The Admiralty on The Strand — Local services in Galveston

My mother and I visited this store yesterday. It has some very cute items and unique things you won’t see at every other shop. However, I’m not sure that I would willingly visit here again. Upon immediately entering the store an associate started following us around. My mother stayed on the lower level and this associate stayed right with her the entire time. I went upstairs and had the owner start to do the same to me. She was friendly and gave me advice on a product I was looking at. Once I made the determination that I wanted to purchase she immediately took the item from me to hold. I started to walk through the rest of the store and was still followed by other associates. It became enough that I wanted to exit the store. I went to the counter to pay and leave and I finally decided to ask what was going on. I said “y’all must have a lot of theft here?” She looked confused and asked what I meant. I said “well, everyone follows us around like we are going to steal from you”. She said something about wanting to be close by so that they can help explain products etc. It very much felt like a line they have been taught to say to diffuse the situation. I paid and left. I have to say though…. I work in customer service and this is not how you do it. I understand that you will have customers who are just utterly awful (we all do) but just because customer #97 steals from you etc that doesn’t mean #98 will too. If you treat everyone with the expectation that they are going to do something horrible then you’re going to begin to lose customers. Please give people the benefit of the doubt until they do something that warrants this behavior. If someone steals from you then they deserve all of it! I wouldn’t stand for it either. On the other side of the coin, I had saved up to come and shop on The Strand and wanted to come to this shop specifically. I left with a $13 item and that’s it. This shop didn’t make the money off of me that they could have. I have a feeling the owner will try to contact me to remove this review but I don’t have any intention of doing that. I’m not angry and I’ve been entirely truthful here. I think this shop is great in terms of what they have to offer but their approach to customer service needs to be reevaluated. Thank you...

I recently had a most unfortunate experience at and I feel compelled to share it in the hopes that it might save someone else from a similar ordeal. From the moment I walked in, it was clear that the atmosphere was bright and more than welcoming, although I constantly felt watched and almost preyed on by its employees.

The owners pettiness was evident in how they interacted with both customers and staff. Instead of fostering a warm and inviting environment, they seemed more interested in nitpicking and critiquing every small detail, making both shopping and working there an unnecessarily stressful experience.

Professionalism was severely lacking. At times, their conversations and actions bordered on unprofessional to the point of being embarrassing. Loud comments about staff members' performance were delivered within earshot of customers like myself, which was both inappropriate and uncomfortable to witness.

Their rudeness and lack of empathy made it clear that they do not value or respect the people who work for them. This, in turn, affects the overall ambiance of the store, making it an unpleasant place to be.

It's unfortunate that such negative attitudes overshadow any potential the store might have had. Customers deserve to feel welcome and respected, and employees deserve to work in a positive and supportive environment. Sadly, The Admiralty offers neither.

Due to this disappointing experience, I will not be returning and I urge others to consider their patronage carefully. There are many other businesses out there that treat both their customers and employees with dignity and respect, and they are far more deserving of...

cute store with lots of nice items. staff is very standoffish though. won’t even acknowledge you even if you say hello or how are you. lots of staff in a small, not super busy store and none of them seemed to be eager to make conversation after several attempts. it wasn’t like i was holding them while they had other obligations, most of the employees were just standing still and staring blankly. very weird vibe and it’s a shame because i loved the products. i felt like an annoyance for asking a question about the cute jewelry by the check out counter. made me not even want to buy it. to the owners: product/inventory wise, keep doing what you’re doing! great products marketed to lots of different demographics. loved the toy section and the scented wax. the socks are cute and unique. customer service wise, encourage building rapport with customers, a smile goes a long way. no one likes to be treated like an outcast or ignored. i get it, im a cashier too, i work in sales and customer service myself. i think it’s worth having a small meeting or giving the sales associates a reminder that they have the option to either make someone’s day by being friendly or ignore them completely and leave them feeling like an intruder for shopping. might...