Nordstroms

When you consider that:

1. It started as a shoe store
2. It's headquartered in the Northwest

it should come as no surprise to anyone that I'm a Nordy's gal. In my teen years my dream was to work there. Through college they were constantly touted as an example of good customer service. Now it's just a place I like to shop.

That doesn't mean I don't have my issues with the store. It frustrates me to no end when I go into the store with cold hard cash to spend but can't get anyone to give me the time of day because I don't look like I have money. This was especially challenging in the teen psuedo-punk years.

However, salespeople who have seen past that have always won their way into my heart and pocketbook.

The first worked in Point of View in the Washington Square store. I believe her name was Michelle, but I could be remembering incorrectly. My first experience with her was a summer when I had about a billion weddings to go to, so I decided to go drop some money on one nice dress that I could wear to every damn one of them. It was late on a Saturday evening. I found the perfect dress in the perfect size and the perfect color. Unfortunately, there was not one dress in both the size and color I wanted. It's common practice for Nordstrom to call around town and see if another store has the item you are looking for. So she went about calling. No one in town had it. She started broadening her search. To the point where she had one phone on each ear, and was begging with the cleaning staff in Chicago (since it was well after hours there), to go look and see if they had it on the rack - AND THEY DID. She won major points for that, and I actually drove out of my way to go to that store to go shopping.

The second was my shoe guy. I don't remember his name, I just knew him as my shoe guy. He worked at the Lloyd Center Nordstrom's in, you guessed it, the shoe department. He is solely responsible for the fact that I used to own a pair of burgundy velvet tennis shoes. Because I had gone into the store to buy a new pair of dress shoes for work, and while he went into the back to find my size he purposefully set me in front of the display. Because he knew me (he was already the shoe guy at this point), and knew that as broke as I was, and as much as the budget could barely afford the new pair of dress shoes for work, there was no way that I could resist a pair of burgundy velvet tennis shoes. Man, I loved those shoes.

I think I found a new shoe guy tonight. There was a convergence of funds and mood that required a shoe shopping expedition. Which I went on immediately after going to the gym today. I didn't bother to change between the gym and the mall, so was wearing my sweats with my hair pulled back in a ponytail. I think I got the somewhat new but very earnest shoe guy, but in a good way. I purchased a pair of Danskos, and he actually encouraged the mixing and matching of lefts and rights to find the ideal pair for my feet. He asked my permission before simultaneously helping another customer. He gave me a very nice little speech as he was handing me his card, something about if I had any questions or something like that. Whatever, he did a good job, so I think I can declare him my new shoe guy. the only problem is usually I don't like the shoe selection at the Nordstrom at Bellevue Square. Usually I have to cross the lake to Northgate. But if I am able to conduct shoe buying business on this side of the lake, I shall purchase said shoes from him.

For now I shall simply enjoy the new shoes that I have.