I stumbled upon this website earlier this year : Sierra Trading Post If you've never heard of it, in short, it is a fun place to shop for big discounts on items for active minded folks, specifically including clothing, outdoor gear and home decor (okay, garden stuff is active minded stuff). You probably won't find lace here.
It is actually a rather tidy database with sort features to narrow your query, like only finding the closeouts on my size of shoe. I've had fun window shopping, loading up the shopping cart and eventually closing out the web page after I've long forgotten what I thought I really needed. No foul, no $ spent. However, I have ordered a couple things for our upcoming adventure, like a wrinkle free skirt. I am long on the lookout in the shoe section. Spouse-man even likes it and sorts on pants or shirts for under $20. He has yet to purchase anything because when he found several pants for something like $9.95, he went back the next day and they were sold out. So that's a bit of a key here; if you see it, need it (or want it), it's best not to dawdle. I've had good experiences with their customer service, and with returning an item for a different size: I had the new size in the house before I had a chance to get the other one to the post office to send back.
This post is not entirely a commercial break for Sierra Trading Post though. The noteworthy point I wanted to point out is that upon browsing through my shopping cart just to see what kinds of ridiculous items I thought I needed, and eliminating all but the $11.95 pair of all-purpose khaki pants, I proceeded through the checkout and noted at the top of the screen this:
John 10:10 ... I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
Not many businesses, I think, have the nerve to put their beliefs out there, so I thought this was intriguing. I dug a little deeper and found their We Believe page:
Sierra Trading Post wants to be your first choice for outdoor clothing and
equipment. In order to be the best, we follow three simple "We Believe" statements. 1. That our customers must be given the best possible service. 2. That we must keep our operating costs as low as possible- to keep your savings as high as possible. 3. That our business ethics must be consistent with the faith of the owners in Jesus Christ and His teachings. We invite you to write our founder and president, Keith Richardson, if what we do does not match what we believe... We Will Make It Right I admire this business because I think it takes a lot of courage to stand up and put the name Jesus Christ out there for the public to see. So, I wonder what people think when they know this is a mission statement behind a business. Does it cause them to want to shop here; to want to support this business? Does it drive them away, thinking these folks are freaks! Do customers think they can get a better deal with some sort of view that Christians are naive? Or, get taken because they think Christians are hypocrites? My cynical side starts speaking up because maybe I have the same thoughts; I've seen a few too many hypocrites. You know the ones; they raise their hands and voices in church and run you down in the parking lot getting out. That ain't what I want. Not to take the fun out of shopping (have I mentioned I am not a world class shopper?) I also don't want to pay full price for clothing - needed or wanted - so I'll keep going back to this website <insert smiley icon here>. Any other views? |
They have an awesome Memorial Day sale... Maybe we should make a pilgrimage!
Posted by: Joel Frederick | Feb 23, 2008 at 06:39 PM