Shopping Spree
Tonight was a blast!
As I mentioned, I was invited, along with some other area bloggers, by AJWright, to come check out a new store opening our area. Since I was unfamiliar with this store, I did a little research and discovered they were in the same family of stores as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls (The TJX Companies, Inc.) – both of which are stores in which I shop.
We received the purple cameras as gifts! Awesome!
This invite included a couple of incentives to encourage us to visit – a $100 gift card and a digital camera/video camera. Sweet, right? How could I possibly say no?
As I know and love T.J. Maxx the best out of that family of stores, I was eager to see what AJWright would have to offer.
Upon arrival at the store, I was greeted by a security guard. He was a bit disinterested in what was occurring in the store, but directed me to go ahead and enter.
Immediately, I met Maureen, who is another area blogger, and her Hubby.
We were soon introduced to one of our hostesses and led back to the employee breakroom and our supper – our choice of lasagna, stir fry and something with cream sauce, as well as garlic bread, a garden salad and a fruit salad. The lasagna and two salads were very tasty.
In the breakroom, we were joined by Colleen, and then one of my long-time blogging pals, Kimberly, and we received our gifts – the gift card, the camera/video camera, a pad of paper, a pen, a calculator and a recyclable shopping bag. Oh, and a green VIP badge to wear. (This last item is VERY important.)
Our mission, should we choose to accept it (and we all happily accepted it), was to shop and record parts of our shopping spree. But first, we split into two groups for a tour of the store.
My first impression of the store is that if you have shopped at a T.J. Maxx, you’ll be very familiar with the look and feel of AJWright. Bright lighting, high ceilings and very nice flow from area to area in the store. An eclectic mix of items is in every department.
Overall, I LOVED the selection of items. However, like T.J. Maxx and other similar stores, merchandise is constantly changing. If you find something you like, it may not be there the following day.
Also, since stock is constantly changing, some days you may find exactly what you are looking to purchase, while other days you may not be as impressed. (We were told that new merchandise is unloaded on Thursdays at this particular store, so that is a good day to find the best selection. Great insider tip!)
I found a good selection in the items I had on my list. I came in looking for Christmas presents (specifically for Little Dude), shoes for Little Dude, dress shoes for me, sweaters/dress shirts for me, clothes for Little Dude, and shirts for the Hubby.
I left with:
- One dress shirt for me
- One sweater for me
- One pair of dress shoes for me
- One pair of dress shoes for Little Dude
- A Spiderman shirt for Little Dude
- A collegiate-team shirt for the Hubby
- Two rugs
- Two sets of unmentionables (which shall remain unmentioned)
- One pop-up Cars-themed tent for Little Dude (Christmas gift and so cool – it has a pop-up of Radiator Springs attached to it, so Little Dude can drive his Cars around the buildings! And if you didn’t understand what I just wrote, you need to watch the movie. You’ll like it. Trust me.)
- Four miscellaneous items for upcoming gift needs
My grand total prior to tax? $109.85.
Upon arriving home, I looked through my purchases and calculated the total cost, had I spent the suggested retail price. The grand total? Somewhere between $245-347, since some items had additional tags originally added by the manufacturer (those tags tend to be higher than the cost at which the items actually retail).
Customer service was good and the staff seemed eager to be a part of this new store. The security guard was a bit bored (as I mentioned above), and I think some of the staff were a bit hesitant about assisting us, since we had two staffers assigned directly to taking care of our needs, but everyone was friendly and smiling.
The store was clean and well-organized. Like I mentioned above, the layout flows smoothly from one section to the next, especially if you are familiar with similar stores.
I noticed a few size jumps on the racks, meaning some sizes appeared to be missing in some styles, but again, I think that is to be expected in these types of stores, where merchandise tends to be bought from overstocked or discontinued items.
My final impression of the store? If I lived closer, I would be stopping by this store every other week. Yes, I am a shopaholic, and it is good I limit my time spent in such stores.
Now for the exciting part… I’ve been told I may have the opportunity to offer a giveaway for a $50 gift card to AJWright on my blog. Is anyone interested? (If so, let me know and more details will be on the way!)
One final note on why that VIP badge was so great. When I came home, I was greeted by one tired Little Dude. He ignored my bags (not noticing the big Christmas gift in the one, thankfully!) and instead wanted my “green square.” That VIP badge and lanyard is now one of his favorite things – especially because it is green, which appears to be his favorite color lately.
And he was especially excited to have his picture taken with his new “prize.”
Wow! What a fun experience for you. It sounds like you got some great bargains, especially with that badge. He definitely is a VIP.
I’d go for the gift card, but we don’t have any of those stores around here. We have a TJ Maxx though, and I haven’t been there in quite awhile. (Maybe I’ll have to stop in.)
Yes, he definitely is a VIP. He is holding onto that badge, again, this morning.
I think during one of your visits, we need to take a small trip into the store.
I don’t blame you in the slightest for taking them up on their offer (the payout sound more than generous), I would have snatched their hands off. But I question their ethics. If they wanted to give you a true experience of what their store is like and the level of service you are likely to receive, they would not have given you the big bright VIP badges (even if it does impress little ones at home), it doesn’t exactly give you the “Secret Shopper” experience.
Mr Geek – You raise a good point! And actually, the VIP badges distinguished us from their own employees and other folks, as we were the only true shoppers in the store at the time. (So not a “real” shopping experience in that sense, since we weren’t fighting crowds you may find during normal store hours.)
I agree that giving us cards and having us come back on a real shopping day would give us a better idea of the “true” shopping experience.
At the same time, I understand that they are trying to get us to talk about the good deals/proucts they have within their store – they definitely do have those – more than the whole secret shopping experience.
In the future, I would like to go back to that store, and take a peek around on my own, sharing a follow-up.
You know me – I love to rate customer service.
It sounded like quite a fun time! I, like you and Angie, love TJ Maxx, and live less than 10 min. from one. But, this is a tad bit too far for me. I bet my sister would be interested in it. She lives just south of there.
Just join the contest when I do it, Jill. Winning would be a good excuse to go and visit your sister, right?
very cool incentives! I would shop there is it were a tad closer!
I too am a shopaholic, but, truthfully, I have not visited a TJ Maxx or Marshalls in ages! I need to get back there soon!
I love the pic! He’s such a “big boy!”
I think it definitely is a fun way to create buzz about a new store – especially one wanting showcase the deals they have. They do $20 gift cards to the first 100 customers on opening day, too. Everyone loves a freebie!
(And as I said to Mr Geek, this makes me want to go back and kind-of “secret shop” them in a month or so…)
It was a great time and I found some great bargains!
Mr. Geek: The store wasn’t open to the public yet, we were part of a sneak peak. Today was the Grand Opening, and from what I hear on Twitter they had people camping out overnight in the parking lot!
Kimberly – It will be great fun to see if the news channels report on the folks camping in the parking lot. I was thinking about that this morning – and was going to browse around to see what other folks were saying.
Sounds like fun and those prices ARE very reasonable.
Vered – Very reasonable and I’m delighted I got the chance to participate in this sneak peek. Like I said, I would just like to go back and “secret shop” on my own later, since overall, I was impressed.
We love TJ Maxx here! Too bad we don’t also have a Marshalls or AJWright. It sounds like you got some great deals (one of my favorite things to do!).
And, do the unmentionables have to remain unmentionables???
BTW, I addressed the question you asked on my blog in the comments section of the post.
I have a T.J. Maxx close to where I work, but was new to the AJWright brand. I’m very impressed by my deals, as you can tell.
Yes, the unmentionables have to remain unmentioned. I need to be a bit modest.
Thanks for answering my questions, too.
Hey RC … your blog looks so different, I haven’t visited in awhile. Sounds like you had fun, and so glad the headache subsided for you. I am soooo not a shopper, I can barely force myself into a store. Seriously. And it’s kind of sad, but it’s just the way it is.
Hi Lynn! So you won’t be signing up for the contest, should we do it? Thanks for stopping by!
SCORE!!! I’m not particularly close to this store either, and I’m not a TJ Maxx or Marshall’s shopper, but I’m glad you had a productive shopping trip!
Andrea – I should head your way to visit you and drag you to one of the stores. Very cute stuff for the little guys, too!
I second the VIP tag being the best thing my boys thought I brought home…only with two of them, they’re CONSTANTLY FIGHTING over who gets to be the “imperdent” person next!
Was GREAT meeting you!!!
Nice to meet you, too, Colleen! So funny that your boys went for the tag, too.
Now I want an AJWright in our town. We already have a TJMaxx, but more discount stores would be great.
You scored on your trip – Gifts, a meal + your great purchases. Yay!
Barbara – It was such a fun adventure to do this. I just wish the store was closer to me, since I could see me stopping in more often. But that could be dangerous. (We have T.J. Maxx closer to us, and I already stop there enough.)