Starting My Ross Adventure
Last Tuesday morning I realized my kid’s jeans had holes again, and my own work shirts were fading bad. Paycheck wasn’t coming till Friday, so I grabbed my reusable bags and drove straight to the Ross on South Claiborne Avenue. Found parking kinda far since the lot was packed – should’ve known that meant good clearance stuff!
Walked in sweating from that Louisiana humidity and bee-lined for the men’s section. Grabbed a shopping cart with that wobbly left wheel everybody hates. Started flipping through racks real methodical:
- Scanned every yellow clearance tag first
- Checked for that little red “as advertised” sticker
- Felt fabric thickness to avoid flimsy junk
Scoring Those Deals
Near the back wall I hit gold – four wrinkle-free dress shirts with original $45 tags crossed out in thick black marker. Ross slapped on $14.99 stickers! Snatched all in my size before anybody noticed. One even had damaged packaging – gave it a quick tug test and mint condition underneath. Score!
Kids section was crazy messy but worth it. Found jeans with knees already reinforced – smart since my boy destroys regular ones in weeks. $7 each compared to $25 at Target. Threw three pairs in the cart.
Protip I discovered: That store puts out new clearance stuff Tuesday afternoons. Showed up around 3 PM and caught employees rolling fresh discount racks from the stockroom. Got first pick of just-reduced kitchenware – scored a copper pan for $8 original $40.
Final Haul & Hacks That Worked
At checkout I did my usual routine – made small talk with the cashier while she scanned. Happened to mention the heatwave outside and she threw in an extra 10% off “damaged goods” discount on the shirts without me asking! Final damage:
- 4 work shirts: $52 total (saved $128)
- 3 kids jeans: $21 (saved $54)
- Non-stick pan: $8 (saved $32)
Walked out spending under $100 for what would’ve cost over $200 anywhere else. Even had enough left to grab poboys on the way home. Those clearance sections aren’t pretty – gotta dig through messy racks with baby socks stuck to sweaters sometimes – but when your electric bill’s due and kids keep growing like weeds? Damn right I’ll take the wobbly cart every time.
