Why I Hate Old Navy

I'd never been into an Old Navy before this weekend. Hated, hated, hated the commercials. Didn't much care for the look of the stores from the outside. The clothes Lori bought herself, Rachel and I seemed nice. Of decent quality and nicely styled. Dexter's cargo pants with a bazillion pockets were always an amazement to me. He'd stock them full of IT stuff and when we'd go talk to a co-worker who needed help, whatever he needed, it was in a pocket but it didn't look like like he was a walking computer repair store.

Well, anyway I finally went into an Old Navy on Friday night while out mall ratting with the family. I was finally able to put my finger on it. The concrete floors. The large fluorescent lighting. The minimalist fixtures reminiscent of Home Depot.

It's just wrong. While that kind of thing may work for Home Depot -- as well it should -- it does not belong in a clothing store. Unless said store is run by The Salvation Army. To make your stores look like this and couple it with hit and trendy advertising I hate that for some reason resonates with the younger set, it sets a dangerous precedence.

How? It legitimizes Costco and Walmart. It says that it's ok, if not cool, even, to shop at places like this. They're brainwashing people into thinking that concrete and fluorescent are acceptable places to buy food and clothing. Tires, yes. Slacks, no. Mulch, yes. Fresh croissants, no.

Until recently I had been opposed to Lori's shopping at WinCo, even though she didn't make me go with her more than once. Only a few things since then have made me decide maybe it's ok... first, she bought most of the groceries for the entire month for less than $200. Second, they carry Lucerne products. I need to research that to see if there's some tie to Safeway which would really elevate the company in my eyes. And lastly, they have a line of home products there that are Awesome. I don't mean they're just great, I mean they're Awesome. That's the brand name. I guess even I can be swayed.