Table of Contents
- 1 That includes ordering items to fitting rooms.
- 2 The new Amazon Style store is the behemoth retailer’s first foyer into brick-and-mortar clothing stores.
- 3 It looks like a cross between Urban Outfitters and an Apple store.
- 4 When I entered the store, I was greeted by cheerful employees.
- 5 It was like if Trader Joe’s employees were selling you clothes.
- 6 The gist is this: There are no sizes available on the showroom floor.
- 7 If you want to try something on, instead of the usual act of schlepping through sizes to find yours, you just scan the QR code attached to the clothing item.
- 8 When you scan the code, an Amazon link pops up on your phone and takes you to the online store.
- 9 You simply add your size to a dressing room, then the app alerts you when the room is ready for you.
- 10 I went to the store with my 18-year-old sister (it’s probably not a coincidence that this is the first story she’s joined me on).
- 11 A few times, she turned to me and said: “I feel like we’re in the future.”
- 12 We were both expecting the store to be full of fast-casual Amazon-brand clothing, but that wasn’t our experience at all.
- 13 There were bright, cheerful displays advertising different clothing vibes.
- 14 “CASUAL DRESSES,” read one sign.
- 15 “Hi, that’s for me,” my Gen Z sister said. She promptly walked away from me and toward it.
- 16 As we wove our way through the women’s section, I was surprised at just how many different styles of clothes were available.
- 17 There were dresses, jackets, jeans, and shirts.
- 18 In the middle of the women’s section was a large display advertising “influencer looks.”
- 19 The displays had specific QR codes that would take you to that influencer’s favorite Amazon-supplied clothing.
- 20 I didn’t know who the influencers were. Neither did my sister, but their choices were cute.
- 21 The whole experience was wildly sleek. I decided to try something on to get the full vibe.
- 22 I scanned the QR code attached to the jean jacket I wanted to try on and chose my size.
- 23 The Amazon app asked me if I needed an accessible fitting room and what gender clothing I most wore.
- 24 Then, it informed me that there would be more items waiting in the fitting room that they thought I would like.
- 25 (Who is “they”? The algorithm is powerful.)
- 26 I locked my phone and kept browsing, but I wasn’t totally sure how I’d know when the fitting room was ready.
- 27 Did I need to go up to talk to an attendant? That felt unlikely.
- 28 Did I need to keep checking the app? I wasn’t sure.
- 29 I checked every few minutes, until 10 minutes later, it said my fitting room was ready.
- 30 I beckoned my sister, and we went upstairs to the second set of fitting rooms.
- 31 It was decorated almost like an Anthropologie store, with different-sized mirrors, magazines, and botanic wallpaper.
- 32 I walked to the room assigned to me and pressed “unlock your room.”
- 33 That’s the only moment when the whole sleek experience got a little clumsy.
- 34 There isn’t very good cellular service in the Glendale Galleria, and my phone was struggling to connect enough to unlock the door.
- 35 After waiting a minute or two, my sister suggested I look for an Amazon WiFi connection, which I did.
- 36 It required joining an “unprotected” WiFi network, but it solved the problem quickly. The door was soon unlocked.
- 37 The fitting room was spacious and had a screen welcoming me in. “GET STARTED!” urged the touchscreen.
- 38 On the left side of the room was a rack with the jacket I’d chosen (and three others the algorithm thought I might like).
- 39 Through the touchscreen, I chose another sweatshirt and requested it to be delivered to my fitting room.
- 40 Then things got really futuristic — or maybe my sister and I were just easily impressed.
- 41 On the far side of the fitting room was a closet.
- 42 When you order something else to try on while you’re already in the fitting room, an employee delivers the article of clothing through the other door of the closet.