Reclectic — Attraction in Philadelphia

I'm an avid thrifter and sell online this store was massively overhyped and overall is NOT WORTH it. It was heavy on free people and anthropologie. There's some other brands there but not like online leads you to believe. People will mention for love and Lemons, sister jane, banjanajan, etc but it's few and far between. The vast majority of the items are severely damaged- massive rips, lots of pulls, pills, and snags, huge stains, broken zippers, and unfinished strange sample pieces that look like a kids craft project gone wrong. These aren't simple sewing projects - these items are so badly damaged the fabric should be recycled or thrown away. The discounts are NOT there. I was expecting an outlet store or clearance center pricing, especially for damaged goods. Free People dresses and onesies that retailed for 88 bucks were 50 bucks. $128 dresses were still $65. Dresses that retailed $200 were $100. Skirts were still $30. These prices are what you can expect at the mall, on the free people website, etc. Tj maxx often gets free people that's new with tags and NOT damaged for deeper discounts. It was HOT AF inside because there was no AC. It's a big store, and there is a lot of inventory to look through. But there are NO SHOPPING CARTS! with there being so much to look at and it being SO HOT 🔥 this makes the shopping experience absolutely dreadful and exhausting. You have to lug and suffer carrying around stuff as you try to keep looking through stuff. Bad business! There are NO DRESSING ROOMS and they also have an all sales are final policy. So stuff isn't that discounted, it's hot, no carts, and you cant even try on that $65 item.... but you aren't allowed to return it either. That is just bad business. 👎🏾 Prices are wonky and inconsistent. You find an item and there's the same one marked for $65, another one marked for $40, and one marked for $15. This was rampant. The pricing structure as a whole was like someone doing a yardsale for their first time it was a hassle when there is no reason for it. They use a colored sticker system. Every rack has a sticker color guide that shows you what color is what price. The racks are mixed up with all different colors so you have to keep checking the signs to see what costs what. It wouod be much smarter to just put the actual price as a number on the tag. They won't even give you a darn shopping bag. But they'll charge $1 each! This is straight up greedy. I have my LLC and a six figure business so I darn well know how greedy they are being. You can easily order bags and other business supplies wholesale for dirt cheap and write it off because it is a business expense, yet you don't. Normally I do bring reusable bags along, but I flew in from Austin, Texas. It's ridiculous especially at a store where it's supposed to be discounted, super full of inventory, and you end up buying a bunch, and then don't have a way to carry it. A lot of the shoes were used! Gross! And many of them were still marked for $50. Sizing was very heavy in xs and small, not too many options for girlie's that wear a m or above. Hardly any plus size options.

They did a few worthwhile items and I appreciated the large store. Plus there was parking. Plus there was a roast pork restaurant nearby and good lord did I need some good Philly food.

The takeaway.... do NOT WASTE YOUR TIME or make a trip to come here. You are much better off at your local nordtorm rack, tj maxx, or retail stores like macys as they always have a sale. Items are more quality controlled there, stores are comfortable they have carts, bags, ac, and you can try things on and return if needed.

Yall need to do...

I'm a professional reseller and stopped here from the Austin, Texas area. I'm extremely familiar with thrifting, outlet shopping and anthropologie pieces!

There was no AC. the store was HOT. It was only in the 70s outside, but the store was sticky, humid, and uncomfortably hot inside. This made shopping unpleasant and tiring, and heat makes people irritable. There were NO SHOPPING CARTS! They had a ton of inventory to look through, but you had to lug it around. The store uses a sticker system to price the items but it is inconsistent. Some items just have a price tag on from reclectic, others have a colored round sticker. You have to match the color of the sticker up to a sign to find prices. Racks have all different prices on them along with different sizes. Simply putting a price sticker on everything that says the price you pay would be easier. They charge you $1 for a shopping bag. I mean come on now. This is greedy and stupid. Austin is good at being Bagless and I always bring my own bags, and keep extras in my car, but this isn't something anyone traveling would do. Not only that, but I'm a business owner myself and know that bags are CHEAP and also a TAX WRITE OFF as a business. This is an outlet store where people come in and often buy a bunch of stuff, so there is NO EXCUSE to not offer shopping bags. This isn't about being "green" it's about the greedy ower wanting "green" money in her wallet. There's sale sections of the store. Items are under $20 if you go all the way towards the back. Majority of these items are so DAMAGED they should absolutely be TRASHED. I repair shoes professionals and also sew. Many items had broken zippers, massive stains, massive shredded holes - so severe they were beyond repair. These items should have been sold for $1 or $3 each at most for scrap fabric / diy projects. People are saying the items are heavily discounted but this is not true. Items that retailed for 88 bucks were still marked $50. I found a gown for $100 and it's all over online for around that same cost. Found another dress I loved and it was $65 when retail was 128. Dillards/macys/ the free people website often has sales were I could have much more easily got it there for that same discount / price range. The prices were on par or HIGHER than your higher end consignment stores. You might as well just support your local consignment shop or shop online from the luxury of your couch. Tj maxx has anthro brands for MUCH steeper discounts.

The takeaway- this NOT...

I am adding another voice to the chorus of mixed reviews. To start with the positive, this place is epically huge and full of selections of steep discounts on brands like Anthro. However, the experience shopping here is deeply negatively impacted by things that would be such simple fixes!

1. Please organize racks by size. This cannot be such a challenge I mean come on. It was exhausting feeling like I had to look through every item on every rack to feel like I saw everything that would even fit me. In fact, I bet I would have found and bought more if I could have shopped by size.
2. The no-try on rule is ridiculous for the price point here. These are not $1 bins. Things here are still a notable amount that gives you pause and makes you do mental math to see if it’s worth it…even with the discounts. Plus no returns? Tell me you don’t care about your customer experience without telling me you don’t care about your customer experience…
3. I literally never knew what anything cost. The sticker system could work better with more signage. Or, just put prices on things for goodness sake. I was constantly picking something up, then had to walk and find the corresponding sign to price it. 🙄 Can’t you just have certain sticker colors always cost a set amount?!
4. There are some steals here…but there are some overpriced items still. Namely your tshirts / blouses. None of those should be over $30. Only dresses, maybe nice coats, pants, sweaters etc are acceptable clothing for over $30. Even when not on sale! I put back some cute tops that I know I could get at TJ Maxx for like $9.99.

This all being said, I still would come back. I did get excited when I found something I liked (at the right price, and in the right size).

🤞Please make some...