When I was a kid I was always afraid of going inside Hot Topic. Dark stores in general or ones where you can't see inside kind of scare me off. I'm afraid of going in restaurants with tinted or covered windows that I've never been in before. Many sushi places seem exclusive and uninviting to me in this way. Certain stores like Hollister or Abercrombie will always feel too exclusive for me. Any place that is luxurious or fancy I never feel welcome inside.
I do, but I actually feel at home and comfortable in the dark stores like Hot Topic. The stores that intimidate me are places like Dillards that are very bright, and very expensive. I feel like people are staring at me, wondering what I am doing there. When I was young and skinny, I felt comfortable there but now, well, I am not exactly a trendy kind of person anymore and I a stay at home mother and I find there items to be overpriced. I feel uncomfortable just walking through one, like when I part outside there door at the mall because it's closest to the store I am actually going to.
I too feel out of place and intimidated by some of the swankier, high-end stores out there. It doesn't help that sometimes the employees can be snobby and make it clear that you're not welcome, even though they're not supposed to do that. So I usually try to stick with places I know well when shopping, or at least ones that exude a welcoming atmosphere.
I think the trick is to be confident while you're in shops like these. If you act as though you belong then you will be treated as such. I try to smile at the staff and engage them in conversation while browsing which seems to put them at ease. You have as much right to be in these shops as anybody, so it's important not to let them make you feel inferior!
I do get intimidated to get in big name designer stores like Chanel, DVF, Louboutin and those places with outrageous prices. I always feel like they'll notice I'm actually poor and throw me out or tell me there is nothing there for me (like in Pretty Woman!). I got into a Chanel and DVF before, but I never dared to go inside a Louboutin store. For those who don't know Louboutin is the maker of those ridiculously expensive shoes with the red soles.
I'm comfortable in Hot Topic and actually like a lot of their stuff. But I feel uncomfortable inside high end boutiques and fancy department stores. Since I can't afford anything in those fancy stores anyway, i just avoid them. I would hate to be humiliated just for looking around.
I am perfectly at home in places like Hot Topic. What I find uncomfortable is the high-end boutiques or 'upper-crust' retail stores that have people who follow you around like a hawk circling prey when you walk in wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Mid-range stores have higher-end items, better prices than the upper crust chains, and the staff is well-paid enough to be satisfied by simply being there. Strangely, the lower-end stores tend to act like the high-end ones. Sometimes security and store workers follow you around like they suspect everyone who isn't wearing a suit wants to rob the place.
My wife finds Walmart very intimidating, and she doesn't like to go in at all, even though they have much better prices than the competition. I don't think I find any store intimidating, though. You're the customer, and they are catering to your needs.
Posh ones, I don't like going into snooty stores where everything is posh and the prices are astronomical. I feel like I am not supposed to be there. Harrods, for example I love but what I don't like that there is a dress code. Especially when the motto is "Omnia Omnibus Ubique—All Things for All People, Everywhere". Doesn't really make sense when if they don't like the look of you, you could be turned away.
Well if the store is a high end one then I might be intimidated to go there. If the people that go to that store are the ones that live in exclusive villages, then for sure I won't set foot in that store to window shop. If ever I will go inside that store, then I should be certain to buy something from there!
In that sense that you mention no, I don't feel intimidated. I know that there are elitist stores for rich people, but I don't care about that, if I have to go in I just enter and that's it. Perfume shops on the other hand do intimidate me and I get away from them for health reasons: allergies.
TARGET all the way! As soon as you walk in the door, you are being watched and treated like you're a thief. I can't stand going in their stores.
I also feel uncomfortable in the more expensive stores. I feel like the sales people are looking down on me. It seems the sales people are not as friendly as in other stores. But sometimes these more expensive stores do have good sales. But I would rather go to Walmart or Big-lots because I know their prices are good and I feel more comfortable shopping there.
I must say that some stores even from the name and the prices you will know to which class it belongs to. Even when you tell a friend that you bought something in a certain store they will be like no way that can happen. I think it is just a notion that people have but if you have the money you can shop anywhere.
I've never been intimidated by a store at least not in that sense. However, I have been overwhelmed. I spent like a half hour in the Macy's in New York and I about walked out. I saw the whole store but quickly glanced at everything and only found one thing that I wanted to buy. I've never seen so many shoes in my life, my god. Macy's in general is too expensive. JCPenney's is similar. I'm not really a shopper I guess. I'm the kind of shopper that likes to see everything if it's a new store (mainly if I'm vacationing) but in general, I just like to get what I'm looking for and go out.
