A tale of two Sunglass Huts; or, New Kid's First Axiom of Shopping

So, my last post made reference to recent travel-inspired shopping, which was also what prompted my query about a camera. Part of this involved schlepping out to one of the local malls on Tuesday, where I did indeed play with a variety of cameras (I realized why shopping for electronic gadgets is so fun, too - I know enough not to feel like a total idiot, and I don't have to worry about whether a camera is going to make my butt look big or bring home to me the physical differences between me and, say, Angelina Jolie! SO much nicer than clothes shopping. But I digress).

Something else I've thought about getting for this trip is a new pair of sunglasses. The ones I have look fairly decent, but the lenses aren't very big, so they don't do their job incredibly well, and the lenses aren't very good quality. LDH has a quite expensive pair (Maui Jims),* and I love them, and I think they even look okay on me. Anyway, as I wandered the mall I encountered the ubiquitous Sunglass Hut (which I keep wanting to call SunglassES Hut), and so I went in.

Now, I have to say, the thing I HATE about Sunglass Hut is their propensity for hiring obnoxious young jock men as salespeople. It is this practice that has kept me from buying a new (expensive) pair of sunglasses before this (as opposed to Target models). In fact, the ONLY reason I even went into the shop to begin with was that the salesperson was a WOMAN.

And boy, was she great. She greeted me, asked if I needed any help, and listened thoughtfully when I tried to remember the brand of LDH's glasses (I couldn't) and the word "polarized" (I couldn't remember that either). She was able to ID the Maui Jims as what I was looking for, and spoke helpfully about the different kinds of frames (plastic, sport, completely indestructible titanium things) and the circumstances under which I might prefer which kind. She opened the case and let me browse, trying on as many as I liked as often as I liked. I cavilled a little at the cost, and she said, "Well, if your husband has them, shouldn't you?" and pointed out that getting good lenses costs more now, but saves you from paying later in eye damage. Basically, she was just really pleasant, very helpful, listened to what I said, and treated me like a decent human being, and if I'd actually liked the way that any of the glasses had looked, I'd probably have bought a pair - despite the fact that some of the ones I was trying on cost as much as $350!!! I don't think I could possibly have brought myself to buy those, but she had me ready to pay MUCH more than I'd originally intended. I WANTED to buy a pair of sunglasses from her.

When I was leaving, she suggested I check in with the downstairs store, in case they had some different models that I might like better.

You know where this is going, right? I go downstairs and enter the other store. It's staffed by a young jock man (though a little nerdier and less surf/frat boy than I usually see there). He was NO help AT ALL. I explained that the woman upstairs had suggested that I check in his store, and he just said, suspiciously, "Well, we usually have all the same stock..." I had to ask him to open the case to show me the glasses. He wouldn't let me touch them; he had to take each pair out of the case and hand it to me himself.  (What, did he think I was going to sweep them all into my purse and make a break for it?) He kept handing me the copper/brown variety, and I asked him to hand me the gray ones. "Oh," he says, "those make it MUCH harder to see, with the gray lenses, because of the UV whatever blah blah blah" - which wasn't about helping me find what I want (I mean, they manufacture gray lenses, so obviously somebody out there thinks they're useful, right?), but all about telling me what HE knew and I DIDN'T.

I put the sunglasses down and left.

So, the result is New Kid's First Axiom of Shopping: Only buy expensive sunglasses from a woman salesperson!**

*And yes, he bought these from the only other woman we've ever seen staffing a Sunglass Hut.

**I'd say, "Never buy sunglasses from Sunglass Hut!", but honestly, are there any other places to buy good sunglasses? That are any better in this regard?

Comments

[sb]

I'm not sure how picky you are about how they look (and these don't look bad, but they might not suit your face shape or whatever), but I recently bought a pair of LL Bean's multisport sunglasses and they're great. Relatively inexpensive, they stay in place, the nosepads are molded so there's none of that bending/breaking nonsense... the link is long, but they're #TA52861 on the website.

[Another Damned Medievalist]

I often buy mine at REI or other sporting goods stores.

[terminaldegree]

I have to wear prescription sunglasses, so I only buy a new pair every few years. I got my last pair from the local HMO that everyone loves to hate. They had Coach frames (in pink and maroon), and at an almost-decent price, so I was happy.

I hear you on NOT buying from jock-salesmen. They drive me crazy. And they're even worse at Best Buy where they laugh at my questions. *sigh*

[Laura]

I think most eyewear stores sell sunglasses of both the prescription and non prescription varieties. I have cheapo sunglasses, but now you're making me want good ones. :)

[Dr M]

If there is a "Trail and Ski" in your area they have good sunglasses.

[Philosophy Factory]

$350.00 for non-prescription sunglasses... eeek. My new pair, with eye exam cost just over $200. They aren't as wonderful as the pair I lost in Florida last year, but they'll work.

I agree about jock/frat boys as sales people. They suck, and they are lazy.... you know that the woman upstairs probably out-sells the whole downstairs store by herself. I hope pay her on commission.

[Ancrene Wiseass]

Really, what is it about Sunglass Hut and the jock-y high school guys? And they're never the smart, decent guys who also just happen to be jocks, either.

If you're going to pay more than $100 for sunglasses anyway, why not go to a LensCrafters or someplace like that? They usually have a decent selection, and they often have seasonal sales.

Personally, I just end up buying the crappy pairs of sunglasses from discount chain stores, but that's because I have a tendency to lose them and don't want to leave something worth $200 behind at the drugstore.

[Alice]

Thanks for a hilarious description of your shopping expedition! I needed a laugh today. :)

[negativecapability]

I went to the sunglass hut in the mall next to my house last week and also turned right around after a quick look because the sales-boy was so annoying and didn't acknowledge my presence. Then I went to the farther away mall and asked the nice young girl for what I wanted that I had seen in the other store and bought them.

The same thing happens to me at the big chain athletic shoe stores (that I avoid like the plague anyway, but sometimes I don't have the patience to order new running shoes online).

[Rana]

I'm still on my original pair of prescription sunglasses, so I'm not sure. Mine came from LensCrafters, and they've held up quite well, both in terms of style and function. They cost in the $200-300 range, though, between the lenses and the frames. Probably non-prescription ones are cheaper.

And that bit about the grey lenses being somehow worse? Complete BS. Unless you are planning to do things like golfing or sailing, you WANT grey lenses, because they are color-neutral and won't distort your vision unnecessarily. It's blue ones that can screw you up, by letting UV in while being dark enough to cause your pupils to dilate (and thus let in more UV).