Banana Republic

I just had a great interaction here with a salesgal named Elissa in the men’s dept. She went WAY above and beyond to help me locate a pair of sale pants at another store. Hurrah! Exceptional customer service (and I know loads of folks who complain about BR serivce).
My complaint about this store would be that the women’s stuff is on the 2^nd floor not the street level… I know we females are trying to break the glass ceilig and all, but why make the people who by far purchase the most $$‘s at Banana schlep upstairs? (and yes I realize they know men are lazy and will only make the effort to shop for clothes if it is easy… but still)

I hate shopping for clothes, but for an extreme torture experience (which is usually how I feel about clothes shopping) this was not nearly as bad as it could have been. Yes, there was still the ‘Fluorescent Light in the Dressing Room which Makes Me Look Dead’ torture. They were having a huge sale so the ‘Sticker Shock’ torture was missing today. Also it’s Saturday, so the incredibly well-​dressed Embarcadero Elite were absent, so no ‘Fashion Envy Torture.‘
The sales staff were helpful but not pushy, and in the end I got the bulk of my shopping done in a (relatively) painless few hours.
I still need shoes (yeah, they have shoes, but nothing I can walk in without looking like an idiot) so I’m gonna have to go someplace that might have a rack or an Iron Maiden specifically designed for feet tomorrow…

Great service from the ladies that work in the women’s department at this Banana! You always make me look like a HOT BISH! Everyone is so sweet and never frazzled as the other BR’s in the city. They go the extra mile here by checking the other stores inventory for things that are sold out, even calling me when certain items came in. Also appreciate the honest feedback, it’s a big help. Shopping with bae is never easy (and he has no sense of style anyway), so getting your opinion really matters!

This place has a great selection of winter clothes. I couldn’t find a jacket I liked at other Banana Republics in California. However, this store had a few that I did like. It is probably because the weather is a lot colder in San Francisco than in the East Bay.

Saw the 40% off the entire store sign in front of the store and decided to walk-​in and check it out. Saw a shirt in my size on the sales rack and decided I was going to try it on. Jay asked if he could hold a dressing room for me and that I could continue to look around. I then tried on the shirt, but it was larger than what a «large» should be and then noticed that it was a «tall» size.
Jay asked how the shirt fit and told him it was too big since it was a «tall». Since that was the only shirt in the sore, he said he could check the inventory system and found the shirt at two other stores. He asked which store I wanted to pick up the shirt and he called the store and put a hold on the shirt at the store, which I picked up the next day.
Here’s to the great service provided by Jay in locating the shirt, calling the store and putting a hold on the shirt.

Great experience at this store, the staff was super friendly AND competent.
I walked in after a mid-​day spill on my shirt. Within a few minutes of entering, Tony answered all my questions and grabbed a few things for me to try on.
Fit was great, and Tony even steamed it for me so I could wear it out! While I was putting on my new shirt, Tony had found a few other items in my size that were on sale, score!

The salespeople at this store are friendly yet not pushy which is what I want in a salesperson. Everything was 40 percent off with an additional 10 percent off if you use your banana card. I didn’t have a lot of time since I was on my lunch break. I managed to ind a sweater and skirt. My best friend who is on sabbatical had time to browse the store and find many items. I like this store.

I was a costumer at least twice a month until I bought a pair of shoes that open up a hole after a month. I service ended up not so great since and the manager told me that i wear out (in a month) and he has the same pair and nothing happened. He refuse even touching the shoe to check before point me out. Never coming back.

Not the best place if you want great service. I dont want to be harassed when I’m looking at clothes during my very short lunch break that I take.
Seriously, the sale section is AMAZING and the additional percentages off is pretty good. I’ve bought some amazing dresses and skirts for less than $ 50, much less than $ 50.
Definitely my favorite place to browse sometimes during my lunch break. I’ve probably spent too much time and money here, but all to fill my closet.

I always go to add in my officewear collection.

Usually my favorite BR, but no longer.
San Francisco Embarcadero employees seem more focused on folding clothes than helping customers. I was there o 5÷5÷13 afternoon and there were 3 customers in the store, yet 4 employees were folding clothes and straightening out merchandise, while one employee was at the register. I wanted for more than five minutes in line at the register, all while one employee had her back to customers and was folding clothes that customer-​side of the register counter and another employee folded clothes in the casual section and could directly see that I was waiting to be helped. When I finally was helped another customer stood in line to be pay and it was ONLY THEN that the employee folding clothes at the register counter called out to assist the customer who had just entered the line to pay.
My experience in the that BR was good until the moment that the employees decided to finally help ring customers up and ONLY AFTER I had waited for 5 minutes in line.
My opinion of BR went from GODD to TERRIBLE at that moment and I will not be returning to BR to shop again.
Take care of your customers before you spend time folding/​organizing merchandise, especially where there are only three customers in the store.

great place to duck into during the workday and look around. Every once in a while they have amazing deals that you can’t afford to NOT buy it!!!
Ok, so maybe that’s an exaggeration, but the staff is helpful. Check the sale racks occasionally.

I don’t normally shop at Banana Republic and I feel silly reviewing a clothing store, but the people here were awesome! I bought this beautiful coat on black Friday and in the midst of the craziness, I bought something that didn’t quite fit. I needed a different size and went hunting at multiple locations but no luck. This store actually didn’t have it either but the staff were so helpful and super friendly. They hunted down every location within a 30 mile radius and called the ones that I was able to go to that day. Found it at another location so I can finally show off the coat!

I’ve enjoyed shopping here during my lunch break several times. Check out their sales section and redeem those coupons!
Over all, the staff are very friendly and helpful. Dawn, the manger is very helpful, nice, and efficient! I was looking for ankle pants (Sloane style) and she got those for me in my size plus another style (the Logan in light weight wool). I’m glad she grabbed me another option because those were the ones I ended up liking the most. Some sales associates can be a bit over bearing but I’d take that any day over someone who has a lousy attitude.
And as a FYI — during usual lunch hours (12pm-​2pm), this place gets pretty busy, especially when there is a sale.

I am SHOCKED people hate this place so much! I I used to work here!
Today I went to every BR in the city: Market St., Grant Ave., and Embarcadero. And this is how I know I love the Embarcadero location best (and it’s not just because I used to work there):
1. Although Grant has a LOT of merchandise, both the Monogram and Heritage lines, and an easy downtown location, it’s WAYYY too crowded. Monday afternoon, Thursday night, Sunday mid-​day– this place is packed. And because this is such a big store it has high turnover so no one ever knows where anything is.
2. Market St. is the worst laid out store ever. It’s claustrophobic and has some of the strangest characters working in the store who over-​sell everything. Not to mention it’s in the mall.
3. Best BR in the city. Aside from lunchtime this place is not crowded. The weekends are the best time to go because you will never have to wait for a dressing room. Since there are two floors they are able to show a lot of merchandise. I also like that the womens merchandise is completely separate from the mens to make shopping easy! They also have had the same employees working there forever! So they know their stuff.
Trust me– you will like shopping at this location the best.

This location clearly prides itself on delivering terrible customer service. There is absolutely no other explanation for the experiences I’ve consistently had here.
A little tip: if you ever ask an employee for service of any kind, like putting something on hold, get their name. Maybe that will wake someone up.

TBD

I’m reviewing a clothing chain? Oh the horror!
As it seems I own more BR clothes than anything else (the greater part of my outfit right now was all purchased from BR), I am a frequent customer of this particular store, as it’s closest to my work and I can pop over during lunch.
Despite it being two floors, I don’t think the selection is as great as it could be. Sure, you can find some great steals in the clearance section, but you have to beat other people off with a hanger to get to it. It’s really cramped, and difficult to navigate (even more so because this store isn’t that big).
Here’s my issue with this particular BR:
#1– As it’s winter, I’m in the mood to denier my gorgeous gams in tights. Lots and lots of tights. As of right now, I have black ones, grey ones, burgundy ones, and shiny black ones. I see more in my future. What I don’t like is seeing that many of the tights on the bottom row destroyed in one way or another. Can you put the tights more out of the way? Also, not a fan of the shiny ones as they seem a little loose, even though my legs are quite svelte. We’ll see if this changes after a wash.
#2– Everyone who helped me asked me if I had the 40% off discount. As I normally donate part of my monthly paycheck to BR, you would think I would get one. Apparently it got lost in the mail. No matter, as I heard the woman in line before me tell the woman who rang her up that she forgot it. That nice register lady said that it was on the honor system, and she’d give her the discount anyway. My register lady was not so nice, and flatly refused to give me a discount, even though the person RIGHT NEXT TO HER SAID THAT SHE WOULD. Granted, it was just for the aforementioned and relatively cheap tights, but a little consistency is in order.
While this store is good for a quick stop, I much prefer the larger one on Grant.

On the way to the health food store I wandered into BR and saw some striking shirt designs that I hadn’t seen before and the 30% off tag was a kicker. I found 2 neat shirts and a miliary style pin point blue dress shirt with epaulettes.
And a clean looking minimalist design double breasted 8 button trench coat. Styled like the famous Burberry brand, but ¼ the cash.
Customer service: excellent and friendly. While trying on a shirt, the super cool associate turned me on to a BR 20% coupon that ended today. BTW, the 20% off was for everything, it was cumulative on my shirts that were already 30% off. Nice.
Not 5 Star attentive, not 5 Star pricing.
This was a Long coffee break!

Good for work clothes, after work drinks, a day time wedding — not for going to the clubs. I find myself at BR quite often since it’s right behind my office. I am already at Luxe level and the year just started! I go there to see what’s on sale. Never pay full price here. In 2 weeks it will be on sale. I love the clothes here but $ 25 for a cotton tank top is out of my means. The store is filled with Fidi ladies on their lunch, or «coffee break» — wait that’s me. Only take your wallet and walk out like you’re going to grab some coffee and come running back with a BR bag to stuff under your desk.
Nice and very friendly people work there. I had the poor girl running back and forth getting different sizes for jeans. Hey, not all size 8 IS size 8. All for me to say «thanks, but the fit is still not right». If you are a size 2 or XS, you’d make a killing there.