It goes to say, I was excited when I found myself in central Brisbane for work yesterday and had a spare moment to suss out the very first Forever 21 to open in Australia. I think it's great that the international retail market is expanding across Australia. Being such a well know clothing retailer I had high hopes for Forever 21. However, I was extremely disappointed.
Upon entering the store we were presented with a very awkward staff member, whom I assume was a door greeter. No greeting or smiled offered, we approach her to find out where we can find the dress on the mannequin in the main window display. The girl told us the dress was out of stock and couldn't help with any details of whether it will be restocked or how we can go about obtaining it. Personally, I don't get why the dress is left on a mannequin in a major window display, if it is out of stock.
We continued to browse the store which was firstly messy as hell, and secondly dirty… as in clusters of dust on the change room floors.
Regarding staff, there was basically no one around to help on the sales floor, and one person serving at the counter with a line of people (serving at a leisurely pace as well). Change room staff was unhelpful and gave me attitude when I requested they take the items I wasn't buying. I ended up buying a few plain V-neck tee's, other than their basics, nothing appealed to me. This could be because of the messy and confusing layout.
I work in retail, which means I do have a high standard when shopping. However, for an international retailer first entering a new country, I think they could've put in more effort. Maybe they should take a leaf out of Zara's book. If you've been, let me know what you thought of the store.
