Winnipeg shopping

[spiritedenergy]

A thread that may be useful... where to buy good winter clothes in Winterpeg? I came to the conclusion that MEC in downtown is not good enough for the exorbitant prices they apply to their made in China products.

Does anyone shop at Winnipeg Outfitters or Mark's Work Warehouse?

[drew]

Mark's Work Warehouse is pretty decent and cheap for winter stuff.

I actually find MEC to be fairly cheap when it comes to their low-end winter stuff. Just stay away from the "technical" gear.

It's too bad that Army Surplus shut down. They had the market cornered in cheap stuff.

[spiritedenergy]

Originally Posted by drew

Mark's Work Warehouse is pretty decent and cheap for winter stuff.

I actually find MEC to be fairly cheap when it comes to their low-end winter stuff. Just stay away from the "technical" gear.

It's too bad that Army Surplus shut down. They had the market cornered in cheap stuff.

Yes Army surplus was very good. The problem with MEC is that their cheap stuff is low quality. About half of the things I bought there (lower price end) are not functional anymore after 1 year (bad zips, bad stitches...), so I don't want to risk it anymore since lower price end still means hundreds of dollars...

[Boreal]

I'm not sure if you're looking for stylish winter clothes, or functional outdoor wear, however, if the former is of interest then I suggest waiting until it's 'Bay Days' at the Bay. Things will be priced to sell from 15-40%. Plus, if you sign up for an HBC Mastercard, you get 20% off of all your purchases that day, plus 3 additional coupons worth an additional 15%, 10%, and 10% off respecitvely of all purchases made on other days of your choosing. I suppose that's jumping through more hoops than one would like, but you can get some nice pieces of apparel for reasonable prices.

I guess I'm a classic Winnipegger. Wait until there is a sale and CAPITALIZE!

[newflyer]

Classic Winnipeger = few quality stores (especially downtown), outside of small handful.

Perhaps Winnipeg's loss is Bloomington's gain??

[Boreal]

I'm not going to disagree with you newflyer, but I will suggest that there is an increasing number of boutique clothing stores popping up - almost exclusively in the Exchange. The downtown as a whole however, is unquestionably inadequate. Not to beat a dead horse - but this arguement starts and ends with residential. I'm pretty much positive that - at least on this side of the Atlantic - no residential districts have grown up around fashion retailers.

[newflyer]

I guess it come down to image of downtown.

If everyone thinks of downtown as the Giant Tiger district of the city .. nobody will look to go shopping there for quality items.

Maybe its the chicken and the egg delema.... nobody shops downtown for quality because its seen as mostly made up of cheap retailers... and downtown has many cheap retailers because few people wanting quality items consider downtown.

I lived in downtown Winnipeg for over 6 years .. but often felt I had to travel to the burbs to get a good selection of qulaity items. Meanwhile classic Winnipegers are defining the viability of retailers in the downtown.


Please note I bought downtown, when I could find what I wanted which was regularily, but not always.

[rgalston]

Minneapolis.

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by rgalston

Minneapolis.

Thats what I said ... Bloomington. (MOA)

[rgalston]

Originally Posted by newflyer

Thats what I said ... Bloomington. (MOA)

Yeah totally. I originally misread your post and thought you wrote "Bloomingdales". Not bad, but I prefer Nordstrom's clearance on the third floor of the mall... found a pair of classic Sperry Top-siders for $29.00 last weekend.

[newflyer]

Sounds like a good deal...

I heard the MOA is still accepting CDN$ at par .. is that true?

[Jolly]

I bought a goose down parka at MEC in Ottawa in 2001 before I ever knew I would be in the 'Peg. Walked to work in it in -39C (no wind chill) back in '05. It's still holding up well. With MEC, ya get what ya pay for...

[spiritedenergy]

Originally Posted by Jolly

I bought a goose down parka at MEC in Ottawa in 2001 before I ever knew I would be in the 'Peg. Walked to work in it in -39C (no wind chill) back in '05. It's still holding up well. With MEC, ya get what ya pay for...

I still paid 125$ for it, and after 1.5 years it's useless due to the cheap material they used (plastic for the zip that got broken). You can see here other people had the same problem (wonder why now the price is half the original...). I also had defective gloves.

I see that at Winnipeg Outfitters they sell parkas for 150$ and top quality boots (Sorel) for 100$ while at MEC prices go through the roof...

[1ajs]

SIR (colbellas)

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by spiritedenergy

I still paid 125$ for it, and after 1.5 years it's useless due to the cheap material they used (plastic for the zip that got broken). You can see here other people had the same problem (wonder why now the price is half the original...). I also had defective gloves.

I see that at Winnipeg Outfitters they sell parkas for 150$ and top quality boots (Sorel) for 100$ while at MEC prices go through the roof...

mec is good for a one stop shop if ur going on a expitidion up north....... or in the white shell

[wags_in_the_peg]

I have a few fleece jacekts and vests from MEC and they've lasted for 4-5 years and I'm still wearing them. they are a co-op and have great customer service, so talk to them if there's an issue with their product. Some stuff is designed for major expeditions so yeah the $ is crazy, stay away from that unless u plan on climbing kilimajaro.

Cabella's bought out SIR and they have lots of outer wear. If you buy Cabella's name brand clothes they guarantee it, even shoes for 1 year.

I personally like North Face jackets and shirts, you pay more but if you are active in the outdoors they keep you warm and sweat off your body if dressed in layers properly.

[Jolly]

Yes to the customer service at MEC. I had the zipper go on a back pack after 18 months of regular use. They gave me a new one at no cost when I showed it to them. I caught the sleeve of a goretex jacket a the door...they stitched and patched it up nicely without any extra charges. The first time I ever went to MEC, I remember being horrified by the prices ("Who pays $12 for a pair of socks?!?"). Now, a good chunk of my outerwear is from there.

[spiritedenergy]

Originally Posted by Jeff1987

I'm not sure if you're looking for stylish winter clothes, or functional outdoor wear, however, if the former is of interest then I suggest waiting until it's 'Bay Days' at the Bay. Things will be priced to sell from 15-40%. Plus, if you sign up for an HBC Mastercard, you get 20% off of all your purchases that day, plus 3 additional coupons worth an additional 15%, 10%, and 10% off respecitvely of all purchases made on other days of your choosing. I suppose that's jumping through more hoops than one would like, but you can get some nice pieces of apparel for reasonable prices.

I guess I'm a classic Winnipegger. Wait until there is a sale and CAPITALIZE!

I'm looking for functional outdoor wear... I'm not the stylish type yet (but would love to dress well if I had the money...).

Thanks guys for your advice, I'll try Cabela's and Outfitters (nobody seems to go there... it's close to Northgate Shopping Centre, is it dangerous?) and MEC customer service

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

SIR (colbellas)

Cabela's

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by spiritedenergy

I'm looking for functional outdoor wear... I'm not the stylish type yet (but would love to dress well if I had the money...).

Thanks guys for your advice, I'll try Cabela's and Outfitters (nobody seems to go there... it's close to Northgate Shopping Centre, is it dangerous?) and MEC customer service

No more dangerous than the Maffia's stranglehold over all of Italy; Mama Mia!