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Review content:
Costco, Target and Nordstrom Rack. Need I say more?
Costco is so fantastic. As part of company policy, they cap their profit margins at 15%, and always carry good-quality, higher-end items which appeals to the middle and middle-upper class families which form the majority of the population on the Eastside (Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland).
From Costco, I just bought a bottle of French Bordeaux wine (which uses mostly Cabernet Sauvignon grapes), a first-growth (or grand cru) '03 Chateau Angelus for $130. This is a fantastic deal and has a lot of potential to appreciate in price if stored properly, in my humble opinion.
Target is kind of a more retail-friendly version of Costco, with less of a warehouse, bulk product feel, but still very good quality brands (like Isaac Mizrahi). There is one in Redmond at the end of 520, and one in Factoria in the Factoria Square Mall.
Nordstrom typically carries high-end, stylish items, and their "outlet" version, Nordstrom Rack, carries previous years unsold inventory at deep discounts. Since I am not typically a fussy dresser and do not have to follow the current season's latest fashions, I am more than happy to purchase the high-quality apparel that is readily available at Nordstrom Rack. They have a branch in downtown Seattle next to the flagship Nordstrom store, and another branch just south of the Factoria Square Mall.
The other two places that I like to shop at are the Seattle Premium Outlets next to the Tulalip casino, and Robson Street in Vancouver, BC.
Seattle Premium Outlets carry the good solid stylish American brands like Polo, Calvin Klein, Banana Republic, and Nike. They have a wide variety of clothing sizes at discounts of 20-30% over regular retail. This place is very popular among the Hongkongers who live in Vancouver, especially with current USD-Canadian dollar exchange rates. On Victoria Day (a Canadian holiday), when I visited the outlets, every single car in the parking lot had BC plates, and 70% of the people I saw in the outlet mall were Asian and speaking Cantonese :-) According to the cashiers that I chatted with, they are ferrying them over by the busloads now as part of organized tours. Who would have thought that an outlet mall would become a tourist attraction?!!!
Last but not least, I really like Robson Street in Vancouver, BC. It is the closest shopping experience I have seen to the Champs d'Elysees in Paris, or SoHo and Bleeker Street in NYC. There is a distinct European feel to it, with many sidewalk cafes and European labels, like Chanel, Prada, Armani and even fcuk, for example. (Incidentally, fcuk stands for French Connection UK, and not a misspelled version of something else that you may have been thinking).
I really really wish we had something like Robson Street here is Seattle. I think it would revitalize the shopping economy here. Perhaps when we finally tear down the Alaskan Way viaduct and open up the waterfront with the Olympic Sculpture Park, we could do a more Euro-style shopping district here, bordering Pike Place market and Pioneer Square.
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