skirtcafe.org

Thoroughly rotten news came in the e-mail this morning -- that of one of my long-time suppliers shutting down. I've been doing business with Long Tall Sally for a good many years now and have always been happy with the quality of what I got, and some of the elegant styles they stocked. However, alas, they're going to be shutting down in "a couple of months'" time.

I'll miss them, and I'm getting worried that eventually it'll be nothing but Walmart and the dreck they push.

Blah.

crfriend wrote: ↑Tue Jun 16, 2020 6:35 pm I'll miss them, and I'm getting worried that eventually it'll be nothing but Walmart and the dreck they push.

Yeah, Walmart don't hit on much... sometimes they don't even have skirts out for sale!

I haven't purchased a skirt in quite some time. Closet is still pretty full.

I've been debating on another culling.... get rid of some "dead wood" so to speak, but can't bring myself to do so.

My skirts of choice have been more on the plain end, as such the more flamboyant stuff isn't getting the wears they used to. It's got nothing to do with a change in style, rather with the pandemic going on, there really isn't many places to go, and my skirts of choice lately have been the more hardy "plain Jane" skirts for practical reasons... mainly that I find myself doing more work around the house...

Sorry to hear the news, Carl. Do a bit of research there must be others out there.

Moon, this is my second week back at work and I wished I were still on furlough. We have the concept of Click and Collect. Online purchases have to be gotten from shelves and stored away ready for collection. Mostly that's what I have been doing and, en#ven though we had 4 people on this yesterday, we are struggling to keep up. I spent 7.5 hours touring the store seeking out items for our customers. But unlike ASDA, Tescos who have rigidly fixed places for things our stores are a bit more fluid. So curtains, for example could be either int he curtain section but they could also be in the bedding section as associated with a particular bedding pattern. Items such as laundry baskets could be in the bathroom section, the utilities section of even the storage section. A laundry basket being a storage item is what you say it is. Other items such as little strings of battery l.e.d. lights could be anywhere in the store. Also if the shelf space allocated to the item is empty the item could be somewhere else in the store ( sometimes that range can be on more than one place due to promotions or oversupply ), in the warehouse or in the delivery that's just arrived at the back door. So searching for an item isn't exactly straightforward and can take longer than you think. It's just the nature of the things we sell. Ranges come and go and some seasonal items are in limited supply - when they're gone, they're gone. So 7.5 hours on your feet and 20,000+ steps later - tired feet, legs and back - you're knackered, mate. So enjoy your leisure time. You can bet that the machines that have been idle for so long will suddenly turn temperamental and start requiring attention so when you do get back to work they'll be pushing you to 120% of what you were working before.

Just think how difficult it is for the customers to find what they want

Sinned wrote: ↑Thu Jun 18, 2020 12:34 pm So 7.5 hours on your feet and 20,000+ steps later - tired feet, legs and back - you're knackered, mate.

On the other hand, if you're doing 20,000 steps a day on 5+ days per week, you'll very soon have the perfect excuse to choose a collection of new skirts to fit your new, lithe figure

Well actually, from a customer pov it's not that bad. The fact that the same item appears in more than one place would probably not be noticed. Bedding curtains are with the bedding and curtain curtains are in curtains. All the rest are pretty much where you would expect them to be. Seasonal changes in small amounts daily and massively for like summer, Christmas. Other than that customers meander around the store picking up things as they want. So no, for customers it's fine. If they can't find anything they ask and we have plenty of staff to do so. We even have staff whose jobs it is to work and area and assist customers where assistance is needed. For laundry baskets, for instance they would pass bathrooms first, then storage and finally utilities so they would see the range. It's just from a staff pov that it is a niggle. It does mean that we can't have software that determines a route for c&c like Tescos or ASDA can. Also one order may be for curtains then the next order my be for bathrooms right across the sore. Or it's not unknown for the order to have curtains, lighting, bathroom, kitchen and furniture items in it. Then you are all round the sore and plan your own route.

According to my stepometer 20000 steps equates to 1,176 calories. Not to mention the muscle stretches that occur when walking and lifting. More importantly is MOH's slightly increased acceptance of my skirts.

I bought Shoes and Pants from Long Tall Sally. It's hard to find something in my size and they had them.
They will be missed.

I have missed them for some time. They closed their shop in Aberdeen and then the one in Edinburgh. As I do not buy over the internet that was the end. I have a special affection for LTS because it was in a branch in London that I first tried on women's clothes in a shop (I was dresses in male clothes). I tried on a skirt and a dress and bought both and then also tried and bought the skirt and jumper the SA was wearing. They used to do very long nightdresses but stopped in favour of PJs. I have a few very nice linen LTS maxi skirts.

I too will miss LTS. I used to visit the store in Chiltern Street, London on a fairly regular basis, and the staff in there were wonderful. Nothing was ever too much trouble for them, and I was always offered the opportunity to try on anything that I was interested in purchasing irrespective of whether I was dressed in male or female clothes.

GOOD NEWS Update on Long Tall Sally (from a Yahoo page... easy to confirm):

Long Tall Sally is under new ownership.

The London-based specialty chain, which announced two months ago that it would permanently close up shop, has been snapped up by fashion conglomerate AK Retail Holdings Ltd., whose portfolio includes big and tall men’s retailer BadRhino, as well as Bump It Up Maternity and Yours London. As part of the deal, which closes on Sept. 1, AK Retail Holdings will own Long Tall Sally’s e-commerce business and intellectual property.

In a statement, AK Retail Holdings’ owner and CEO Andrew Killingsworth said, “We are thrilled to be able to bring Long Tall Sally into our family of retailers. The brand is one we are proud to own, and we look forward to engaging in meaningful dialogue with Long Tall Sally customers, developing the offer and taking the brand to the next stage.”