I love designer clothing but know how costly it can be! I’m always looking for new outlets that have the designer look I want without the high price tag. Our local shopping center has the popular chain store Stein Mart. Stein Mart is an upscale, off price store that carries a wide variety of clothing items for men, women and children along with accessories, shoes, and a wide array of household items. My goal was to find out if their designer clothing offerings for women made the grade in terms of price, quality, and selection.
Stein Mart stores are well lit and easy to navigate without the overly crowded aisles sometimes seen in off price stores. Soft music plays in the background as your make your way down the aisles in search of a bargain. My first stop was to the general women’s clothing areas where I found a large selection of brand name clothing but not alot of designer names. I did find some classic Jones of New York suits and pants at 40% off of retail price. These suits would have been perfect for work and came in classic colors like black and navy. In the sportswear and casual section, I found Jones of New York sportswear as well as some Ralph Lauren Sport separates, although the style appeared to be more last season than current. They were definite bargains at more than 50% off of retail price. The rest of the clothing in the general women’s area was mostly nondesigner, a bit trendy, and appeared to be of only average quality.
The boutique section of the store seemed to have the most possibility of carrying some designer finds. I liked the look and feel of this section. The sales people appeared to be more attentive and they had some little extras such as coffee and a plate of delicious butter cookies which they kindly offered to me. After navigating through the boutique displays munching on my butter cookie, I found some designer names worthy of mentioning. The designer name in greatest abundance appeared to be Anne Klein A Line suits and separates in a variety of classic shades. These were nicely made, as you would expect of Ann Klein. I also found some blouses and tops by Ralph Lauren and more Jones of New York. They seem to have a real affair with Jones of New York! The suits by Ann Klein A Line were items I could definitely see in my own closet and I’ll be back the next time I need a suit for work.
I briefly checked out the shoe and purse section. The two designer names in the purse department were Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. There was also a good selection of Nine West purses and accessories. All were discounted between 30-60% off of retail. The shoe department was devoid of high end designer names but did have some example of Bandolino, Liz Claiborne, and Aigner. I thought the shoe department was one of the weakest areas of the store with regards to selection.
Stein Mart also carries a large selection of both costume and sterling silver jewelry, although I didn’t see any designer names on this particular visit. Most of the stones were glass or plastic with very little natural or semiprecious stones. There was a nice selection of belts and scarves to go with clothing purchases, although, again, no big designer names.
All in all, I found Stein Mart to be an easy place to shop with excellent prices when compared to standard retail prices. They also had a variety of racks advertising an additional 30% off lowest marked price although few designer items were left on these racks. Due to the rather limited selection, I wouldn’t make this my store of choise for high end designer clothing, although I will probably buy some their Ann Klein A Line suits when the need arises. It’s certainly worth a look the next time you’re near one of their stores. Be sure to visit the boutique department to see if they’re offering butter cookies. They’re delicious!
