Friday, May 30, 2014

Babel Fair Sample Sale May 2014

Hello chickadees,

UPDATE: When I went by to check on things around 6:00 pm, there was a sign on the window announcing that the sale was over because they had sold out. I assume this means the sale is also cancelled for Saturday and Sunday.

I honestly don't even know how to begin covering this sale. First things first, this sale is being held in the basement of the Babel Fair storefront at 260 Elizabeth Street from today, Friday May 30 through Sunday June 1, though if you're interested, go by as soon as possible because I can't imagine that the merchandise will last long at the rate things are going. The store is open for its regular hours from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.

I left the house around 10:00 am so I ended up there before 10:30 am. There wasn't much of a crowd, though more ladies showed up by the time the sale opened at 11:00 am. I was fourth in line which was lucky as they were only letting in 10 people at a time, given the lack of space in the basement. I was told they would continue to let 10 people in for 25 minute intervals as long as there was still a crowd outside. Nothing too crazy. I would guess there were maybe 20 to 30 women either shopping or in line when I left.

So, regardless of whether or not you want to fill a bag, you will be given a rather large white paper bag. Pricing is very simple at this sale. Whether it's on the racks or in the cardboard boxes, each item is $10 but if you fill a bag (I think they said past 4 items) you only pay $40 regardless of how much you shove in there. This is not time to be delicate and coy. This is a good old-fashioned sample sale and you better be prepared to get your hands dirty and to move quickly. My personal strategy was to grab anything with a particularly eye-catching print or made of a nicer fabric and throw it in my bag. Then, when I was about ready to leave, I rifled through my haul and checked the size tags (if there were any) and took out anything I didn't want. I still left with a very full bag with 22 items and if you're really committed, you could probably get more items into those oversized bags. Coming home to examine my haul, I don't see any damaged items but I can see why some items didn't sell at full price.

Hmn... what else? There is absolutely no trying on the merchandise. I don't know if this will change if the sale slows down and there's no line. Cash is fine. I was told cash is actually preferred.

You may have noticed there are no photos from inside the sale. Sorry about that. I was distracted and it was kind of chaos anyway. You wouldn't have been able to see anything with all the people in the way and the majority of items in boxes. I'll just try my best to describe what I saw. Most items seemed to be "small" but I saw one or two extra small items, a fair amount of medium sized items, and maybe a handful of larges. I don't know if they'll be restocking but it doesn't hurt to look as I obviously didn't get a chance to look through everything. There were quite a few floral pieces, which is what I personally gravitated towards. There was a bit of lace and a few leather items (mostly pants and shorts). I'd say it was mostly spring/summer wear, lighter fabrics and shorter hemlines.

To make up for the lack of photos inside the sale, I instead photographed some of my favorite haul items.




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