Altar'd State The SoNo Collection — Local services in Norwalk

Today we stopped by the store to look at some dresses and to make an exchange/return. While we were browsing, one of the employees, Emily, approached us and asked if we wanted a fitting room and whether all three of us wanted to share one. We thought that was a little unusual, but we agreed, figuring it was whatever was easiest. Emily took all of our clothes and handed them to us one at a time when it was our turn to use the fitting room, which also felt strange, especially since she wasn’t paying the same attention to other customers. Then, one of my friends tried on a dress, and another employee suddenly pointed at her in front of everyone in the dressing room and accused us of taking the dress from behind the register. She claimed that if it was behind the register, it meant someone had already purchased it. However, we had picked the dress up from the sale section we were never anywhere near the register. We explained that, and the employee just walked away without apologizing or saying anything else. Later, when we went to purchase the dress, the woman at the register was extremely rude and said, “Didn’t they already tell you that dress was already purchased?” again implying we had done something wrong, even though we clearly hadn’t. Overall, the experience was uncomfortable, and we felt unfairly treated. Definitely not the customer service we expected. I want to add that I’ve been to Altar’d State locations in Charleston , Las Vegas and New Jersey, and I’ve never had an issue like this before. The staff at those stores have always been incredibly kind...

KEEP ARULA. I am so disappointed to see that storefront empty and such little selection. I have been a LOYAL customer for the past several years since the first week it opened in SoNo. One of the reasons I've been such a loyal customer is I've always been able to find what I was looking for IN-STORE. I've referred countless clients of mine to Arula. I've even had clients take me shopping there as a gratuity! Even now, I'm dressed in head-to-toe Arula that I purchased IN-STORE, and NEVER would have ordered had I not tried it on/had it suggested by the amazing sales associates.

Plus size customers DESERVE to be able to walk into a store and have the experience I've had there for the past several years. I was told I can shop online, which is fine. But I can't have it shipped to the store anymore to try on. So now, it feels like Altar'd State sees plus size clientele as a dirty little secret that cannot be seen in public. That speaks volumes about what the brand thinks of customers like me, at this point. I'm disgusted and disappointed. IMHO, it's even worse than a store who never carried plus sizes.

Before the announcement that SoNo was getting rid of Arula, my review would have been 5 stars....

Reviewing specifically to shout out Janelle and Jen! They were incredibly helpful when I came into the store looking for a top to go underneath a suit for an upcoming wedding. They asked helpful questions about what I was trying to match with, made sure to double check with someone else when they were unsure of something, and took into consideration the style and fit I was describing when pulling items for me to try on. As someone who really dislikes trying on clothes and the shopping experience in general, I felt they made my trip into the store as easy and supportive as possible....