mantasies

Hey Men, Boutiques Want to Get You Liquored Up

An unjust trend is sweeping the world of boutiques, and we will not stand for it. Stores for men are increasingly offering male shoppers beer and other spirits as a bribe to get them to hang out in the store longer and buy things. Dudes “love to sit down on the couch, have a drink, try a couple of things on and hang out with some of the staff,” co-owner of New York’s Kesner boutique Matthew Simon tells The Wall Street Journal. “They have that kind of experience and they’ll want to come back.” Sounds like an exaggeration — we can’t imagine most straight men we know hanging out in a place where the chief purpose was to buy new clothes just for fun. But sure, who wouldn’t want to go back to a shop serving free cocktails? Now some high-end women’s stores offer Champagne. But Billy Reid in New York serves bourbon, Lisa Klein Men in L.A. serves gin and tonic, and Tom Ford serves anything you can dream up. “It’s that type of innovation in these trying times that sets [retailers] apart and creates buzz,” Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, tells the Journal, as if in-store booze is the greatest idea since the changing room. Which it just might be. So ladies, we’ll have to work together if we want to see change happen. Think like a man and shop online for the next few weeks, only buy things when you need them, and pretend that skinny pants are for pansies even though you wear them 70 percent of the time anyway.

Belly Up to the Bar And Buy Some Jeans [WSJ]

Hey Men, Boutiques Want to Get You Liquored Up