Retail people: How do I decode a department store layout?

Help! Please explain department stores to me!
I get that there are sections for petites, misses, plus sizes, and juniors. But it seems like there are sections within those sections. Is there such a thing as a “conservative older woman” section in each store? Is there a “hip, fringy” section? Is there a “cheap stuff” section and an “expensive stuff” section (not clearance racks, but whole sections full of different quality clothing)?
Do most stores have the same types of sections? If so, what are they named? How do I tell which section I’m in? Are there clues I’m just not picking up on?
I know, I know...these are really basic questions. I feel like I should know these answers by now. But I don’t, and I think this is one reason department stores overwhelm me. I don’t know how to decode them, so I wander around among hundreds of little round racks and in and out of “rooms,” just trying to find my options for dresses. There's a few here, and a few way over there ... and some around that corner...and then I look up and I've wandered into the men's section. Or the accessories. Or into some section with boxy clothes and elastic waists. And then I'm back in the scarves again! )(*&&$#$%.

Signed,
Gretel, looking for some breadcrumbs

13 years ago

annagybe

(website)

Veteran

I think it helps to name some of the department stores in your location. Do you have Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales?

Kari

Oh gosh, this baffled me for the longest time.

While it doesn't help in a NEW store, I think I felt more secure department store shopping once I spent time walking around the stores browsing (not for a specific item) to see what price points, brands, styles corresponded with certain sections. For example, I learned over time that in Nordstrom, most of my casual & smart-casual clothes come from Point of View, which carries some brands that are at my price point and fit my body well, and strike a balance between trendy and classic. And some department stores - Nordstrom does this - include the department in which you can find an item of clothing within the item description online, so you can research brands/styles that you like online and then note which departments they are found in.

RunnerChick

Active Member

Kari, gosh, that's really helpful. Your explanation and method definitely make sense. My problem is patience, though, and a tendency to have tunnel vision about what I'm looking for. I usually hit the stores with specific items in mind, and get awfully frustrated when I can find *the* things I'm looking for. I clearly need to spend more time doing what my mother calls "browsing", so I can "find things that I did not know I was looking for". It's a lost art, I tell you! Thanks, again, for sharing your experiences!

Liz

Anna, the stores in my area are Nordstrom's, Dillards, and Macy's.

Kari, this is going to be really basic, but here goes: So you're saying there is a section in Nordstrom's named Point of View that carries certain brands at certain prices ....and that the section next to it would be named something else and have other brands/prices and a different kind of "look"? Yeah, I'm laughing at myself --I guess I need Remedial Shopping 101!

missvee

you've had some really helpful advice so far, but don't forget to make good use of the salespeople in these department stores. Look for someone who's dressed in a way that appeals to you and ask her to help you. Even better if you can be specific about what you're looking for. I went into a really high end dept store and said I wanted a short raincoat. We looked at what was on the racks - nothing wowed me - and then she said she'd look in the back for me. A customer had put one on hold and hadn;'t come back for it. It was perfect, and it was on sale! Without her help I would have been out of luck.

Isis

Liz, I am just figuring this out myself! I am also overwhelmed in dept stores.

So far I have only figured out Nordstrom's. If you look on the wall, there is a sign with the name of the section, i.e. "Point of View" or TBD.

Here is a link from Nordstrom that explains their sections.

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/wo.....ments-shop

Online, each item of clothing will also list what section it is from.

I wonder if other dept stores use a simliar system? Anyone know?

K. Period.

Liz, don't despair! Department stores can be pretty confusing. Some are so confusing that I have a hard time shopping them myself, and I'm a really dedicated shopper. I think Macy's and JCPenney's in particular. They went through a phase where they tried to mash everything up into a non-logical order so that they could keep you in there longer. For me, that worked once. After I found the escape route, I didn't go back.

To answer your question, Point of View is a department. Next to it are likely t.b.d. (trendy, hip, young, expensive), Savvy (less trendy, but expensive investment pieces) and probably collections (out of my league designer stuff). There is also a juniors department with more impulse stuff. To make it even crazier, there are often dress and coat departments in Nordstrom located near those. Shoes, handbags, jewelry, you know the drill I'm sure. The best thing to do is to go in on a non-pressure day and take a stroll though the departments, looking at the styles and the price tickets but without the pressure of trying to buy a specific thing. That will make it a lot easier for you! Good luck!

Anonymous

In most dept. stores I've been in, the petite dept. really should be called the frump dept.
The selection is small and mostly stuff that a tourist in Florida would wear.

Victoria

Ruth@I agree with you on the "frump" department, LOL. Nordstroms in my area seem to be a bit better in that regard but I still see lot of frumpy stuff there. That's probably why I was shopping at junior department for so long! Do they think that petite women like to look frumpier than average person? I don't get that logic

@ Victoria: We might as well call it what it is. This is why I have to shop online. Even then, it's slim pickings for petites.

Retailers and dept. store buyers, are you reading this?

rae

I agree that it is confusing - honestly, I think this is done in part so that you *have* to browse and wander more. Rather than zipping straight to the Black Pants Section and back out again, you have to meander through Insert Abstract Description Here... this means you're more likely to find something you *didn't* come looking for and pick that up in addition to what you *did* come looking for.

Sorry if that basically amounts to saying it's supposed to be confusing... my best luck has come from either getting familiar with a store or asking the SAs where to find what I want.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

In places like Kohl's, I've noticed that there are different areas - there's one that's very casual with denim and knit tops, there's one that's more office wear, sometimes there's an area that's aimed at the younger crowd, and then one that skews older with brands like Polo. Sometimes, depending on the store layout, they kinda blend into one another but usually the 'seams' are pretty obvious. Then of course there's the juniors, petite and plus departments, the latter two of which tend to be a shrunken-down version of the misses' sections. IME, Sears is laid out similarly.

Places like Nordstrom and Macy's seem to be more about the "lifestyle-focused" section as opposed to the type of garment section. At Kohl's, for example, there would only be one or two places where you would look for jeans (assuming you were a misses' size), whereas at Nordstrom the different brands of jeans are in the different departments - Caslon and JAG in the area that aims for mid-priced of most ages, NYDJ in the for slightly older more classic ladies section, designer brands in the youngish designer section, etc. (All these departments have names @ Nordstrom as per Isis's link but I can't match them all up myself.)

I'm a browser from way back so I can't say it bothers me, but I do find Nordstrom's layouts a bit twee and somehow old-fashioned, kinda like department stores used to be when I was a kid. But I'm sure they've done studies and found that this gets them the most sell-through.

It reminds me, a little bit, of when we were visiting Vancouver and found that the only way to get through international security at YVR was to first walk through the duty-free shop. Malls and stores don't want you to get in and get out - they want to force you to walk all the way through the store because then you'll probably buy more.

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