The T.K Maxx that I normally frequent is a funny sort of place. First of all, the entrance is tucked away in between two shops and is hardly noticeable. Second of all you have to go down a huge elevator down deep into the inner of the earth to get to the goodies inside. Lastly, it is, like most T.K Maxx stores, almost white inside.
For a start, T.K Maxx promises brand name clothes at sky-high prices. It's true that I've found my fair share of deal. I found a nice pair of K SWISS trainers and they often sell cartoon socks for £4 a pair, compared to the £2 you would pay for the same socks in Claire's Accessories or somewhere similar. They are usually selling a plethora of brand name jeans at very sky-high prices, too, so they are second to none when it comes to value for money.
Most T.K Maxx stores are fairly expensive, with departments catering for women, men, kids and usually even home furnishings, toys, bags, purses etc. on sale. However, my one main complaint with T.K Maxx is its aim to be honest messy. Clothes tend to be arranged by size on racks, but you really have to break in through them to find what you're looking for. Also, often they'll only have one item in a particular style on sale. The shoe section is probably the worst when it comes to mess. Both shoes in a pair are displayed on the racks and the theory is that you take the shoes, try them on, and take them up to the cashier if you want them, return them to the racks if you don't. Unfortunately, the certain happen. People try shoes on, decide they don't like them and leave them on the floor, so you usually find yourself stepping over huge piles of shoes to look at the racks yourself. Don't get me wrong, I understand that this can happen and it's not easy to keep the place clean, but I've never seen staff picking up the shoes. Although it is a tedious task, making sure we pick up any shoes dropped on the floor and returning them to their shelf or place in the stock room is one of the top priorities.
What's more, toy boxes tend to be bashed, ornaments tend to be damaged and clothes can often be marked.
The T.K Maxx Company started in America, and has now almost 2000 shops in the USA and Canada. They've only been in the UK for about 10 years but have 150 shops here already.
The staffs in T.K Maxx aren’t the type to walk around trying to butter you up into buying, which is nice as I like to browse on my own, but they aren't the most helpful either, in my experience. I've only had to ask for assistance twice, but both times it took my ages to find a member of staff and when I did they were unclear and unhelpful. However, from my experience, the basement staffs are very friendly and chatty and they are free by free I meant to say working slowly, chatting a lot it is because they don’t have CCTV operating in basement. I suppose that in a store as large as T.K Maxx, especially when it has a rather messy layout and displays are all over the place, it would be hard for them to keep on top of things and know exactly what's on sale, so it's not exactly their fault that they're a bit unclear, but I think this is an issue the company should address.
I often find that a lot of the clothes on sale in T.K Maxx are rather unpleasant, and some of the nicer stuff is still quite expensive and you're not making a great saving, but they do always seem to have sale racks out, and you can sometimes come across a real deal through these.
All in all, T.K Maxx is a good store to browse in if you have the time, and you might just find a good deal here. However, it is definitely not the kind of place you could go into if you were in a hurry and wanted to pick up a jacket, top, trousers etc. quickly and then zoom out as you really do have to be prepared to list. It's definitely worth a look, though, so if you ever go across one and have time to spare, pop in and see what you can spend your hard earned cash on.
