So last weekend, my friends and I adventured to Asheville for spring break. Some of J. Crew fans may know that there is a J. Crew distribution center and clearance store located about twenty or so minutes from there in Arden, NC (there is also one in Lynchburg, VA). I had via the internet about the legendary J. Crew warehouse sales that took place at these centers and called in to see when their next one was- and lucky enough it was while we were there! I practically demanded that we go, and my friends, since they are wonderful and love a good sale, agreed we should attend.
The sale started at 9 am on a Saturday, we were there probably by 9:30 and there was a line. It wasn’t too long, but it took a little longer than expected to get in. I was told that they let as many in as fire code allows. Then we waited for people to leave. Since we were there within the first hour and the warehouse was huge it took us a bit to get inside. As people started trickling out they started letting us in, about seven people at a time. We were the second batch of people to be let in after the initial opening (this was at about 10:20 am).
Now, being very much into fashion, I always pictured it like exactly what was shown on TV shows– and it was! Okay, I didn’t get in a fight with anyone, but it was just as chaotic. As you walk through the doors, with hundreds of boxes spread upon tables as far as the eye can see, they hand you a price sheet and a trash bag. I should have taken a picture of the price list, because it was used to tally up our stuff and we didn’t get to keep it. But the basics were like this, tops $15, shorts $8, shorts $8, shoes $25, accessories $8, swim $5, basically some serious deals for anything from J.Crew. The collection pieces or leather pieces were higher in price, but still at a significant discount!
The boxes were separated into tops, shoes, dresses, bottoms, etc. but a lot of things were mixed together. No size sorting, so for about the first 30 minutes I was hopelessly searching for my size. I found the most adorable pair of marsala leather loafers that were made in Italy, but they sadly weren’t in my size. So I searched on! There were a ton of Vans and Sperrys which was pretty neat, but having a smaller size foot I had trouble finding some that fit. I ended up having the most luck in bottoms, where I found some skirts and a pair of shorts!
We were rummaging through the boxes for over an hour, I mean there were a ton of boxes. Everywhere you turned there was something new! Also, there were no mirrors or fitting rooms (because it’s a warehouse after all) so if you wanted to try something on it had to be over your clothes. We finally decided our search was over and headed over to get our items counted. The J. Crew workers were really nice, and shared with us that we were getting an additional 15% off that day, which is just crazy. The whole thing was literally like a dream for me.
In the end, I walked away with 3 skirts, 1 pair of shorts, a bathing suit top, and a roll on perfume for $53! I think attending my first warehouse sale has only made my fashion addiction stronger, and I can’t wait to attend more in the future!
Comments