The Canoga Park Marshalls used to be a shining star, a glorious and gigantic store chock full of chic clothing and fantastic bargains. But like an aging movie star, the glamour has long-since faded and the memories of its heyday surpass its present state.\r
\r
I hadn't been there in a couple of years but decided to venture in this weekend. I'm glad I went in daylight; it's a pretty frightening shopping center. The grocery store next store is boarded up and the building and parking lot are dilapidated. \r
\r
Inside there's a glimmer of hope. The store still looks pretty big but the women's clothing departments are sadly small in comparison to other departments. The dress department amounted to about 30 dresses including about 20 on clearance; truly dismal. Overall, the proportion of clearance racks to new items was about 1-to-1. For the truly thrifty this could be great, but I was looking for new stuff and was VERY disappointed. \r
\r
The shoe department is great. You won't be digging through shelves of shoes organized by size. No, this is like a real shoe store. You see a style and you see if they have your side (self-service - neatly organized and convenient). The Home Decor department is also huge and full of goodies.\r
\r
Marshalls got smart and organized a single checkout line. The funnel of shoppers is fed into whatever number of open registers there is at the time. The only drawback is the crummy shopper who takes cuts (yea, it happened) and the clerk who couldn't care less. \r
\r
Prices are still great as always and if you have the time and want to shop the whole store I'm sure you'll find some true bargains. \r
\r
There are two Marshalls locations closer to my home: Northridge and Stevenson Ranch. They are smaller stores but nicer. I may make the trek to Canoga Park in another year or so, but not any time soon.\r
more