My Trip to Saks OFF 5TH – What I Found
So, I kept hearing folks talk about Saks OFF 5TH, you know, the outlet version of the fancy Saks Fifth Avenue store. People always say you can get great deals there. I was a bit skeptical, honestly. Usually, those places are hit or miss, mostly miss for me. But I needed a couple of new shirts for work, nothing too fancy, just solid stuff. Figured, why not give it a shot? Had some time last Saturday.
I drove over to the one at the outlet mall nearby. Found parking okay, which was a good start. Walked in, and yeah, it’s big. Racks and racks of clothes, shoes, bags, all sorts of stuff. It felt a little overwhelming at first, not gonna lie. It wasn’t messy like some discount places, but definitely packed full.
My main mission was shirts. So I headed straight for the men’s section. Took me a bit to find it, place is laid out kind of weird. They had a lot of brands I recognized, some pretty good ones actually mixed in with names I’d never heard of. That’s the game at these places, right? You gotta hunt.
- I started digging through the button-down shirts.
- Checked sizes, looked at the fabrics. Some felt really nice, others… not so much. You really have to feel the material.
- Looked at the tags. Prices were definitely lower than regular retail, but not always dirt cheap either. Saw a shirt I liked, decent brand, marked down quite a bit.
- Found another one, different style, also seemed okay for the price.
I spent maybe 45 minutes just looking through shirts. Picked out two to try on. The fitting rooms were okay, clean enough. The shirts fit alright. One was pretty good, the other felt a little thinner than I expected, even for the brand. Quality can be inconsistent in these outlet stores, sometimes it’s made specifically for the outlet, you know?
Ended up buying just the one shirt. The price was fair for what it was. Didn’t see anything else that really grabbed me. Took a quick look at the shoes on the way out – huge selection, but nothing I needed right then. The checkout line wasn’t too bad, moved pretty quickly.
So, what’s the verdict?
Well, it wasn’t a total waste of time. I got one decent shirt at a reasonable price. But you definitely need patience. You have to be willing to sift through a lot of average stuff to find the gems. It’s not like walking into a regular store where everything is current season and top quality (and top price!).
It’s a place I might stop by again if I’m already at the outlet mall and have time to kill, but I wouldn’t make a special trip just for Saks OFF 5TH expecting to find amazing deals every time. It really depends on what they happen to have in stock that day and how much time you’re willing to spend searching. Just my experience, anyway.
