. I also wrote that the reason I had to go shopping was that I couldnā€™t wait 10 days for the shirts to ship.