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my sad voyage to the discount stores :(

post #1 of 8
3/19/09 at 5:49pm
Thread Starter 
well i promised that after my three hours perusing the holy trinity (tjmaxx, marshall's, and ross) of discount shops i would post my findings... granted this is for the orlando, florida area and our sampling may be vastly different than those of greater metropolitan areas, but it is what it is, and this is what i found
not surprisingly there was not much diversity between the stores... the tommy staples were all there as were the entire range of adidas and nautica... i was pleasantly surprised to find an entire shelf of demeter fragrances at one particular ross (for 8.99 a pop), but there was not a single one of the bunch that i believe had any reviews on BN... most were just holiday type fragrances mixed in with some single note florals... i also noticed that escada in all of its forms is greatly loved and admired by whatever parent company owns all of these retailers, because there were shelves and shelves of sentiment, escada pour homme, escada pour femme, and the like... anyway here is a short list of others...
britney spears in every disgusting manifestation
viktor and rolf antidote (i almost picked this up until i realized it was an aftershave)
oxygene by lanvin
hypnose by lancome
bulgari blv was everywhere
there was a 1.7 of bulgari black which i would've bought except they wanted 39.99
zirh and more zirh and more zirh
a bottle of tommy bahama set sail south seas for 19.99 (not a bad buy)
lacoste of every shape and color
every dunhill except the one that really matters... edition
ck you name it... eternity, obsession, in2u, escape, one, be... so on into infinity
azzaro chrome and black, one store had the original azzaro for 12.99 and i'm kicking myself for not having picked it up
quorum and quorum silver and quorum ??? and quorum !!!
every possible giftset of bijan man that you could possibly imagine
curve this curve that curve yuck
oh yeah as a femme if you are a fan of elizabeth taylor (insert gemstone here) her crap was spilling over every shelf like an overgrown shrub
anyway i was sincerely hoping to find some treasure, but i'll have to try my luck again sometime soon, but only after i upgrade to the 3g network and can check bn reviews in less than 10 seconds instead of wandering around like a nomad waiting for negative reviews to load
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post #2 of 8
3/19/09 at 6:11pm
Thanks for the report from the field. The selection is similar to down here in the Fort Myers outback. The ubiquitous Zihrs, Bulgaris, and Taylors. I've not seen a South Seas around here though, which I would have snapped up. One Maxx/Marshalls had a bunch of Azzaro Hommes, Grey Flannels, and Giorgio Reds. I've never seen a Lacoste Essential. They all seem to have generous return policies so when in doubt, I'm inclined to purchase. I may pick up an Obsession Night tomorrow if it's still around...
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post #3 of 8
3/19/09 at 7:34pm
Don't you just hate it when there's nothing but the same crap as always? The local Maxx here in Temple City (So. Cal.) had some decent stuff a couple weeks ago: Obsession Night, Giorgio Red for Men, Opium PH, Tommy Bahama for Men, CK Summer 2008 (I like it, anyway). If there's one thing I've learned the hard way is to BUY THERE AND THEN if there's something you like. I went back for the Obsession Night a couple days later, and it was gone. So Frug, don't wait too long!
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post #4 of 8
3/20/09 at 12:36am
This week at Marshalls and Ross I've seen Bulgari Black, Omnia, the ubiquitous Blu Notte, various Burberrys, versions of Angel (Peony, Rose), Guess Suede, Gwen Stefani L. I ran across some Demeters a few months ago.

I hear stories about some people finding Goutals for under $40 at the discounters, which I would totally jump at even though I don't really like anything in that line. But what a great find!
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post #5 of 8
3/20/09 at 1:03am
interesting. why is it that certain fragrances are so ubiquitous at these stores? bulgari blv and nottte are EVERYWHERE, socal has numerous ck summer 08's, a couple black orchid edp's, giorgio red, perry ellis, and TONS OF ZIRH (was there a warehouse somewhere that closed and sent its inventory all over the US?), quorum (never smelled it till then, nearly made me puke, no wonder its at a discount store) dunhill blue with some goofy chrome flip cap (smelled like sweet cola - fail). grey flannel was there, as was south seas (which greatly failed to impress, too bad) and several different jaguars. hows oxygene?
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post #6 of 8
3/20/09 at 1:18am
I had the same experience in the past few days. I went to a Marshalls and T.J. Maxx today and nothing was found that is worth mentioning. A few days before I went to Marshalls and there was nothing worth getting. At least you saw Tommy Bahama Set Sail South Seas. That stuff used to be everywhere last summer but the stock has since calmed down. I remember seeing one bottle of this not too long ago but it's not overflowed like before. I hope they get some more Azzaro Now in stock soon in my area. When my friend bought it not too long ago they had a few in stock but not anymore. It's a good warm weather fragrance. Give it some time as many fragrances re-appear after it seems like they've disappeared from these discount shops.
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post #7 of 8
3/20/09 at 2:01am
It sounds very similar to some of our discount perfume stores.
Bvlgari Blv, Hypnose and Oxygene are worth considering.
The gingery Bvlgari Blv is a fabulous scent.
Oxygene smells much better in the wearing than it does as a wrist test.

I don't think most of the Demeter ones I've come across are for wearing, more like a mood for a room.
Renato
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post #8 of 8
3/20/09 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by joxer96 View Post

I went back for the Obsession Night a couple days later, and it was gone. So Frug, don't wait too long!

Thanks for the prod, joxer. I went up to Maxx this morning and snagged the last one, 75ml, original celophane, for $20. Wowzer. This is a good four-star, very distinctive frag and my new favorite flanker. It has little in common with Obsession, and is way fresher, so I don't get the 'night' designation. But who's counting? Woot!
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