It's not that we didn't know about Banana Republic before, or that we'd never shopped there before, it just wasn't really on our radar.
Because of the move, we both needed some new clothes this year for the different seasons. Not much really, but it was a nice reason to freshen up the wardrobe.
I think a large part of the reason why I started noticing Banana Republic a lot more since the move is that we live very close to a mall here in Bellevue, and it's easy to go there just to stroll around. When we lived in San Francisco, we had great shops near us, both in the Castro as well as in Union Square, but we almost never shopped at malls. We had a lot of local stores in the Castro and the large, flagship stores (not in malls) in Union Square. Usually, when we were out shopping, we'd go out with very specific stores, rather than just browsing.
Since we live near the mall, and I often stroll around, I started to notice how often Banana Republic has pretty significant sales. I've always liked most of the clothes at Banana Republic, but frankly, it was usually too pricy for what I wanted to spend. I guess you can say that I'm upgrading from Old Navy, to The Gap, and now to Banana Republic. The quality is higher, and it's noticeable. Plus, I really only buy things on sale anyway (with the exception of some of the clothes that Dick buys), and as I said before, their sales are quite good. Remember this blog post from late July when I bought six articles of clothing at Banana Republic for $55 after tax? At this point, Banana Republic is on my bargain-hunter radar. Who knew?
On one of my trips to BR in late June, I signed up for their "Embark" program. In a nutshell, it's a free program that ensures that you get the best price for your purchase, within seven days. So, let's say I buy a top for $20 on a Saturday, and sometime that week, they have it on sale for $16 and another customer purchases the same item at the discounted price. If you've signed up for their program, that $4 will be credited to your Embark account. This goes for any item that you buy at BR - regular priced items, sale items, clearance items. Basically, it was a no brainer: it didn't cost any more, and it was just a little reassurance that I'd get a good deal, even after I left the store.
But, here's the thing: I had no idea how much money I would "earn" from the program.
After my first purchase after signing up, I received an email from BR telling me that two items I had purchased had been lowered in price within the next seven days, and that another customer had purchased them at the lower price. And just like that, I had a $23 credit in my Embark Account. This happened two more times over the next couple of months, and all of a sudden, I had $83.33 credit in my Embark Account!
Here is the list of items that I had purchased over three months at BR. You'll see the price I paid, the best price it had been offered at within the next seven days, and the amount of $$ that was credited to my Embark Account
You'll notice on this list that the Embark savings really varies. As I said, I buy most things on sale anyway, so one some items, I only received a buck or two of credit for the difference. However, I got a lot more $$ from other items which I had still bought on sale. However, the largest discount was on a shirt for Dick that we paid full price for. You'll see I earned $31.80 credit on that sale.
So, what does this Embark credit do for me? Banana Republic has special "Embark Days", which last a week two or three times a year. That means, all this credit that I've been saving since June can be spent now, during the first Embark Days, which lasts from Sept 25 - Oct 1st. (I marked my calendar!)
Here's the email I received from BR last week announcing Embark Days, and how much credit I had.
My Embark Credit
So, I went to the mall this afternoon, with the specific intent of going to BR to find an item or two that I could spend my Embark Credit on. $84 is a lot of money, and I'm not sure if goes away if I don't spend it during this allotted time.
It's always weird to shop in a store knowing you're supposed to buy something, rather than just browsing, or looking for something specific. Since it's Fall, I figured I could find a nice sweater. I have also been wanting a long decorative necklace that I can wear with sweaters. After trying on a few items, I got just that: one sweater, and one necklace.
The sweater was marked at $80, and the necklace for $40. This is a lot more than I would normally pay, but figured most of it was covered by my Embark credit, so it was okay to treat myself. Plus, that's the whole idea of these shopping programs, right? They give you some free money, and you end up spending more money since you're already shopping.
What I didn't know was that the store was having a 30% off all regular priced items sale today.
So... when I was rung up at the register, here's what happened:
the final tally
Yep, with the 30% off of my two regular priced items, the total came to $83.30.... and I was left with a mere 3 cents credit in my Embark account! I paid absolutely nothing.
That's crazy!!
So, to recap, I just got FREE clothes because of this program that gives me credit to use when any item that I buy at their store gets sold to another customer for a lower price within seven days.
Hmmm... I just noticed that the Embark Program is in select areas only. Maybe they're trying it out in a few areas before launching it in a wider area. Sorry, CA (and other) friends!
Participating Embark Banana Republic Stores
No comments:
Post a Comment