Neiman Marcus Last Call

I thought I’d peek in here while making my rounds (TJ, Marshalls). Probably it will be my first and last visit. The prices are not that great – in fact I’ve gotten better deals at the ‘real’ NM thanks to coupons and timing the sales just right. It seems like there is an overwhelming selection of house-​brand items, from shoes to clothing. When I’m bargain hunting I prefer to scoop up actual name-​brand goods. Being a gym rat, I did scope out the activewear. There were a few cute items by ALO, but I didn’t think the prices made them that much of a deal. Inexplicably there was a selection of Marika items– not anything I would expect at at a discount designer retailer of this caliber. Perhaps these were added simply to beef up the racks. Merchandising is also lackluster. I’m taking bets as to how long this location sticks around.

The Dos and Don’ts of Neiman Marcus Last Call East Ohio Street
–Don’t expect half-​way decent customer service at this location.
–Don’t anticipate that Gary Tremblay to coach his team or show genuine concern for customer concerns.
–Do plan on being given the run around about which register you can make returns at (upstairs? No wait downstairs? Nope upstairs! Nah you had it right! Downstairs!)
–Do RUN if you ever see Quenlesha (homely dusty looking woman, with zero ambition to help customers)
–Do shop at Nordstrom Rack on State Street – HUGE selection of designer finds for great prices!

We decided to step inside this store for two reasons. We had time to kill, and there were 50% off signs in the window.
Wifey took a quick look before heading down the escalator to check out the rest of the store. She found the store to be more expensive than she expected. Beyond our budget even for the sale items.
From my observations, the employees were okay. Although no one downstairs asked us if we needed assistance. Store was clean and organized.
Neiman Marcus Last Call is not for us. Maybe, if we earn more in the future. Not now, though.

I pop in here every now and then as I live in the area. I’ve always been neutral towards this Last Call location, but today was a wholly unprofessional experience. I picked up a pair of pants that were clearly under a sign that said «take and additional 50% off.» When I get to the register of course it rings up as full price. I politely pointed out that the sign said additional 50% off the brand of the pants. I was curtly told (not by the checkout lady, but by a grumpy associate who was hanging out behind the register) that I was correct, the brand of pants was an additional 50% but not this pair for some unknown reason. I asked how customers are supposed to differentiate between on sale and full price items when there is a sign that says all are 50% off and was told to look for stickered items. I didn’t buy the pants because I was wholly unsatisfied by the rudely put tenuous explanation. I would have bought the pants full price if someone had offered a simple «I apologize for the confusion.» I checked the rack again on the way out to see if there actually were stickers that I had missed earlier, and of course, there were no stickers. From now on when I’m in the area I’ll be sticking to the Nordstrom that is only 1 block from this Last Call location.

I love the concept but the website has way cuter stuff, in my opinion. I have never found anything I wanted to buy in the store.

They always have some great sales going on. My favorite designers at more than half the price, can’t beat it!
The sales associates are helpful without being invasive. I usually have to drive to the designer outlet mall in Rosemont to find these kind of deals. This is a much much smaller scale operation, but conveniently close by.

This location is an «express» version of Neiman Marcus Last Call. Such store is affectionately known as «Neiman Marcus Last Call-​studio.» Thus, this is not a full-​sized store like you’ve seen at the Fashion Outlets of Chicago or other Chicagoland locations.
I made my rounds within five (5) minutes! Nothing appeared to be special or worth to stop by or browse thoroughly.
If you need something in a hurry, perhaps such location can serve as your «Loft» or «JoS A Bank» (emergency outfits) like you would often see at the smashing downtown areas in many major cities in the United States. Otherwise, you can skip this location if you are doing some serious shopping.
I don’t really have much to comment about This NMLC. However, I still wanted to share what I observed, just for your information.

I normally don’t write reviews but since I overheard the staff talking about reviews they received I figure I would chime in. 1. My 1 star is for the sales associate upstairs. She’s the only one who spoke to me. You would think the store was overly busy but no! It was a little after 12 and all the associates were downstairs talking amongst themselves. 2. If there’s customers in the store pay attention to them rather than dancing & singing along to songs! This is your place of employment not karaōke night! 3. Since everyone was so «busy» I decided to go upstairs where I was acknowledged. The fitting room smelled like old fish. The associate explained that they were connected to restaurants so I understood that. What I didn’t understand is why I had to wait for a size from downstairs when there was so many sales associates standing around. The upstairs associate, laquisha (excuse my spelling) explained that she was the only one upstairs and couldn’t leave the floor unattended but would call down for a different size. Do you think anyone answered the phone? Of course not! Laquisha had to run down & grab them for me smh. This store needs more qualified sales associates, a new ventilation system and more variety with its clothing. A lot of the items they sale can be found at marshals across the street! This was just an overall sucky experience for me

When you walk by a place and you see «50% off entire store” – what do you think?
Do you think – great, I’ll walk in here and pick one item that I really like – any item at all that is physically located inside of the «entire store” – and I will have 50% off of it?
Or do you think – I’ll walk in here and pick an item, a perfume, for example, and I’ll walk up to the register and be ready to pay the 50% discounted price, but sour employee will tell me perfumes are not part of the deal.
If you think the latter, you’re in luck because that’s NMLC’s policy (but you also have dubious reading comprehension skills).
This false advertising is getting on my last nerve. All Saints down the street is doing the same exact thing. When you put «50% off of ENTIRE STORE» up on your windows, it better damn well be the entire store. Either that, or slap on an asterisk (decent sized one, so that people with less than ²⁰⁄₂₀ vision can see it, too) that says «exclusions apply.»
Now to the actual meat of the review – selection is terrible and prices are not a good deal. You’re not getting the discount you think you are – you’re paying about the same as you would have paid at NM if they carried stuff from centuries ago – because make no mistake, this stuff is not trendy. Shoe selection seemed to be slightly better, but also extremely expensive and the majority of the shoes I liked were not part of the 50%, either.
Avoid.

After the first time I walked out of this store I told myself, «Never again will I step foot in there.» Well, I ended up caving after seeing a sign outside that said 30−60% after Christmas. But seriously, never again will I step foot in this store!
There are never any customers in here, so there’s just groups of employees standing around in clusters doing nothing. I was practically attacked by 3 employees standing at the end of the escalator as I came down. They were all over eager to offer assistance, and I felt like they were just staring me down as I browsed. A little space please!
This contributes to my disdain for the store, but my real problem is the prices. I understand that the products are Neiman Marcus quality, but the prices are just outrageous. Many of the items that are originally over $ 100 are only marked down about $ 20. I would hardly call it a deal. I have even noticed many of the same items at Nordstrom Rack that were priced much higher here.
I must admit, on my second visit I did buy a wallet. It was only affordable after the extra 60% markdown from the holiday sales. When I went up to pay the cashier only took off 30% and she was very rude after I questioned her about the 60% markdown. She didn’t speak a word to me, just gave me a look, and then typed a bunch of stuff into the computer to change the price. After this extremely off-​putting customer service, it was confirmed that I won’t return.

So let’s just say I did more «window shopping» here. Well, I did until I got downstairs to the women’s shoe department. I bought yet another pair of black flats at a pretty decent price but that was about it. It was fine browsing, but I didn’t really find anything else that I liked. Honestly, I only came in during my lunch hour to get a couple small items for Christmas gifts, like candles, which I also got.
The women’s and home stuff pretty much dominate the two floors. Sorry, fellas. I’m sad to report that there really isn’t much of a men’s section on the lower level. It might be worth checking out if you really need something.

So I’ve recently figured out that I love this store… but I think the one in Rosemont and online waaaaaay better.
This store is teeny, tiny.
The prices are more expensive than online or burbs.
The staff is nice.
Overall just a very small selection with still pretty high prices.