Brooks Brothers

I will start off by saying that this review is specific to this Brooks Brothers location, at the RBC Plaza (although some aspects apply to all locations).
I love love love Brooks Brothers. A large portion of my work and casual attire is purchased from them. I have shopped their locations everywhere in Toronto, in NYC and in Europe. Nowhere, and I mean nowhere ever, have I encountered such horrible service as at the RBC Plaza.
I should also mention that I am in my late 20s, so perhaps that is why I was not really treated like a ‘serious’ client.
Since I work at the RBC Plaza, I used to drop by quite frequently at lunch. I never received particularly good service, but as long as they left me alone I was happy. It so happened that one day I came in looking for some sweaters that the last time I visited the store were on a round table in the middle, and now I could not find them anywhere. I saw a sales person in the middle of the store — this is the thin lady, with short white hair — and I went up to her to ask her if she knows where the sweaters have been moved. Her reaction baffled me. She said: «Oh I don’t know, they keep moving them, probably somewhere around here haha» and she walked away to greet another customer, leaving me standing there nowhere closer to knowing where the damn sweaters are. I couldn’t believe it.
In general, service at Brooks Brothers in Canada oscillates between harrasment and very pushy sales tactics to snobbery and not even a greeting. This usually depends on what you are wearing and your age group. I believe the sales force is pushed for sales, so the poor people have to be very pushy.
I now have one sales person at Brooks at the RBC Plaza, and I work well with her.
However, try to avoid the white haired lady with a short cut — her behaviour can not be excused by anything.

Walked in today trying to buy a dress shirt. While looking at an Egyptian cotton shirt, a salesman came up to me and without asking if I was looking at anything particular, told me that the item I was looking at was not a slim-​fitting shirt. Amazing how this man all of the sudden has deducted that I may not be shopping for a gift, but has sized me up and told me I’m looking at the wrong item.
I informed him that I’m actually looking for an oxford cloth button-​down, and he immediately tells me that they do not carry my size. No offer to show me said shirt, no suggestion to offer an alternative, just a flat-​out «no». I’ve asked him if he knew of another location that I could find this shirt, and again he sternly said «no, not in our Canadian stores».
Word of advice: good customer service is about helping the customer. He could have offered an alternative or tried to show me something similar, but it was very evident that he did not want the sale. I felt unwelcome and uncomfortable being in the store, so I left and took my business elsewhere where I bought shirts with the help of a much friendlier associate.
Never again, Brooks Brothers. Good luck sizing up the thickness your customers’ wallets by judging how they dress.

Thought I’d check out a Canadian version of this brand. Interior design’s consistent for a larger, anchor location. What an odd spot, it’s below street level, so you wouldn’t see it unless you worked in the area? Pricing, it’s easily as much as 50% above U.S.prices for some items. Low scoring because of location, employee interaction, and disparity in pricing.

Clothes look ok and prices are fair but apparently you need to dress for the occasion of shopping here, or know the password, or something. The store was recommended as I need a bunch of stuff, and they dress Colbert, so hey…
I’m looking for at least 5 shirts, a suit and a blazer or two for new job and new body size. I just moved back to YYZ and back into a suit/​tie role. In short I need a new wardrobe.
I went in and said hello to the first greeter guy. Barely audible response. Wandered through the store found a few things I liked, said hello to another salesperson — one of several having a chat together — same response.
Sorry BB folks but you’ve got to make some effort. I’m not super excited to spend money, but I know what I need and wanted to get it all in one hit. That’s why I came in, on my day off, not dressed in the clothes I was there to buy.
Walking up to Tello in 1^st Can Place. They did my last few suits before I left YYZ a few years back.
Brighten up a little people. Your loss.

I am a big Brooks Brothers fan. However, based on my experience, this location needs to work on its customer service. The staff members were rude and far from eager to help.

My experience at Brooks Brothers (BB) leaves a lot to be desired.
Perhaps it was the way I was dressed (shorts and a short sleeve dress shirt) which allowed the gentleman helping me to be so off putting and rude.
I came in looking for an extra slim fit dress shirt ($ 89.50, a fair price). He measured me (incorrectly), I know my sleeve size and my arm did NOT just shrink! and gave me a shirt to try on, it was of course, short and to top it off, fit like a sail. Clearly extra slim fit was not slim enough. Fine, I said thanks and I’ll look around at some pants. The gentleman insisted that the sleeves were fine and that I can «take in» the shirt. Too bad the shirt is already darted!
Anyway, another co-​worker re-​measures me and exclaims that the other guy «doesn’t know what he’s doing!» okay. so much for professionalism!
I wander over to look at trousers (2 for $ 229, not too bad) and tell the gentleman my size, he says he doesn’t have that size, but that I should try on this size (he hands me a pant an inch larger than I asked for). After trying it on and realizing that the waist fit was okay but that these pants were too short, I asked the salesperson to find me a pair that had the proper length. He asked me if I was going to buy the pants if he found the right size! I was flabbergasted. I would never, ever have the audacity to ask someone that and he was dead straight faced.
I replied that I was not interested in buying anything and not to bother trying to find them.
I guess this place does okay with it’s location right at Union station in the RB Plaza but judging by the 12 staff to one customer ratio I saw when I was there, they can shed some of the dead weight like my lovely helper.
Never. Again.

Brooks has finally come to Canada and it’s everything I expected, that is, exactly the same as the american stores but 25% more expensive.
The clothes are your american classics with the exception of the Thom Browne designed Black Fleece collection that is very unique and VERY expensive. It’s nice stuff but not worth anywhere near the price they are charging. You really should wait for a sale if you are going to venture into the BF stuff. (if you are looking for this style for cheap just go to Club Monaco because they have ripped it off the look quite successfully, but obviously the quality is not nearly the same.)
In terms of their day-​to-​day stuff its all very nice but its American Trad so it had a lot of drape and fits baggy.
The sales person I dealt with on my small purchase was obnoxious and followed me around, this has not changed since the store has come to Canada, he was on par with some of the obnoxious guys in the states.

I love Brooks Brothers! I’m not specifically in the demographic (every time I walk in it seems to be those in their 40s-​60s), but it’s a great place to pick up some well-​made, well-​cut business clothing — suits and shirts especially. (I think they’ve tried to appeal to a younger demographic with Black Fleece… but not sure how successful that foray has been.)
The styles can be a wee bit old-​fashioned and «American», but they are classic. I also love the high quality fabrics — no polyester or nylon in sight — lots of wools and cottons.
The staff are professional and extremely helpful and add a nice personal touch. A suit I bought ended up not fitting right so I returned it, and the sales person sent me an apology note shortly afterwards saying sorry that it didn’t work out. Wonderful customer service.
Because I want them to do well, my only recommendation for Brooks Brothers is to move to a street level location or to a mall for more foot traffic. I know they are trying to appeal to the lunchtime banker/​lawyer crowd, but when I walk in it’s always pretty empty. I imagine weekends it can’t be any better…

I used to love the Brooks Brothers store in Seattle so I’m happy to see it’s landed here in Toronto. Brooks Brothers is The Gap for when you finally grow up. Nothing is cheap here. A business shirt will set you back about $ 120. And you won’t find a piano tie here. Ties are colorful, in classic patterns. If you have eyes other than mongrel brown (sadly, my eye color), for some reason women go utterly weak in the knees if you are able to match a tie to your eye color. This is the place to find it. The tie tables are like a pantone wheel.
And the shirts. Mmmm. The shirts.
«I’ve got a man in England who
buys me clothes. He sends over
a selection of things at the
beginning of each season, spring
and fall.»

He took out a pile of shirts and
began throwing them, one by
one, before us, shirts of sheer
linen and thick silk and fine flannel,
which lost their folds as they fell
and covered the table in many-​colored
disarray. While we admired he brought
more and the soft rich heap mounted
higher – shirts with stripes and scrolls
and plaids in coral and apple-​green
and lavender and faint orange, and
monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly,
with a strained sound, Daisy bent her
head into the shirts and began to
cry stormily.

«They’re such beautiful shirts,» she
sobbed, her voice muffled in the
thick folds. «It makes me sad because
I’ve never seen such – such
beautiful shirts before.»
Yeah, you can’t enter a Brooks Brothers store and not be transported to that scene in the Great Gatsby.

Finally! Brooks Brothers has opened a store in Toronto!
One of the best suit and business wear stores in the world has opened in Toronto. The store is HUGE (do not let the location or frontage deceive you) and has an enormous selection of shirts, slacks, jackets, suits, sweaters, ties, shoes, belts — anything you could need to look great at work or out for a «great looking» night on the town.
I am so glad Brooks is finally here (it is nice to have an alternative to Tom, Harry and Korry). Ask for Russell — he offers great service without rush or pressure. Brooks Brothers is a great place to build a wardrobe and has a reputation for only providing fantastic, stylish clothing.
This store has a large woman’s section — so be sure to stop by if you are a woman looking for a great assortment of professional and classy clothing.