Ann Taylor Raises the Notch on Fall 2009, but Fails to Deliver by Running Out of Stock!

Ann Taylor was not always known for its’ fashion savvy. It presented middle of the road, main-stream work-day and some casual styles that were very serviceable and worked well but it wasn’t known for being fashion-forward.

Ladies, put down that credit card or mouse and listen up. Ann Taylor & AnnTaylor.com (along with Ann Taylor Loft and it’s dot.com) have had a serious design make-over and I don’t mean the store layout. Let’s talk about re-brand and rethinking of the entire collection’s design aesthete. it’s like someone went in and gave the CEO and the top designers a shot of creativity and said “go forth and create beautiful clothes” and they did.

That’s the key thing– they did create beautiful new clothing. Clothing that’s gorgeous but does cost more. Worth it because the silhouettes are from 00- to 18 which means sizes and styles that work for the larger woman– a segment often left out of the fashion equation.

I went shopping through the site looking for dresses because I wanted a dress. I found one that I thought was perfectly adorable and actually the style and color suited me and my body type.

This dress in this color spoke to me. It’s my kind of dress– body conscious but very versatile. Unfortunately after 2 days of working on the site, calling stores and finally talking to customer service (did you note that I said TWO DAYS), they had NOTHING in that color under a size 8. Zero. Zilch. I think it was an online-only color (though it didn’t specify that) because the stores I called didn’t even know about the green color and they had grey only. (boo hiss!) What’s up with NOT saying on the site that the green was an “online exclusive”? It’s done by other retailers.
What shocks me more is that they planned this out so poorly on the ordering side of things. The buyers didn’t plan correctly for the merchandising. Not everyone can wear grey (which along with black predominates the site) and green was a welcome change for those of us who wear warmer colors. That size 8 and above were still in stock should say something to their planners, merchandising managers and designers to not overlook the power of a great dress and stop playing it safe with so much grey and black. it does get old wearing black and grey all the time. Retailers are playing it safe and it’s sad to see a store go through such a transformation and blow it in such a huge way.
They are not reordering that style in that color. It’s gone– finito. Bah humbug. I wound up buying something off Ann Taylor Loft that I am hoping won’t make me look pregnant or playing dress-up in my mom’s clothing (meaning that the style is overwhelming). I have no clue how ATL and AT clothing fits– I just am assuming that it runs larger.
So while you shop, do check out Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft and take a look at how much it has changed it’s merchandise mix. However if you find something, buy it because it won’t be there next time. And if you haven’t been to AT or ATL, go take a look. it’s a lot better than what I saw at Nordstrom and Saks and Bloomingdales. At least the same looks for less money– does that make sense?
I think it should if you are a cost-conscious shopper– and I am one.
Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft people– please note that I am very serious about the dissatisfaction that your stores didn’t carry the color, had no clue about what was being shown online and that no one was able to help me– that there was NO green dress to be had in the entire USA in that color and that reordering just wasn’t possible. It’s only September. It could be done and you could do a different couple colors and sell more.
I spent my time in retailing. I was a stylist. It’s not the first time I have seen a store blow a real winner of a collection because of color or not having enough stock and failing to follow through.
Don’t screw-up your chance to build up your consumer base. It’s about you taking chances– do it with some guts and realize that you have a bigger fan base out there than you realize.
Stevie Wilson