I am writing to you regarding your Clientele program and sale. I am an avid lover and shopper of Aritizia. I have been a part of your Clientele program for the past 4 years. I do not believe the value of the Clientele sale is anywhere near where it should be.
As you know in order to be Clientele and therefore have access to the Clientele sale you need to spend a certain amount of money. We do not know much about the program as it is kept pretty under wraps however we know the amount varies with region and year but it is a substantial amount in order to qualify. For example, a number of my friends including myself have spent around $5,000 at Aritzia in the past year. This is a substantial amount of revenue that your company receives from Clientele customers, I can only imagine what that number is on an international scale.
An Aritzia Store in Dallas, TX
The Clientele sale that happens twice a year does not reflect the value you supposedly have for Clientele customers. For example, during the current Clientele sale (Winter 2021) a hoodie is on sale for 63$, with the original price being 70$. This is a 7$ discount. That is barely anything. For a consumer who spends over five grand at your stores, a special discount worth 7$ does not translate to being valued.
A screenshot of a current price discount during the Clientele sale.
I believe that the discount should increase dramatically to show your “valued customers” how truly valued they are. Many people including myself shop more every year at Aritzia in order to be a part of “Clientele” and the sales that come with it. Imagine if everyone that is considered Clientele stopped shopping at Aritzia. Your company would suffer dramatically, maybe never being able to recover.
With all of these points brought to your attention please consider raising the discounted prices to something that has a little more of an impact.
Let’s take a trip back to 2015, hotline bling was the only song played on the radio and the only thing that seemed to be a topic of conversation was a certain….dress. A single dress had more effect on the world than what the current world leaders were doing. I will be digging into the history and background of this famous dress that will go down in history.
The famous dress
Cecilia Bleasdale was the mother of the bride-to-be Grace Johnston. She was shopping for a dress to wear to her daughter’s wedding when she found a certain one and sent a picture to her daughter for approval. Her daughter showed her fiance and he commented on the colour of the dress and Grace instantly disagreed. Grace soon took this argument to Facebook, posting it and asking her friends and family their opinion on the colour of the dress. The comments sparked more arguments. For the entire week before the wedding, the colour of this dress was all the small island community of Colonsay, Scotland could talk about. The wedding came and still, the dress was a hot topic.
The band that performed at the Johnston’s wedding was a Scottish folk group called Canach. One of the members was Caitlin McNeill who was not only a member of the band but also a close friend of the bride and groom. She too was caught up in “the dress” even though Cecilia Bleasdale was wearing the blue and black dress in person at the wedding. The folk group almost missed their cue to go on stage because they were engaged in a conversation about it.
Cecelia Bleasdale wearing the dress at her daughter wedding.
A couple days after the wedding, McNeill posted the picture of the dress to a Tumblr page and asked its followers “what colour is the dress”. The Tumblr page was run by BuzzFeed and in particular, a woman named Cates Holderness. Holderness saw the post from McNeill but did not think anything of it. However, by the end of the day, it was the only thing she was thinking about. The post had around 5,000 notes which at the time was “insanely viral” for Tumblr. The peak views that the page received was 840,000 per minute. Before Holderness left work to head home she posted a poll on Buzzfeed’s site asking its users what colours they saw. Later that night the page set a record for BuzzFeed’s concurrent visitors which reached 673,000 at its peak and by March 1st, 2015 the page had over 37 million views.
This viral image rapidly spread across other platforms. Hashtags were being created on Twitter #blueandblack and #whiteandgold. That night there were around 5,000 tweets per minute using the hashtags #TheDress on Twitter. This number soon increased to 11,000. The dress started infiltrating high profile newspapers, with the Washington Post calling it “the drama that divided the planet”. Within 24 hours of the Buzzfeed post 4.4 million tweets were about the dress.
It was not long before celebrities were giving their opinion. Taylor Swift stated on Twitter that the dress left her “confused and scared”. This tweet was retweeted over 111,000 times and liked over 154, 000 times. Countless celebrities chimed in on the debate, some being Jaden Smith, Demi Lovato, Julianne Moore, Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian and many more. Popular brands like Pizza Hut gave their opinion on the colour of the dress. Even Ellen hosted the family on her show and chatted to them about how this crazy phoneme happened. At the end of the show, Ellen gifted the Johnstons (the recently married couple) $10,000 and a honeymoon to Grenada.
Ellen with the family that made the dress famous. Ellen gifted them underwear that was split in half one side being black and blue and the other being white and gold.
The dress was designed and manufactured by Roman Originals. It was confirmed by them that the dress was blue and black. The day after the original post Roman Original sold out of the dress in 30 minutes. The company did create one single white and gold dress for a Comic Relief charity auction.
Now, the ancient question. Why do people see the picture of this dress so differently? A short video posted by asapSCIENCE with over 28 million views does a great job explaining why this dress is seen so differently. Essentially something called “Colour constancy” takes place. Watch the video for a more scientific explanation but basically how you see the dress depends on how your brain interprets the context of where the dress is. The dress as we know is black and blue but on the Buzzfeed poll, 2/3 of users said it was white and gold. The “Colour constancy” theory is the most likely explanation as to why the entire world saw this dress so differently but scientists all over the world have come up with many theories. Today, the Buzzfeed poll has over 3.7 million votes on the colour of the dress. This will remain a part of history as one of the most viral debates of all time and now you know exactly how it happened and where it came from.
When you think of hockey and music one song should automatically come to mind…the hockey song by our own Canadian native Stompin’ Tom.
Stompin’ Tom
If you step foot in any sports bar in Canada and The Hockey Song comes on, well get ready to sing. It is a song that brings together all hockey lovers and especially all Canadians. Released in 1973, Stompin’ Toms hit has yet to falter. It will most likely be played at every hockey game you attend and I know at my house at least once on Canada Day. Is this song the unofficial anthem of Canadiens and hockey lovers worldwide? Will this song eventually stop being on the rotation for Hockey Night in Canada? None of these things we will know for sure but here is my professional take on one of Canada’s most cherished hits.
The song was written, produced, and performed by Charles Thomas “Stompin’ Tom” Connors. He released it in 1973 with his album “Stompin’ Tom and the Hockey Song”. The song was originally played at an Ottawa Senators game in 1992. Instantly capturing hocket fans and coaches attention because soon after Pat Burns the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the time insisted the song be played during their games. This sparked the movement of “The Hockey Song” across Canada, quickly being played all across Canada in arenas and bars. Now the song is known all across America and even in Europe with it being played in the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League).
A young Stompin’ Tom performing in front of a live audience.
Stompin’ Tom became a Canadien icon and performed frequently during games and even made an appearance on Conan O’Brien where he performed “The Hockey Song”. Now, Tom has more hits other than just “The Hockey Song”, none of them compared to the success of “The Hockey Song” but nevertheless they are still Canadian classics. Some names of his hits are “Lone Gone to the Yukon”. “Roll on Saskatchewan and many more. Most of his songs honour and talk about Canada in some way. This is just another reason why he is such a Canadian legend.
If you haven’t heard “The Hockey Song” I highly recommend listening but if not I will walk you through the song. Stompin’ Tom writes the song as if it were a game of hockey. Starting with the puck drop and ending the “first period (verse)” with the lyric of “Someone roars, “Bobby Scores!”, at the good ol’ Hockey Game. Bobby is referring to Bobby Orr who is another one of Canada’s heroes. He is commonly referred to as one of the greatest of all time. The song continues talking us through the second period and then the third. Where the listeners find out that the game is the Stanley Cup final. As the song comes to the end we hear the famous line “”The puck is in! The home team wins!”, the good ol’ hockey game.” The upbeat nature of this song and perfect description of the game is the exact reason why it has captured Canadiens for decades.
Stompin’ Toms album cover.
To answer my original question I believe that the reason this song is the unofficial anthem of Canada is simply because of passion. You can hear in Stompin’ Toms voice how much love he has for the “good ol’ hockey game”. As one fan states, “in every Canadien household, Stompin’ Tom is considered family”. That passion and undeniable love for hockey and how much it means to Canadiens resonate with people all over our great country and it is for that reason I believe this song will never go out of rotation. It stands and represents too much to ever be replaced. It doesn’t matter where you are, how old you are, or what team you support, when “The Hockey Song” comes on you SING your heart out! It’s simply a part of history at this point.
I LOVE shopping and clothes and before I became a broke and budgeting university student most of my paycheque would go directly into funding my wardrobe. My favourite store was/still is Aritzia, and for those of you who do not know Aritzia is EXPENSIVE. I’m talking 150$ for a nice blouse expensive. Pre-university I had no bills besides filling up my gas tank once a week, I had nothing to necessarily “save” my money for. Now this is not an article about my spending problem but rather how to find your favourite brands and staple items when on a serious budget. I’ve had to adapt and relearn how to shop. Sadly I can’t remember the last time I stepped foot into an Aritzia, that is a sentence I never thought i’d say!! Here are my top tricks and tips for finding your favourite brands and clothing items when you actually can’t afford to enter the actual stores.
USED, USED, USED
Never underestimate how many “new” used clothes are out there. I was afraid of used clothes, having the idea in my mind that all the used clothes out there are barely holding together, have a weird smell and have been through the wash more times then you can count. That is not the case. Use me for example, I bought a dress from Aritzia for 130$ wore it about a dozen times at my job and then when I quit I sold it for 30$. That is almost a brand new dress that is 100$ less than the retail price. People buy clothes for all different occasions or events and then never wear them again until their mom or friend suggests selling them online. Some of the best finds are on local sites like Facebook marketplace, Used Montreal, and eBay. People tend to post their clothes on here because they need to get rid of them and clear out their house/closet. Another option is sites that are specifically for used clothes. I like these sites but I tend to find they are a bit more pricy. Because it is a strictly online site with individual sellers selling used clothes the shipping fees rack up to be pretty expensive. So just be careful, with that being said some good sites like these are Depop and Poshmark. This article takes a closer look at some of these sites and recommends some other great ones. I absolutely recommend typing in the brand you are looking for in some of the earlier mentioned sites and searching through these websites.
Some used Aritzia clothes currently on Facebook Marketplace! Most of these items sell retail for at least double the listed price!
2. Thrifting!!!!
You may be asking right now isn’t thrifting the same as used clothes? Why is this another whole paragraph? I strongly believe buying used clothes and thrifting clothes are different. Firstly, thrifting is much more organized (for the most part). When you go into a thrift store usually the clothes have been somewhat sorted through and are separated by colour, size, or whatever organizational system they use. Thrift stores are good for getting unique items and getting tons of clothes for cheap. They may not be the best quality but you can find some new items to add to your wardrobe to freshen it up a bit. There are also some more “high-end” thrift stores that only sell used high-end brands. It’s definitely more expensive than a regular thrift store but if you are in need to shop for high-end pieces but don’t want to buy retail head to one of those stores!
Eva B is a popular thrift store in Montreal. With 3 floors you will definitely find at least one keeper here! Plus they have a cafe in store so you can grab a coffee while you shop!
Ruse Boutique is a good option for a luxury thrift store, with some big brands including Gucci, LV, and more!
3. Clothing Exchanges
This may be an unfamiliar term to some of you. I personally did not really know what this was until my friend invited me to one. A clothing exchange is when a group of people get together and each bring a bunch of clothes they (or their families) don’t wear anymore. The organizer then sorts through all the clothes that people have brought and organizes them. Everyone then comes over and shops for the clothes they want! Essentially it’s free clothes! Although this option requires the most work, it is by far the most rewarding. Take my friends and I for example. All of my friends were stoked to be able to get some of my old clothes because the majority of my clothes are Aritzia. I walked away from the clothing exchange with around 10 pieces of clothing, a number of them soon becoming some of my favourites in my closet. If you and your friends organize a clothing exchange it is a great way to freshen up your closet and get rid of some tired pieces in your own closet and again this entire process is FREE. Another benefit of organizing a clothing exchange with your friends is that you know what kind of styles and clothes they have and the condition of them. At this clothing exchange I picked up a jumpsuit from Aritzia that is regular 170$ and I got it for FREE. Clothing exchanges are an amazing way to get new clothes and to clean out your closet. Organize one with your friends, buy a bottle of wine and make some appetizers and I promise it will be a good time. If you want some more information on how to start planning a clothing exchange check out this article.
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