Thursday, June 7, 2012

My Visit To Fogal

I visited Fogal on Tuesday. I great euphoric experience. For another review, see what Fantasy Stockings has to say about Fogal's Vancouver store.

1 thing that I loved is the warm welcome that I received, when I walked in the door. I did not expect much attention from them, because I am used to thinking of them as upper class people from Europe. There was nobody else in the store, so she spent time telling me about the interesting things.

Another thing that I loved was store decorations. She told me about how all the decorations came from Italy. There were panels that were covered in leather. They wanted to ensure that we got the full Fogal experience. At first, I felt that that was weird. It seemed to be so much trouble, but it eventually made sense to me.

Another thing that I loved was her telling me about the sale today, which seemed kind of weird, because companies do not always like to give out sale information too early. She said that 2 days early was not a big deal.

Another thing that I loved was her offering a brochure and catalog, which is not a big deal, but I do consider it to be a good gesture, since I am not the type of person who buys a lot. Those things cost a lot of money.

Another thing that I loved was the sample hosiery display. It was such a sight to behold. It is not just pieces of fabric. Each sample is an entire pair of hosiery. The fact that they offered so much hosiery for people to examine closely shows how passionate they are about the hosiery. All the hosiery felt so wonderful to the touch. Another thing so wonderful is the variety of colours that they have.

Another thing that I loved was the attitude of the assistant manager towards me. I kind of expected her to just be polite towards guys, since they are potential customers, but she went so far as to ask me if I wanted to work for them. I was shocked. I assumed that she was not offering a job, and I confirmed it, but it was cool in that we talked about what I could do to apply, and what kinds of things I would need to do as an employee.

Just so that you know, I asked her if she has ever seen a guy wear hosiery and shorts before, but she has not. I was not sure if she even noticed my hosiery clad legs. When I asked her about noticing me, she said that she noticed, but she assumed that I was wearing leggings. I said that I was wearing footless hosiery, and she said, Yes, leggings.. I did not argue the point. I understood where she was coming from. The point, though, is that even though she only saw a guy wearing hosiery for the first time, she accepted me so well, that she happily helped me to apply for work, even though there was not a lot of business. How often are women so accepting of men wearing hosiery? I want to touch on that again, another day.

I think that Wolford employees and executives need to shop at Fogal, so that they can learn from Fogal's strengths and weaknesses. I ended up visiting Wolford, after I left, and I noticed a stark contrast in how the 2 companies treat me. I will write about that, for tomorrow or soon.

In the mean time, I suggest that you go down there and say hello. I really want all new hosiery stores to feel welcome in Greater Vancouver, and Canada. There is a Fogal store in Toronto, that you might like to check out.

Be sure to mention that Hosiery Advocate sent you. Thank you for reading!

2 comments:

  1. Eugene,
    I have visited Fogal twice and both ladies were amazing each time even though I have only bought 1 pair of tights. I think Jessica was harsh on her website. If I was the it's customer being helped I would feel that the 2 nd customer was rude. I'm just saying.

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    1. Yeah, I think that mentioned on Jessica's web page, that it is a cultural thing. In our world, it's first come first serve.

      If people need service, and need to cut in line, then it might be polite to just wait near the staff and customer, so that the staff and customer can both see people waiting. That will give them the initiative to allow the staff to serve other customers.

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