My eyesight is just fine, thank you. It’s just that whenever I walk into Carson Pirie Scott, my favorite department store, I immediately peruse the Yellow Dot display signs throughout the store with laser like focus. You see, these bright round yellow symbols represent the deepest discounts and lowest markdowns on high quality merchandise that leave other retailers seeing double.
For a guy, this may be a departure from the norm. But I have always wanted to look my best on the cheap. It all started about three years ago when I walked away from a relatively “secure” job to pursue a vision for becoming a real estate developer. I made the cardinal sin of leaving one position without having another in tow. Fortunately, I caught a glimpse of a groundbreaking ceremony in a newspaper and parlayed it into a customer care manager position, leveraging my real estate insight and passion for community development.
As owner representative, my primary role was to conduct new home orientations, which included buyer walkthroughs which by the way, were part of the City of Chicago’s ambitious Plan for Transformation, a very high profile effort to replace distressed high-rise public housing throughout the city with new construction in once blighted neighborhoods. So naturally, I wanted to look good.
To set the tone, I upgraded my wardrobe. Never will forget that fateful day in the Lincolnwood, Il Carsons. While sampling a rack of discounted neck ties that in my eyes were attractively priced, out of the blue a sales clerk suggested that I check the box of “yellow dot” ties tucked away near the back wall of the Mens’ Department. And there they were, a hodgepodge of out-of-season neckwear, strewn together and specially marked with a yellow highlighter drawn through the last price. Ah, but that wasn’t the final price. Because when that same clerk rang them up, each registered a fraction of the already low price I was willing to pay.
Think I bought twenty-five ties that day, spending roughly fifty bucks. The average cost was about four dollars. Originally retailing at $45, they included all of my favorites, including Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis and Donna Karan. It was unreal. Subsequently the experience led to dress and causal shirts, slacks, sport jackets, overcoats, you name it. (It has recently morphed into houseware as well.) This thing has gotten so good to me that I charted Carsons throughout the Chicagoland area in search of these incredible deals to the point I built an impressive inventory in my basement.
But it’s not just about me anymore. I shop for friends and family, sending stuff to people out of state. It gives me great joy when they send photos of weddings, graduations and celebrations with the stuff they entrust me to buy, often sight unseen. All I need are sizes. The biggest kick I get are the compliments from the women in the stores I typically rub shoulders (and sometimes elbows) with regarding my eye for great deals.
Soon I will launch a long overdue website with merchandise and a blog chronicling some of the memorable stories behind some of the purchases, like the successful multi-state hunt for some incredible clearance furniture bought for a song.
“Come to the Right Place” is more than Carson's tagline. For me, it is a call to order. And in my world, yellow means, “Go!”
For a guy, this may be a departure from the norm. But I have always wanted to look my best on the cheap. It all started about three years ago when I walked away from a relatively “secure” job to pursue a vision for becoming a real estate developer. I made the cardinal sin of leaving one position without having another in tow. Fortunately, I caught a glimpse of a groundbreaking ceremony in a newspaper and parlayed it into a customer care manager position, leveraging my real estate insight and passion for community development.
As owner representative, my primary role was to conduct new home orientations, which included buyer walkthroughs which by the way, were part of the City of Chicago’s ambitious Plan for Transformation, a very high profile effort to replace distressed high-rise public housing throughout the city with new construction in once blighted neighborhoods. So naturally, I wanted to look good.
To set the tone, I upgraded my wardrobe. Never will forget that fateful day in the Lincolnwood, Il Carsons. While sampling a rack of discounted neck ties that in my eyes were attractively priced, out of the blue a sales clerk suggested that I check the box of “yellow dot” ties tucked away near the back wall of the Mens’ Department. And there they were, a hodgepodge of out-of-season neckwear, strewn together and specially marked with a yellow highlighter drawn through the last price. Ah, but that wasn’t the final price. Because when that same clerk rang them up, each registered a fraction of the already low price I was willing to pay.
Think I bought twenty-five ties that day, spending roughly fifty bucks. The average cost was about four dollars. Originally retailing at $45, they included all of my favorites, including Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis and Donna Karan. It was unreal. Subsequently the experience led to dress and causal shirts, slacks, sport jackets, overcoats, you name it. (It has recently morphed into houseware as well.) This thing has gotten so good to me that I charted Carsons throughout the Chicagoland area in search of these incredible deals to the point I built an impressive inventory in my basement.
But it’s not just about me anymore. I shop for friends and family, sending stuff to people out of state. It gives me great joy when they send photos of weddings, graduations and celebrations with the stuff they entrust me to buy, often sight unseen. All I need are sizes. The biggest kick I get are the compliments from the women in the stores I typically rub shoulders (and sometimes elbows) with regarding my eye for great deals.
Soon I will launch a long overdue website with merchandise and a blog chronicling some of the memorable stories behind some of the purchases, like the successful multi-state hunt for some incredible clearance furniture bought for a song.
“Come to the Right Place” is more than Carson's tagline. For me, it is a call to order. And in my world, yellow means, “Go!”
You write very well.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteYES! I've purchased many yellow-dot items. I used to work near the State Street Carsons,and lunch hours gave me a chance to hunt for yellow-dot bargains. I was deeply saddened when Carsons left downtown Chicago, because I rarely get to shop at one of their other locations. I no longer scoop the yellow-dot items, but I'm glad someone else is enjoying them. Shop on! "heylibrarylady"
ReplyDelete