I Bought Coach Factory Outler Online Item Can Return To Coach Store

Can you return an item bought at a Nike outlet store (Camarillo, CA) and return them to a regular Nike store?

Question answered: Can you return an item bought at Nike outlet store (Camarillo, California) and return them to regular Nike store? I bought sweatpants at the Nike outlet this weekend. I realized the size was too big but I have to drive 60 miles to Camarillo to get them exchanged/refunded so I would want to go to Nike store and return them if possible at all because I don’t want to drive 60 miles just to get refunded.I shop at the Camarillo Outlet Stores myself and I drive there from Santa Barbara where I currently live.I hear you when you talk about driving 60 miles to get there. It might even be a longer drive for me, but if not it’s certainly close to that.I’ve had several conversations about returns when I’ve shopped for clothing, shoes, handbags, and other items there.One of my first surprises was to learn that the outlet stores have their own merchandise in many cases.What this means in a practical sense is that the merchandise sold at the outlet stores is made from lower quality materials than similar garments in the regular stores found in traditional shopping centers. Eddie Bower is a good example of this. The outlet sells inferior merchandise which I learned after the fact.When it comes to returns, you can now understand why a regular Nike store may not accept returns from a Nike outlet store. The merchandise isn’t the same and therefore cannot be sold at a regular store.The same thing is true of Nordstrom Rack. You cannot return Nordstrom Rack merchandise to a regular Nordstrom store. They are two different operations.For a pair of sweatpants, it wouldn’t be worth a 60-mile drive to refund something this inexpensive. The cost of gasoline would eat up much of your refund.There are two options here. One of them is mailing them back to the outlet store. I believe that may be okay, but I would call them first to confirm this one way or the other.The other option is to wash them in hot water and use a hot dryer to shrink them. Given what I know about the merchandise typically sold at the Camarillo Outlets, I imagine they would shrink a full size - if not even more.

How do outlet stores make money?

Originally, outlet stores functioned to minimize losses for major brands. They sold obsolete/last season, overstocked, defective, returned, and lightly damaged products that could not be sold at retail prices.Now, they've evolved to become the defacto bargain brand division, selling brand new products. Rather than create a bargain brand, like Old Navy for The GAP, it's been easier to just make specific “only for outlet” product lines. The operating margins are just as rich since outlets operate in outskirt locations with very low rents and labor costs. Often, the outlet divisions outsell the original retail shops. While that’s great for the bottom-line in the short-term, the approach dilutes the perceived value of the brand name, something that the savvy European brand giant LVMH guards zealously.That's what is happening with Coach. About 60% of its total sales are through its outlets. Since the outlet locations sell Coach bags at 1/3–1/4 of retail, we can estimate that roughly 80% of all Coach bags by unit volume are sold through its outlets. This was a conscientious effort to squeeze short-term profits at the risk of losing all its brand equity.For 5 years, this worked and CEO Lew Frankfort got gigantic bonuses for “growth”, becoming one of the top 5 highest paid CEO. By 2014, the Coach brand had been completely trashed, and the board brought in LVMH veteran Victor Luis to stop the bleeding. However, it’s incredibly expensive and time consuming to rebuild. Coach is now resorting to desperate gimmicks to drive sales, like making a leather Mickey Mouse-shaped bag. Really?