While I appreciate that it’s tough for boutiques to compete on price, small retailers have to realize that it takes but a few clicks on a keyboard for shoppers to compare. I didn’t go looking for a better deal on Out of Print Clothing’s cool book cover t-shirts; I simply wanted to know more about the brand after spotting it at the new Steele Fitness boutique on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Steele is selling the tees for $56. Online, they’re $29. Not only will I not be buying one at the store, the whopping $27 discrepancy makes me weary of their prices in general. And that’s a steep price for a boutique to pay.
Addendum: I appreciate a retailer that listens, and responds – which is exactly what Steele Fitness did within hours of this post. Mistakes happen. Be sure to read “comments” for the company’s reaction.
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Thanks for bringing this to our attention Ali– we realized this error yesterday when you pointed it out while shopping in our store (we were notified by one of our associates) and lowered the pricing immediately.
Our buying team does a wonderful job of finding emerging designers and in many cases they do sell direct online for the same prices we can buy them for. With regards to Out of print, our warehouse in error marked them at a higher price point mistaking them for a shipment from another brand that is due in July. This has been corrected.
As you know, the majority of our brands are price locked by the manufacturer (brands like lululemon and Bliss) so we have no control over the pricing. For our emerging designers, we will continue to do our best to provide Minnesota with products not available anywhere else at reasonable prices.
We appreciate your good press thus far and are a fan of your ability to “tell it like it is”. Keep up the good work Ali.
Very classy response from Steele. As you said, it’s great to see companies listening and responding (and with a calm honesty, not defensiveness).
Well done all around!
Wary!
very wary!