Department Stores - which companies?

I have been successfully mystery shopping for about 6 months, and so far it's been great fun, though I don't net that much $$$. I am trying to find out which companies handle the shops for major retailers such as Macy's, Bloomies and Nordstrom. I live in the Bay Area of California.

Does anybody know?

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If we did, we could not say....its in those ICA agreements.

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“Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling."
~Gilbert K. Chesterton

The one of those that is in my market requires double digit purchases in 4 departments that are not reimbursed so you can go back later and return the stuff. The fee hardly justifies two trips.

If you are looking to make more money, the major retailers are not where it's at, at least in my opinion.

Thanks for the advice. I have a part-time job in a mall with several major retailers, so I just figured since I'm in the mall anyway...why not!

The major retailers are not going to do much for you even if you are in the mall already. It seems to me that the rotation on the retailer I did is/was 90 days, so at best you could do 4 jobs there per year. But in the mall there are a lot of other opportunities--food places, cell phone providers, glasses shops, chocolatiers, party stores, joke shops, etc. etc. What I have found is that it generally makes little sense for me to go to the malls to do the shops because mall shops tend to pay less than the ones that are in shopping centers around the area and the parking and distances within the mall make them longer to get to. But if you are there already you don't need to try to get enough accumulated on the same day to make the trip worthwhile.

I just discovered this site today. I can't believe the quick responses to my questions, as well as the impressive numbers shoppers are posting on the "July" entry. I'm inspired to spend more time "trolling" for jobs!

Unlike many of the shopping sites many of the members here are active. While entering shops it is easy to multitask to here and to the job boards

I agree. If I can line up 3 or 4 shops it's worth it, but to make a special trip, nah. Only if it's bonused. Now if I worked at the mall already, and just spent an extra few minutes here and there, then that is worth it. I also agree on the major retailers not be being the best shop. The others that you mentioned are more likely to pay better, and I bet there are some free lunches in your future Judi!

I go to the mall all the time, but then its only a mile from me! And as the largest mall in the state, and the home to all those luxury stores that are there to lure foreign tourists, the mall is definitely the hugest money ground for me. Everything else is still close, but I can do more at the mall than even in Waikiki.

I understand the luxury stores, but those are generally not the major department stores that the OP asked out.

Ya. I was just commenting on my situation...Maybe where she works there are some of those stores. I have never shopped a department store. After everything I have read about doing them, I don't think I want to! :-)

I do work in a luxury mall...can't afford to buy much on my lunch hour. Now if I could just figure out who does Starbucks! I'm already doing lots of Peet's shops, but there's (of course) a gazillion Starbucks really close by, and I do love my lattes.

They used to be shopped quite a lot but I think Starbucks has pulled back or eliminated their shops at this point.

I used to do speed of service shops at Starbucks. Last summer they cut those out. Then they were just doing the non-company owned, temp/scale shops. I did not do those, but they were the same MS company. I have not even seen any at all for months. SB is not doing well, so they may have cut it all together to weather the tough times. They are laying off and closing stores.

I prefer Peets in a heartbeat, but we only have one here. :-)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2009 08:04AM by dee shops.

Yes, there were several new locations opening up here that were far enough along that they were hiring but closed before they opened. But the company does appear to be slowly recovering so perhaps they will live to be shopped another day.

In another thread Flash, who is VERY knowledgeable about financial issues with companies, mentioned that SB's earnings were on the upswing. Maybe in a year or so they will come back...

If only consumers refused to pay $$ for a cup of coffee as a daily habit. And, don't even get me started on bottled water.

Hey, there is a wonderful story about a VC and the start up of SB. He was like, "The guy wants to charge HOW MUCH for something everyone can get for $.25? Nope, were are not going there."

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/31/2009 01:29PM by dee shops.

Mert Wrote:
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And, don't even get me
> started on bottled water.

Oh why not? I laugh that we complain about the price of gas but from time to time on gas and brand to brand on the water consumers are willing to pay more per gallon for water!

Or ink jet ink. Worth way more than Fuel!

dee shops Wrote:

>
> I prefer Peets in a heartbeat, but we only have
> one here. :-)

Did you know the guy who opened Peets was one of the original Starbucks guys? I love Peets, by far superior and what Starbucks started out to be when the really hand roasted and took pride in every cup.

I left management with Starbucks over a year ago now, just as they started closing stores. Talk about timing. Growing pains and all, it was just ridiculous. Half of my quarterly bonus was based on Snapshot (myster shops) scores, so its hard to believe they are gone.

Its not like SB suffers...they are Seattle's Best, McD's, Costco, Sams Club and so many of the hotels and arenas private labels too. The roasting plant is a few miles from my house and just fascinating to tour.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2009 12:00AM by jjage.

Private labels can fool the best of 'em. We can get more caught up in packaging than contents. Sounds like you got out just in time. No Peet's here - except in one grocery store. Care to share your background at SB/Corporate?

dee. Glad you mentioned ink jet ink. HP, Dell(Lexmark) and Lexmark can be refilled cheaply at Walgreens. I have done this 6 times so far and the refilled carts last longer than the new. Plus, they put the refilled cart in a box with a $5 off next refill coupon on the bottom...

Shopping Bama and parts of Georgia.
I'm still learning 24/7.

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Department Stores - which companies?

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