Vancouver Shopping: Jcrew Opens On Robson

When I spotted the “Jcrew Coming Soon” sign on Robson a few months ago, I literally jumped for joy. I was very excited about this addition to the Vancouver shopping scene. I’m a long time fan of the retailer and often rush to the Pacific Place store after work during business trips to Seattle. I also receive the monthly catalogue and love poring through it and dog-earing pages for my next trip. However, ordering online at Jcrew.com has had mixed results for me: the shoes for my wedding were a huge hit. The blazer and tops I ordered last time were the wrong size. And returns can be a pain.

Vancouver Shopping for the Bold

The Jcrew store opened on Robson on April 25, 2012, so I popped in the Saturday before last to check it out before the weekend shopping crowds arrived. When I got there it was already getting busy. The store was a little smaller than I had hoped for, but I saw many of my soon-to-be summer favourites upon entering. Jcrew is such a great store for those who love colour and pattern. I was glad to see they had mixed in their fantastic accessories throughout the store such as jewellery, bags, and footwear (tip: check out lower shelves for simple flip flops).

Great Staff

The staff is what you would expect of a Jcrew store – friendly and helpful. They are eager to help you find what you are looking for, whether it is certain product or a specific size. I very much recommend asking for help with accessorizing or layering. While I usually know what I like, the staff at Jcrew has often found me great ways to layer patterns and colours that I would not have thought of myself. The main floor has a great selection of shorts, dresses and tops. I wish they had more of their denim and pants, but hopefully that will come. Their dresses and beach cover ups are just gorgeous and have me very excited for warm weather and vacations this summer.

Don’t Miss Upstairs

Upstairs I was pleasantly surprised by their shoe and handbag section. While the selection is by no means representative of their massive collection online, it’s great to be able to confirm your shoe size so that you can order online in case the style you are looking for isn’t there. They also have a great men’s shop (the only one in Canada) that has a good selection of shirts, ties, socks, pants, and jackets. As with all of Jcrew, the style is a good mix of preppy and quirky. Vancouver shopping at its finest.

Try it and ship it

Jcrew.com ships to Canada using UPS and charges a $9.95 flat rate, so if you can’t find a size or style, I recommend ordering it online. But now that I can actually visit a store whenever I want, I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot more in-person shopping.