Style Encore North Hills — Local services in McCandless

I’ve been shopping here for a long time and genuinely love this store. It’s clean, well-organized, and the selection is usually great. I’ve found some favorite pieces here over the years, and I appreciate that it’s an affordable, sustainable option for revamping your wardrobe. The staff are kind, and it’s obvious they work hard. I’ll absolutely keep supporting this place—but I’ve had a few awkward experiences lately that I hope management can take seriously to make the shop even better.

There’s one employee—an older woman with long hair—who is clearly a hard worker and probably means well, but she could really benefit from some gentle coaching around professionalism and customer communication. A while back, I overheard her saying loudly that COVID "is and always has been ‘just a cold.’" I didn’t say anything at the time, but it was hard to hear while shopping. I’m a nurse and have lost patients from COVID and watched friends lose close loved ones.

Another time, I tried on a bunch of items (which is sort of necessary here—styles, brands, and sizing are all over the place), and after I returned everything neatly buttoned and zipped on hangers to the go-backs, I overheard her gasp and say something like, "Can you believe this all came from one person?! Oh my god, I have so much work to do now!" It felt really uncomfortable. I’d taken care to treat the clothing respectfully, and instead of a thank-you, I felt low-key shamed for… trying things on in a clothing store. This employee didn’t know that I was literally right there while she was shaming me to someone.

More recently, I had my arms full of clearance items—like full-on “I may need a bin” status—only to overhear another customer asking about the clearance and learning it was for an event that actually didn’t start until the next day. The store frequently has clearance sections so I didn’t think twice it was for an event. The 30% off clearance sale didn’t begin until 06/14/25, but there were no signs, tape, or announcements. The store didn’t even post about the sale until around 3 p.m on socials 06/13/25. As someone who worked in retail for years, I completely understand how busy and chaotic things can get—but this kind of miscommunication could easily be prevented.

The employee’s response to my full arms of clothes was, “I bet you wish today was tomorrow now!” And yeah, I really did. I also wish someone had mentioned it when I came in, or that the racks had been taped off like I’ve seen at other shops, or even labeled with signs at the end caps. The original customer who’d asked actually came up to me and said, “What the hell?! Why wouldn’t they say something sooner? I feel SO bad you have an arm full of that ‘clearance’ too.” That shopper wasn’t alone—others overheard, and it was just kind of a cringey scene.

Then there was another moment that day that made me pause: I heard the same employee say to another shopper, “I think we all just buy too much. Especially here in America. Especially clothes.” And while I get the message—we probably do overconsume—it’s an odd thing to hear inside a store that relies on people, well… buying clothes. It’s like someone telling you sugar is bad for you while handing you a cupcake.

Lastly, I’ve noticed a shift in the quality of items accepted. There’s a lot more Shein, fast fashion, Amazon brands, and random Disney tees than there used to be. I know there’s a market for those, but I do miss the days when the racks felt more curated and had a higher-end mix.

All that said: I’m not going anywhere. I still love this shop and what it stands for. This review isn’t to tear anyone down—I’m rooting for this place and just want to see it continue to grow in the right direction. A little more attention to communication, professionalism, and inventory quality could take this shop from great...

I love what this store offers. What I don’t love is the rudeness of some of the employees. I called to purchase a dress as I now live in VA but still closely follow the stores Instagram account. I purchased the dress via phone and chose to have my sister pick it up as she lives in the area and shipping was $15. They asked me for her name and told me she would need her ID when picking up,all of which she was well aware of (and fine with) upon entering the store to pick up my dress. (The woman I spoke to on the phone was very sweet and helpful!) Upon going into the store to pick up my dress, the worker gave her a hard time telling her there was no way her name was going to be on the dress and or her name and that he runs a ‘tight ship’, all before he even went and looked for the dress or looked for her name on the dress. (If you choose your leadership style is "tight ship"' that shouldn't be announced to customers.) He then continued to ask her to describe the dress and show her ID (which was fine) before he even went and looked to see if her name was on it. When giving her ID she said that it would be easy to find because we had the same last name, he then continued to give poor customer service again saying he was going to have to call me and talk to me to verify, also before going to look for the dress. He then went and found the dress and it did in fact have her name on it. He tried to make up for his rudeness after confirming the names matched by making fun of and making rude comments about our last name. If you are going to allow over the phone purchases, make sure all employees, including managers, are on the same page and follow the same process. She shouldn’t have gone through this when we followed the process 100% as asked and was only given a hard time. Poor customer experience overall, I wasn't even there and I know I will be hesitant to continue to visit the store or call in...

I love this shop and visit weekly at this point. I’ve never felt uncomfortable there even when I’m coming in looking like a gremlin who has been fed after midnight. I’ve always found really incredible buys and most of the time the pricing is beyond reasonable. I’ve had a few things that I’ve purchased be on the higher side of what they should be but usually I just skip those items if I’m on the fence and then can find them in clearance a bit later.

I’ve found so many of my favorite pieces from here. The entire outfit worn in this family photo is from here along with so many great pairs of shoes. They’re always friendly and helpful. In fact I’m heading there today because I hastily purchased items without trying them on and of course need to return stuff. The return policy is store credit but that’s fine with me since I’d be spending it there anyway.

You DO have to put in the effort and sort through the items. You WILL have to take your time. It’s a lot to go through and sometimes items are in the wrong sizes where people put them down but that’s just retail.

WEEKENDS ARE SO BUSY HERE. I avoid it. I only go weekdays and generally it’s a much more pleasant experience.

I think a lot of the reviews that are negative are truly practicing Hanlon’s razor. “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” Sometimes people just are having a bad day, sometimes other customers are rude, sometimes your clothing aren’t what they’re looking for, and sometimes you have to understand that a business cannot offer you what you’d like for the items because they’re also a business that’s trying to make money. If you are wanting more then try other places or sell them online yourself.

Not saying that they can’t have an attitude or whatever but generally most of the reviews I see that are negative are definitely more a reflection of the poster...