Fashion Roadtrip

My mom has been telling me about this place for a few years now so, I decided to take a quick roadtrip and check out the Saks Distribution Center in Aberdeen, MD for myself.  Needless to say, I was beyond excited!
At first sight, it looked like any other warehouse.

Walking in, I was surprised by the sparse and small size of the space. This certainly didn’t stop me from spending close to 2 hrs. sifting through the racks of merch…

Scanning the room and taking stock of the inventory, I started with the dress section primary, because they were all $25. Long, short, casual or evening…$25!  Apparently they run pop-up sales that are on top of the already reduced ticket prices and on  that day, it was on all of the dresses.

I found a few designer pieces most of which were damaged but one, a pale pink Haute Hippie asymmetrical number that retails for over $300 went home with me!
I then proceeded to the shoe section and it really is just a section of the room that’s delineated by a stick of tape on the dingy carpet.  No novice to the schmata search game, I overlooked this and kept my eyes on the prize. That’s when I spotted these lizard Manolo pumps, $199!

I should mention that I got there around 11 -one hour after they open- and 2 hours after the line begins to form, and since I wear the most popular women’s shoe size 8, was really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
If you’re like me and can’t function without an adequate amount of sleep and therefore, can’t get there by 9am, there’s hope yet. Eventually, the early birds start to put back what didn’t fit/ they didn’t want but, that too, is hit or miss.
Done with the shoes, I spot the designer bag section, hello gorgeous!
Christian Louboutin studded bag… A quick Google search and I find that it retails for over $2300!
Here? $349
Loved it but decided that it’s a bit too small for me.

Chloe one handle satchel…$899, gorgeous but I’ll schmutz up the buttery leather in one wear.

Click Click Click moving on.
After the dresses, shoes and bags, I walked the floor pulling anything that looked cute, may fit and most importantly, not damaged. Remember, many of the items here are slightly worn samples or imperfect garments pulled directly from the Saks Fifth Avenue sales floors…just to set your expectations.
By now, I had gathered quite a bit of stuff and needed a place to hold it all. In comes my faithful fashion assistant, my dad. A girl can always rely on her papa for his muscles and adoring compliments.

Which brings me to this bit of advice. Come with someone who can play the role of gatekeeper because if you walk away from your stuff, it WILL be placed back on the floor. Although everyone was super nice, I get the impression that whoever runs this place gets their management style from this guy…

Certainly not for everyone, the Saks distribution center is perfect for someone with a discerning eye, appreciates a good shmata sift and gets a high from a great find. If this is you then you must go!
Thanks to my mama and years of practice, I made out like a a bandit…8 pieces two of which were Haute Hippie, $80.49!!!

Deets:
The Company Store at Saks Distribution Center is located at 500 Hickory Drive
Aberdeen, MD 21001
410-297-5200.
Opens at 10am but the line begins to form at 9.
Fantastic deals on revolving selection of designer gear.
New arrivals are delivered daily, but the early bird gets the worm, as most of the treasures are gone by mid-morning.
If you’re willing to wait in line, the third Tuesday in March, July, and November are when the biggest deliveries arrive. Hours are limited: Tues.-Fri. 10am-3pm.
Very few men’s and kid’s stuff.
This is different than Off 5th in that it has all of the high end brands and is smaller than an Off 5th but some of the stuff has the wrong size on the tag, others may have a scuff on the bottom of the shoe, or may be missing a bead, BUT the prices are great and it’s a fun experience if you’re into that sort of thing which clearly WE are!
Like Mother Like Daughter

The Company Store at Saks Distribution Center
500 Hickory Drive
Aberdeen, MD 21001
410-297-5200.

Happy Shopping and LMK if you go, I may just be up for another roadtrip!
Alya