As I walked by, nearly missing this place(and then thinking it was only for women anyhow), I noticed some decent casual men’s ensembles displayed in the window. I thought, «Huh?» and decided to stop in and take a look. I was, after all, on a mission to find a few more casual items for my wardrobe. As I entered the store, I observed that the merchandise was very neatly displayed and easy to browse. I quietly looked around in the front left corner of the men’s display, slightly out of view of the employees gathered around the registers. Then I heard one ask loudly if anyone saw a customer walk in, which sounded like a cue to stop gossiping. I was caught! As I turned the corner to look at the rest of the men’s collection, a young male salesperson intercepted me. He politely offered help and then proceeded to direct me toward the items along the main wall of the men’s section. Overall good approach — he even offered up some basic pricing guidelines for the clothes in this section, and then continued straightening the displays(which was almost comical because he was camouflaged to match these very racks). As I continued quietly browsing, he must have signaled to another salesperson that she may have more luck with me(or maybe it was her turn to grab the next customer). She immediately guessed that I was looking for something more«dressy,» to which I replied that I was more interested in casual attire at this time, although a pair of linen chinos caught my eye. After determining that they did not have my size on hand, she informed me that they had a great deal on v-neck t-shirts in the front section and some crew neck t-shirts in the back of the store(back clearance section is positioned similarly to Banana Republic’s, but deceptively surrounded by women’s clothes). So I went back to the front left corner, where I decided to grab a couple of those v-necks and a pair of plaid cargo shorts, and then kept browsing. The young man who initially approached me reappeared and asked what I thought of everything. I told him I liked it and added that, while I wasn’t quite ready to go for it, I liked what they had done with the styling of an otherwise bland gingham-type shirt and was overall impressed with the fitted cuts and apparent value offered here. I meant that sincerely — it’s just enough to be a flippant take on classic preppy styles. Then came the register, where one salesperson tried helping me, but needed the young woman’s number on the register — this is when I began to suspect that they were on commission. She gracefully covered by saying that she would be happy to ring me up instead, but her first question was whether anyone else helped me today. I happily pointed out the young man(quite obvious, I thought). [This just about marks the midpoint of my time spent in the store.] The young woman began trying to enter the sale and, clearly realizing that this could get messy, told the young man that she would just enter the whole thing in his name. I was already holding out my credit card. There was then a little confusion about entering sale items, to which another woman offered guidance(we’ll call her the manager from here on out — she was at least a supe). If I were Esprit’s accountant, I would probably disagree with the advice offered, but I digress. The salesperson fumbled with a loyalty/rewards card signup form, which I declined, and proceeded to finish the transaction… slowly… It turned out that my credit card would not easily swipe(not the card’s fault, they reassured me), so the manager got involved — sounded like an ongoing problem. As they figured out the cash register, another young female salesperson(the one who actually saw me enter the store), complimented my color choices, which made me smile. She had clearly seen me holding the t-shirts up to my face earlier(my primary method of determining whether I can get away with a particular color). She seemed sincere enough. The buzzing of a printer indicated that the transaction was finally over. A slew of unnecessary receipts came out, followed by concern expressed between staff about a cancelled transaction warning, etc. I asked if they needed my card again, to which the manager said no, and the young woman started bagging up my purchase. This was about the time that they finally came clean, apologizing for the hassle and explaining that this was only their second day open. Aha! That explains everything better than the alternate assumption that this clumsy and awkward bunch of people had been selling men’s clothes in this location without me knowing it. Overall, it was a good experience, and I think these salespeople had the right kind of approach — it just needs some refinement. If they are on commission, they may want to consider introducing themselves by name and being a little more upfront about it. I hate going into mall stores and getting stuck with the wrong salesperson, wondering why they won’t leave me alone.
