Ashley’s Collectibles

I was visiting from out of town and decided to spend my last day with friends in downtown Omaha. We walked into this place and had a wonderful time looking around, they have a great selection of incense and many MANY other things to look at.
However the lady working was not friendly at all, my friends and I all have a background in retail and my friend had to «greet» the employee that was working after we had already been in the store for 10 minutes and she seemed extremely reluctant to help me when I asked to see an item kept in a glass case. As we continued to shop the employee proceeds to tell us that she’ll be needing lunch soon but to go ahead and keep looking… Are you kidding? You just made this the most awkward shopping experience ever. We quickly made our final decisions and made our way to the register where I hand her my credit card… She turns around like she is going to run it and then hands it back to me and said the machine wasn’t working and she could only take cash… We had been in there for about 30 minutes and she couldn’t have said anything sooner??? My friends don’t have cash, so they put their items back and we leave. While we sat down for lunch ourselves we decided to find an ATM. After returning about 45 minutes later the lights are still off and the door is closed, we wait in the cold another 15 minutes before she opens the door from the inside to tell us that she has closed for the day, frustrated we walk away with nothing.
I hope this lady isn’t the owner, however I feel that’s the only way that she still has a job there. She had 3 for sure sales and let them all walk away… If she isn’t the owner I hope whoever is realizes that this employee may be driving your business away.

I’ve been coming here for a while now to get my incense… while they sell lots of knick knacks and stuff, I really dig the quality incense they have… I always go with the big sticks which are 8 for 3 bucks… a single stick burns for over 2+ hours… I’ve never had a bad experience here and the employees have always been nice and friendly… be careful walking down the steps though if it’s snowed or is wet, it can be a bit slippery…

So you walk into this place in awe, and you see the prices and are like wow, and then you meet the owner and see how he treats his staff and NEVER want to return. He is a horrible person, that picks up quickly on those looking for a «Special Gift» and then orders his staff to do this do that and degrades them in front of you.
Here is what I did. I bought something from there-​fairly pricey, but not all that bad compared to
and such, but then saw how he treated one of his staff members? He said, no no no, you pack it in this, that way it doesn’t break, you broke _​_​_​_​_​_​some time ago.
It was clear to me that he didn’t really care what he sold, as long as he made money, and for some reason, I felt like he was a used car sales man from the 60’s. I did keep the item, and gave the staff member a $ 20 tip without him seeing it and told him he did a good job.

How do you review a store that has such a crazy juxtaposition of items?
For me, the name «Ashley’s Collectibles» conjures up images of jewelry, Precious Moments and those little ceramic village houses that moms like so much, so I used to be hesitant to go inside the store. But then I finally did and was greeted by a freaking dragon. A DRAGON. I sh*t you not, there is a giant mothertruckin’, sparkly DRAGON staring you down as soon as you cross into the store. SOLD!
The rest of the store is just as kooky. Yes, there’s plenty of jewelry in the cases — gold and crystals and such — but it’s what’s on the shelves that’s interesting. Fairies. Mermaids. Plush piggies in a frying pan (beside the bacon gum, bacon bandages and bacon plushies). Glass paperweights with real jellyfish inside. Crypt Keeper-​esque statues. Popeye figurines. Zombie pin-​up stickers. 37 scents of incense. Steampunk everything. Wizard statues. Lifesized suits of armor. All in a cramped cavern of a store under the street. My sensitive nose was assaulted big-​time from all the incense, but I was glad to see this crazy store anyway. Ashley’s Collectibles definitely has a gift for everyone.
But I have to ask: Who is Ashley?