INVESTIGATOR'S REPORT
After reading a post on Yahoo! (the site might be busy so I can't post the link now) on how Gymboree continues to mark down 40%-70% off I was pissed. Pissed at management for telling us that inventory levels are down and under control when they really have to mark down heavily to clear the shelves.
20 minutes later I decided to take matters into my own hand and call one of the stores via 411. I asked if there was any sales and she said "Yes, we have some items on sale." When asked "do you have 70% off, or maybe 40% sales" she said "no...I don't know...well...what are you looking for?" At this point I was grumbling and had to identify myself as an investor wanting to know if inventory levels are down. She asked me what kind of inventory problems they are supposed to have and I said that when you mark things off you're trying to get rid of merchandise that don't sell. She replied by saying that they always have some sale and it's normal in order to make room for new selections. The spring selection already arrived, she added, and the sale is on what's left from last season.
After wishing her a nice weekend I was satisfied. But 10 minutes later, at 7:32pm PST, I couldn't resist and decided to personally drive to the Gymboree at the Beverly Center (Los Angeles/Beverly Hills border) to check the store out.
Parking the car at level 4 (the first 5 floors are parking), I escalated myself to level 6 and searched for the store on the Center's map. It said "Gymboree 6 693." There were 70% off and 50% off at many stores throughout my journey to Gymboree. (Apparently I parked on the wrong side of the mall. That place is big and has more than a few entries.) When I finally got there, there were NO SIGNS OF A SALE WHAT.SO.EVER! When I did my round I found some Beanie Babies look-alike at 50% off. Few more items (as I was told over the phone) at 25% off hidden between the lines. I assume that 95-98% of the items have no sale. As I was walking back to the car, I went into BabyGap and they had the same situation, 95-98% of the items were not on sale.
The only thing I'm frustrated right now is that at that moment I actually believed the no-name guy on Yahoo!. This had taught me a good lesson to ALWAYS DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. That means that, as much I want to say to the contrary, you shouldn't even trust me. Now, you can have many aliases on Yahoo! when the SI has everything about you and can cut your head off. So there's some different but still I want you all to do your own research.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Standing by my name,
Marty |
