LOFT — Local services in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

Just left this place. Sometimes, just to see how they treat customers, I will go into a store with either plenty of cash on hand or the store's credit card with a huge balance to spend on the card, and dress VERY casually to see how the employees treat their customers. Today, LOFT failed miserably. I needed to buy everything- shorts, pants, shirts, sweaters, the works. I WAS greeted when I walked in but that was the extent of the help provided. I had to ask if more sizes were available because I did not see my size on the table (later I did hear an employee report to a customer after returning from the back of the store where I was standing that she could not find the customer's size). Another employee walked up to another customer next to me and asked if she could "start a dressing room for her", and her reply was, "yeah-I'm ready." However, I soon saw them at the front of the store looking and chatting away, while I was still standing with my garments in hand. The employee never acknowledged me or stated "I'll be right with you ma'am". She just left me standing, holding clothes, assuming I couldn't afford some/all of them. I walked to where they were standing and hung my clothes in front of the employee. She said, "have a good day ma'am". I grunted and walked out. I should have trusted my gut when I read the reviews of...

Loft sells plus size clothing online, but not in our local store. They do sometimes take plus size returns, however, so dropping in was not unusual. The young woman who greeted me was helpful and friendly. She directed me to the back of the store and the clearance area.

The clearance area was more or less organized by size, but poorly marked and difficult to shop. I found nothing in my size.

When I paused on my way out, I was approached by a second representative. She too was friendly and offered to show me the plus size clothing.

I understand that they only took plus size as returns, but I was put off when we went into the back room of the shop. Even though everyone I encountered was perfectly pleasant, I have very mixed feelings about my experience.

The plus sizes being relegated to a hidden part of the store was reasonable - not standard stock and slated for return - but left me with a vague sense of shame. As if I too should be kept out of sight behind closed doors.

The trend toward selling larger sizes only online, while fiscally making sense, is distressing. It's such a hassle to buy, try and return clothing from websites. Guess it made sense that I was a...

I was in town for a couple of days while my daugher attended a camp at the college. I went shopping at several stores within this shopping center. The Loft sales associates took one look at me and went the other way. I have to admit that I was tired after the previous day which consisted of 9 hours of travel. However, they seemed fine with the next two customers that entered the store behind me. In fact Chicos wasn't much different except the sales associates new how to dress. At first I thought the two sales associates in the loft were regular customers until I saw her approach another woman and describe the sales. They both had on shorts and tank tops along with a necklace. I suppose the accessories were there to give a hint of being professional but it didn't work. I suggest that if you want to shop these types of stores try the outlet mall in Commerce. Your experience will be...