Retail 101 — Local services in Shelton

Idk what's up with the negative reviews lately! I've been shopping at Retail 101 for the past ~5 years and my experience there has been consistent. This is a warehouse store, i.e. they get the leftovers from big brands like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie. By default at any secondhand or thrift store, I'm looking for irregularities and imperfections in the clothes, like missing buttons, small tears, etc. If there's a flaw in the clothes, I just look for another one.

I think the clothes are reasonably priced. For instance, the dresses have "leveled" prices starting at $15-20 and going up to ~$50 for the formal dresses. Considering that the original price for most of these dresses are $150-250, I don't mind paying full price at Retail101. Sometimes they even have additional sales, like an additional 30-70% off, especially during the winter holidays.

The lines used to be really long at their old location, but I've found at their new location in Shelton to have less of a wait. I used to wait ~30 min to use the dressing rooms, now I can usually get a dressing room right away because there are more of them. The checkout lines also move pretty quickly now, provided you're not waiting behind a reseller with a cart full of stuff.

I've had decent, and again, consistent, experiences with the staff. They've always been polite to me at the register and the dressing rooms. I've communicated to them just fine even with a slight language barrier.

I've only shopped for clothes and shoes, so I can't speak for the furniture, rugs, etc. I once bought a UO record player, and of course the sound quality is not the best, but that's not what I was expecting, so I'm pretty satisfied with that purchase.

I recommend signing up for their mailing list to get the most updated schedule of hours open.

I don't get the complaints about bad lighting and atmosphere. It's a warehouse store, of course it's not gonna have the brightest and most flattering lighting. I'm just grateful that everything is generally organized on racks, it makes for a more pleasant shopping experience vs. rolling my sleeves up and donning my gloves to dig through the Goodwill bins (which I also enjoy, but only when the...

We were very excited to find this place. We left feeling empty and duped. We did visit after the holidays, but the place did not seem super low on stock, it seemed sparse but not empty. The stuff that was there was B minus quality at the BEST. Most of the items are one step away from garbage. The blankets and throws were okay, but the prices too high for what they were. Random towels, sheets, Napkins that you could not make any kind of matching, or mix and match set. This was low quality merchandise. Like "name brand stuff " that did not sell at a big lots. Clothing is not high end labels at all- DKNY and Calvin Klein Free People and maybe a few other low tier design brands. Clothing was way over priced for 1/2 off. Most designer dresses normal price was $30. The items on those racks you could get for $10 bucks at Macy's clearance. Poor quality of material, weird cuts of shirts. Exotic dancers might find good items bc it is all cheap material and disposable. Furniture mostly damaged. Some able to be repaired, but overall not worth the prices. The weird items are not avant garde high fashion, they are deformed low quality junk. Very few household items at all. Tons of clothes. Good luck to you. Maybe we hit an...

Fun for an afternoon if you’re patient with hunting around. It’s not a thrifting experience but is overstock, store returns, floor models, and irregular stock from major retailers - set expectations accordingly. Prices are higher and sales are less frequent than they used to be, so it helps to be familiar with the brands. Furniture can be hit or miss, some items are clearly damaged while others are pristine. Recommend avoiding any electronics that you can’t test as they don’t take returns. Trying clothes on is a must; since some items are irregulars the sizing can be particularly inconsistent. There are several regular dressing rooms and one “community dressing room” which is an open space with several mirrors and multiple people trying things on - if you’re uncomfortable with this, just tell the attendant “no” until the next stall opens. The guy who stamps your receipt on the way out will flirt with you if you’re a woman there by yourself. The bathroom is a single stall and the lock is janky, be sure to push it really hard or it won’t lock. Hours are inconsistent; sign up for their email list to get their weekly...