Hi, all -- and happy long weekend to the Canadians! Not sure you have a long weekend in the US as we do here?
I wanted to update you all on the progress of my Canada-side NAS. I also hope that a few more of you check in to report again on your own! Smittie has showed us her beautiful items but it seems my appetite for NAS FAB is insatiable. ;)
So, here was my method to shop the sale in Canada:
- Read Angie's blog post on how to shop the sale and composed a tentative list of items I needed/ was hoping for.
- Used my Nordstrom's card to access presale on the website in the US.
- Filled up a shopping cart with items under consideration.
- Checked with the forum and with Angie to see what looked most promising and get recommendations.
- Chose a few higher end items that were HEWIS or on my list plus one wildcard amazing special purchase (the gilet).
- Phoned Ottawa store before official sale to ask if they would be carrying these items.
- Ordered those they would be carrying, and asked sales associate to order the others from the Vancouver or Calgary store.
- Sales associate did so -- but two items arrived not at sale price.
- Spoke with sales associate -- she did an immediate price adjustment.
In some ways, I'd say shopping in Canada by phone (at least with pre-sale visibility and Angie's and forum's help) has been easier and probably cheaper than doing the whole cross border thing. The customer service has been excellent, and I've received items that were already reading out of stock in the US.
Prices were the CAD equivalent (or a bit LESS!!) than US sale prices. Of course I had to pay HST. But I did not pay extra duties, I did not have to travel for a couple of hours and try things on in a dirty lumber supply building, and I did not have to pay for delivery or returns. It came right to my door as promised.
However, I only ordered my higher end choices this way. I have also ordered smaller items (bras, undies, denim culottes, etc.) through the US site online because I had some US only Nordstrom Notes to use up and I also felt it might get complicated trying to order from different departments when I don't have a pre-existing relationship with any sales associates at Nordstrom's in Ottawa. These items have not arrived yet but I should get them in a week or so.
Do any of you know if the sales associates are working on commission? Does my SA get some commission for the order? If so, it really was a breeze for her -- I knew just what I wanted, gave her the order in a minute, and wrote back to say everything was fantastic and I was keeping it all.
I'd love to hear your reports about how things have gone and how it compares to previous sales you may have shopped.