McCaulou’s Department Stores

This place is amazing. It’s totally an old school department store. The customer service is great, they do free gift wrapping (at least for Christmas) and the selection is good for it’s size. This place is especially good for men of all ages because they have all of the basics. I got a Columbia jacket for my dad here at 50% off. They carry Pendleton and Woolrich, also have basic Russell sweatshirts and a bunch of other just really good, standard clothing at all price points. They have the surf/​skate brands for the younger kids too. I always find something and always think about what a good choice it was to come here, support a Bay Area business and avoid the crowds and sensory overload at the bigger department/​big box stores.

i’ve been shopping at the Walnut Creek store for years. I love it and i find the customer service to be wonderful. While there’s quite selection of clothing for the mature & petite woman (i shop for both my mother and grandmother there), i have also found some lovely tops (lucky brand), dresses (indian cotton $ 20), and shoes for myself as well. In fact my favorite boots (black, flat heeled, over the knee made by chinese laundry) were purchased in their shoe department.
While this store is not outwardly glamorous, and merchandise is often jumbled together, it always comes through for me. Y’all can keep your Ross’, Marshall’s, and such; i’ll shop here…

While the location is convenient, they FAIL in customer service. I bought $ 200 worth of merchandise. Later, I realized that I needed two sweater boxes. I grabbed the bag and went back. Apparently, the receipt was left at home. Their employee said she «wasn’t allowed to give me boxes without a receipt.» I asked to speak with a manager, who repeated the same thing. I was stunned at the lack of reasonable accommodation, even from a manager! I will locate my receipt and return my entire purchase. Shame on them for such poor customer service. As an entrepreneur, I’d classify their insistence over no box giving, as «in the box thinking.» Bah humbug!

Great store for finding last minute birthday gifts or baby gifts. They offer free gift wrapping while you wait too! My daughter is a Hello Kitty fan and they have a great selection here. My son enjoyed the Thomas train table and all the toys in the kids section. Decent selection of kids Giants clothing too!

Their customer service is horrible. I asked a sales associate if she could call the Moraga store to check if they had an item in the size I wanted. The two sales associates at the counter (who were not helping anyone else) said «No, it’s our policy not to do that unless the items cost more.» Even if I called my self they won’t check. Apparently there is a price tag for customer service. So I drove all the way to the Moraga store to find even worse customer service. There is an abundance of sales associates in store. But find a nice one. I commented on how surprised I was that their computer system is so old. I hurt her feeling I guess because she was very nasty after that. I’ll never go back.

I’ve been a customer in their Misses department (mainly) for years. They have offered nicely made clothing, but the quality and selection has suffered more recently. I’m hoping it is just the economy and will rejuvenate (along with the economy). They have a large selection of mature women clothing and I wish they’d carry more youthful (not juvenile) styles. Their prices are about the same as Macy’s. And, depending on who is working, the service runs special to ho-​hum at all the stores. It is convenient and they do look for items in the other stores and have it transferred for you so you can pick it up locally. My main regret is that they don’t carry more items. The men’s and shoe dept. s are pretty good, too. Their Lafayette store seems to have a «teen» dept. that is rife with all sorts of crazy, high fashion, if you’re looking for the tiny, new things. I like the smaller store environment and I don’t have to trudge all over a mall to get to one, which is a plus. And parking’s better, too. I don’t care for some of the «sentimental» music they play because it seems sort of «sad», which isn’t something I want to feel when I’m spending money. A little more upbeat wouldn’t hurt. All in all, they are just about my favorite and I hope they are around for a long time.

Like most of the other reviews here, this store has horrible customer service. I don’t know if it’s in their employee handbook to be rude, snobby, and act inconvienced when a customer asks for help, but all the employees have this down. Spend your money elsewhere, not worth going here.

Great Store. Quality clothing at reasonable prices. They gift wrap for free on sales over $ 15. What a deal. Look for the $ 10 off coupons that come in the mail. We always use them for Birthday and Christmas gifts.

Horrible Customer service. I bought a pair of jeans here and the store refused to take them back. The product they sold me was defective. Falling apart after a few weeks. DONT SPEND YOUR MONEY HERE! They do not appreciate you.

Don’t go here for shoes. Went shoe shopping for my son today, and the lady wouldn’t bother to bend down to help at all. As in, wouldn’t take off his shoes, wouldn’t help put his foot on the foot measure, wouldn’t help put the shoe on… The worst was she actually kicked the measure over to him, not once, but TWICE. It was so odd, I actually asked her (Tammi) if there was something wrong with her knees, and she said no, that it was store policy to not bend down and help! So strange. If that is there store policy, we won’t be going there again.

Love the markdowns!
Good selection of resort casual clothing for baby boomers and older folks. They also have a juniors and kids section.

I ventured in here today to exchange a shower gift that was a duplicate. This place was a bit difficult to locate and I had never in my life heard of this store. This place is located in an old school strip mall, not close to the freeway or any other major street. When I walked in I was not sure what to expect but I was surprised at how cluttered and jammed packed this place is. There is a large kid selection with high end items, and cheaper items. There are also many toys and old school items. I don’t know, the best way to describe this place its like a Marshalls with items older folks would really like. I don’t believe I will ever return because its not all that cheap or inviting. The ladies that worked there were very nice and probably have been working there for years, the cash registers are old school too. I’ll stick to my malls and Ross’s thank you very much.

The last time I ventured into a McCaulous I was 12 years old and had saved my little pennies from babysitting jobs to buy myself some cool threads.
Now let’s time travel to the present… the minute I walked through the door I was transported back to the nineties– this place is exactly the same! Tan carpeting, dim lights and clothing stuffed in every corner, and semi-​disgruntled customer service. But do you know what? I love it! I have found a couple of great items in the Juniors section for a very reasonable price. I have even ventured over the the children’s section and nabbed some half price jammies for my wild toddler.
McCaulous is no Nordstrom but I think that they embrace who they are– a no-​frills, small town store with something for everyone.

I had a unfortunate accident with a Cherry/​Coke Slurpee while wearing a light color shirt and since I was in the area for a doctor’s appointment I ran in here to buy a new one.
This is an olde tyme department store. Like one of those stores you would find in a small town — like a rural town that has nothing for miles. It did not have much as «modern fashion». Their demographic is the elderly, Lillian Vernon neighborhood town folk. I did not find anything in the women’s area or their «junior» area. Because I do not wear denim shirts, bedazzeled collard shirts, or shirts with Palm trees/​sandals/​flowers on it or Rayon. I just wanted a regular cotton t-​shirt but no such luck! So I found a Hurley shirt in the Men’s department (same price I would find in any other store).
No big name brands that I could remember except for Karen Neuburger in the Lingerie department and Carter’s in the children’s department. Men’s did have Hurley and Fox,
Kinda sad really. They don’t make stores like this anymore because people what more variety and major labels. But the lady who rang up my purchase was very friendly.

I was sitting at the Starbucks staring at this store remembering all the times I have passed one in the corner of a strip-​mall parking lot so I ventured in. It’s what I imagine a Sears would look like if it were run by zombies for zombies. I was a little scared. I think it was the wood paneling. There were a few good items in the shoe dept and junior’s basics. It’d also be a good spot to buy your grandma a blouse.