So The Girl and I decided not only should we go to the Warehouse Sale at the LA Convention Center this year, but in the interest of getting there as early as possible and grabbing as many pairs of cheap jeans and sweatshirts as possible, we’d actually pay $15 each to get into the pay-only “VIP” sale on Saturday. What the hell, $30 was nothing with all of the crazy saving we were going to do.
We hit the car early, headed downtown dodging mobs of LA Kings fans (Los Angeles hockey fans still amaze me) and parked at the LA Convention Center. We got there and there was a short line that took maybe 15 minutes to get through. We were entertained by the people watching as The Kingdom of God was having a big convention in the next room.
Now I couldn’t help but notice that on the way to the line, and in the line, we were pretty much the only white people there. There were some other white folk, but they were younger and definitely trying to slip under the fashion radar with those all print tight hoodies and t-shirts with tattoos on them that seem to be the rage with everyone younger and cooler than I am nowadays. When we first walked into the room, it took me about 30 seconds to realize that there was nothing here for me. I joined everyone digging through the piles of tattooed t-shirts and sweatshirts and couldn’t find anything that a white man over 30 could wear wiithout getting really confused looks on the street. Every shirt or sweatshirt I picked up inevitably had a weird design on it. If you’re looking to dabble in urban culture, I’d recommend starting at JC Penney.
The focus here is the jeans. Racks and racks of jeans for men and women. Well, way more racks for women, but that’s to be expected. Here’s the thing: These jeans aren’t cheap at all! Sure this is my fault for not researching what the going price for these up-to-80% off jeans were, but WTF! The lowest priced jeans were around $70-$80, and again, not anything a white guy over 30 would (ok should) ever buy. It should also be mentioned that I was with a 26 yr old white girl (go me!) and she left empty handed. Her reasons were 1) The crazy prices and 2) The CRAZY ASS CHECKOUT LINES:
Seriously, the checkout line was like a mob trying to get through Ellis Island. If for some reason you are an over-30-white-guy and you have fooled yourself into thinking that you can pull off any of the clothes at this sale, and you’re bad enough with money that you really thought you were getting a deal, most likely after all of that you will still put down all of the clothes that you talked yourself into because standing in this line is the last thing on earth you’ll want to do. I can’t imagine how much potential money is lost when people get to this line. We saw a few people opting-out when they were halfway through the line. I’m not sure why they don’t have those mobile credit-card machines so they can check people out as they stand there.
So yeah, I won’t be hitting this again next year. It should also be mentioned that the line for the fitting rooms was just as bad if not worse than the checkout line. But hey, don’t take my word for it, spending way too much on clothes that were manufactured by 7 yr old girls in South America and standing in line for three hours, and well, looking like a fool in these ridiculously patterned clothes, might be your thing! If so, my design-less hat is off to you my friend. I’ll be at Target. I may still end my day with a crushed spirit, but at least my wallet will be fine.
