Lisa DiGregory-The ShopGirl

Saturday evening, my sister and I headed off to Francis Scott Key Mall to window shop and relieve some of the stress caused by school. At the mall, I accomplished the review of my fourth store, American Eagle Outfitters. In 1977, Mark and Jerry Silverman founded the first American Eagle Outfitters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The store actually began as a retail store that sold clothing and accessories for outdoor activities like hiking and climbing. By 1991, the Silverman brothers were losing too much money, so they decided to sell their company to Jay Schottenstein. Schottenstein turned American Eagle into a casual clothing store for men and women. With this new change, the store became very popular. Today, American Eagle is still a popular store especially with adolescents and young adults (like me). Although we did not buy anything this time (due to a lack of money), we had fun trying stylish outfits on while rating the store.

              Instead of starting the review process with the atmosphere, I began by observing American Eagles’ cleanliness. American Eagle was quite clean. All the clothes were either neatly folded on the shelves or hanging properly on the racks. The only slightly messy area of the store was the area with the sale racks. There were a couple clothes on the floor or about to fall off the hangers. While we were there, some young children were unfolding clothes and dropping clothes on the floor. The employees quickly straightened up, which goes to show why American Eagle is always rather clean. Even the dressing rooms were cleared of any leftover clothes. There were no bathrooms actually in the store, so I decided to visit the mall bathroom closest to American Eagle. The bathroom smelled horrible. I literally held my nose while I quickly reviewed the bathroom. The sinks were covered in water. There was toilet paper on the floor and in the stalls. To avoid passing out from the horrific odor, I did not even check an actually stall.

            After observing the cleanliness, I focused on American Eagles’ atmosphere. When my sister and I walked in the store, we smelled perfume. It was such a nice scent that we decided to try all the perfumes in the testers until we found that perfume scent. It was the last one of course.  After looking like a fool, I started to listen more carefully to the music that was playing in the store. The songs that played while we were in there were pop hits such as Sam Smith’s Like I Can and Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean. I was embarrassing my sister, because I kept singing the songs a little too loudly for her taste.

Next, I drew my attention to the store’s surroundings. It was not too bright, like Walmart, but it was not too dark either. The store’s lighting was just bright enough for the size of the store. Once I walked into American Eagle, I not only noticed the smell of perfume but also the mannequins, which were clothed in trendy outfits and accessories. There were also several other displays located in the back of the store. American Eagle does a fantastic job of displaying the merchandise and accessories such as jewelry and headbands. The jewelry and headbands were all easily accessible on a long table. Because of this layout, the customer does not have to wrestle with the jewelry and accessories trying to untangle them. I hate doing this, and I will just give up and not buy the accessory. The store was pretty empty when I was in there. It was just my sister and myself and a few other people.

            When I finished the review of the atmosphere and surroundings, I reviewed and examined the staff. Saturday night, all the staff members were young women. There was an employee up front, who greeted us and told us about the sales which were going on that day. She also asked if we needed any assistance finding anything. Because my sister and I were in American Eagle for like twenty-five minutes, another employee asked if we needed any help. The only problem with customer service that I observed was when we asked for a dressing room it took them a while to unlock one for us.  

            Finally, the entertaining part of the review process, the clothing and merchandise, the items sold at American Eagle were mainly fashionable and popular among many adolescents. The variety at the store includes colorful skirts, comfy yet stylish sweaters, numerous types of jeans, jackets, crop tops, etc. In addition to clothing, American Eagle sold rings, long necklaces (my favorite), flowery headbands, earrings, shoes, and purses. The styles at American Eagle were mostly hippy. The quality of the clothing at the store was definitely high quality at least for me. My clothes purchased at American Eagle have always lasted me awhile. All the clothes were well stocked. The sales racks were filled with sale items, which is always nice. Although American Eagle does have sale racks, the regular priced items were absolutely overpriced. I picked up a pair of jeans that cost $49.95, which I find ridiculous. There was a sale going on which was buy one pair of jeans get the second 50% off. Personally, this was not even a good sale. You have to pay $50 for the first pair, and $30 for the second pair. The total for two pairs of jeans is over $80. That is too much for jeans.

              The total rating for each item was:

Cleanliness: 5

Atmosphere: 4

Popularity: 3

Bathrooms: 1

Appeal: 5

Merchandise: 5

Prices: 1

Displays: 5

Staff: 4

The total score for American Eagle Outfitters was thirty-three. Next week I will be reviewing Hot Topic.