Ramblings of a Technology Addict

Friday, May 16, 2003

The Trouble with Clicks and Mortar

Last night, I had two distinctly different shopping experiences. One was absolutely infuriating. The other was pleasant and wonderful. They both happened in the same mall and in some cases within about 100 feet of the other.
I needed a pair of black trousers for my concert tonight as my tuxedo pants wouldn't cut it for the gig. So off to Pentagon City Mall I went, wallet in hand, looking for a pair of black pants, size 46/30 or 46/32. First up was the Macy's as it was closest to my parking space. After descending down to the Men's store, bereft of salespeople, I dug through piles and piles of Dockers, seeing nothing larger than a 42. Someone finally came to help me and he said they didn't have anything.
Just outside of the Macy's is a J. Crew. I walked in and looked through their trousers, nothing larger than a 42. The sales clerk there said I could order them on their website but they didn't carry that size in the store. Irked, I left.
Next door was Banana Republic, they only carried up to size 40. The two clerks that I spoke with said that they had them on their website, but not in the store. More irked, I left.
Across the mall lay a Gap. Most of the pants I currently wear are Gap khakis, generally ordered from the website to save a trip to the nearest Gap. But this was an emergency and in I went. Nothing doing. The woman behind the desk said I could buy them from their website, but not in the store. She was not at all apologetic. Pissed off, I left.
Upstairs I went to Eddie Bauer, where I've bought many the shirt and pair of pants. No dice said the woman. They're on the website but we don't stock them. At this point, I am visibly upset.
Here is the message that I got from all of those stores: "You are too fat to be seen in public, much less buy clothes from real people. We shudder to imagine what the other customers in the store might think if fat people bought clothes here, trying to be stylish. We appreciate your fatness and want to take all of your money, but in no way shape or form do we want to be associated with you, fatass."
My last bastion of hope was Nordstrom's. Angry and upset, I walked in and asked, politely as I could manage if they had pants in my size, she pointed me toward Men's Sportswear where a gentleman found not one but two pairs of black pants in my size. I nearly hugged him. He was polite and business-like, but also interested in helping me find what it was that I needed. What a contrast. They've bought me for life.
However the problem here is that Clicks and Mortar, while it allows stores to sell more products without having to have store space, is that it creates a second class of customer. It creates the customer that they can't satisfy in their normal manner, but can through the use of technology. And while I may be grateful for the extended size charts that Gap and Old Navy offer on their website, I'm just as frustrated that these people can't help me in a storefront. It says that people that don't wear a certain size are not welcome in their store environment. That message is an unacceptable one to me as a consumer. I may be a big fella, but I am not outside the range of normal. Clicks and Mortar is a nice idea, but there are definite problems with doing it for the clothes market.
I'm now off to write letters to each store that I went to last night, and an especially effusive letter of praise to Nordstrom where I was treated like a human being, and an especially scathing one to Gap where I was treated like a wallet.
10:21:51 AM comment []