STORE WARS: Banana Republic vs. Amazon
Starting March 13th and running through April 2nd, Dappered.com is hosting a bracket based tournament with the purpose of eventually crowning the all around Affordable Men’s Style Retail Champ for 2012. For a full introduction see this post. The bracket on the right will be updated as the tournament progresses. Click on it for the full size. Make a case for your preferred competitor in the comments section, but don’t forget to vote at the bottom of each match up. On with today’s showdown:
Strengths: If you wanted to, and some would, you could build an entire good-looking wardrobe from casual to dressed up to everything in between out of stuff found at Banana Republic. Short of watches, they’ve got it all. They’re the top floor of GAP’s three story brand structure, and in the past year they’ve pulled even further away from mid-level GAP in terms of style. Prices remain relatively low as long as you hang out for sales and play the promo-code/coupon game. Their modern fit blazers and suits come with a welcome contour, higher than normal armholes, and slim shoulder pads. They’ve really stepped up their suiting game lately. The Italian fabrics used in some of their garments are superb. Outerwear is usually outstanding. Sweaters are right up there. Shopping experience in-store is usually clean and professional. Everything online ships free over $50. Returns are free in-store.
Weaknesses: Like all GAP brands, you’ve got to play the code and sale timing game, and then sometimes the exclusions can be numerous. Paying full retail at BR should rarely happen. Most of their goods are made in China. Many have complained about bad quality for their shoes. Mad Men/Monogram markup is steep.
Strengths: Shoes, watches, and… that’s about it. Less front of mind “style items” like music, books, kitchen stuff, etc… all readily available. Shipping is incredibly fast if you splurge for the Amazon “Prime” experience.
Weaknesses: They’re the 800 pound gorilla of the online shopping world, but when it comes to clothes, they’ve got some work to do. Even their shoe department can seem like a forgotten section of some enormous big box store. Promotional emails about “you might like” such-and-such-watch are transparent. Sales, outside of Black Friday, can be disappointing. And again, their clothing section seems to be a slight blemish that Amazon doesn’t seem to have any real desire to remedy. But to be fair, sartorial expectations should be low for a retailer that carries a 55-gallon drum of water based lubricant.
Your votes determine who goes on to the next round. Cast your ballot below. Voting closes at midnight ET.
UPDATE: Despite some serious support in the comments, BR cruises to victory.
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Store Wars: Banana Republic vs. Amazon
- Banana Republic (76%, 1,322 Votes)
- Amazon (28%, 488 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,734
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BR. I find that one can subsist for a rather long time on his first 55-gallon drum of lube, so that doesn’t draw me to amazon.com very often.
Where do you buy your shoe and leather care items? Ironing or sewing supplies? Assorted colors of nato straps, leather laces, Orion belts, shaving items and hair care products? If you think Amazon is nothing but an occasional shoe deal, you might want to work for another site.
while br is clearly a better clothing store, style for me is more about the smaller touches once you’ve got the basics. once you have your basic repertoire of shirts, pants, and jackets, do you ever need to go back to a banana or the like? amazon is the better long-term store, in my opinion.
Does Amazon include Endless?
BR doesn’t carry X-Small in Canada, so my vote goes to Amazon.
not in store wars
Looking at the comments I expected BR to be down!
I voted Amazon. I’ve picked up a handful of little details there, whereas from BR I’ve got a shirt that survived five washes and a cashmere sweating pilling after one. I’ve been disappointed by their quality.
BR’s jackets only go up to 44. Fail!
Amazon.
Agree with ageektrapped. You can find larger than a 44, but you have to order online, which means the inability to try something on. I am 6′, 200lbs, and by no means consider myself a big guy, so that most of what BR has in-store is no larger than a 44 is disappointing.
BR’s silk-blend sweaters are AMAZING values. Amazon is good for a lot of things, but not so much for clothing.
This is a bit too apples to oranges for my taste. But with that said, Banana Republic easily wins.
does Amazon even sell jackets? seems like your comparison metrics are way off.
For fashion- Banana. For, quite literally, everything else- Amazon. I probably spend more money at Amazon than I do on my mortgage payment.
i vote for amazon… i have not found anything I’ve really liked at BR in forever – I’ve purchased AE shoes, watches, wurkin stiffs, etc from Amazon… I’m really surprised to see amazon losing.
Voting for Amazon as well. As much as a vote for Amazon it is a vote against the awful style of BR.
I very rarely shop at BR, I often shop at Amazon, for things including clothes. I also think BR is very overpriced for what it is. Amazon gets my vote.
Wow, BR is slaughtering Amazon and I guess I get it, but then again I figured that most of the readers here weren’t putting together an entirely new wardrobe from scratch.
Amazon gets the nod here, if only because my wardrobe is pretty stable and Amazon, like mentioned, is a great source for polishing out your look with a piece here and there.
Hmm I don’t know if BR being constantly 40% off is considered good or not; on the one hand, the 40% off deals are great and I buy stuff from there frequently because of it, but on the other, it seriously makes me question the original pricing. The fact of the matter is that I always prefer J Crew, or nearly any other store, to BR at equal pricing. BR is a bit too conservative for my tastes in terms of style.
That said, BR vs. Amazon – definitely BR. Amazon is useful if you send me a direct link to a cool item, but I find the interface for clothes shopping a bit too difficult to navigate. BR’s online store is similarly bad, but its physical stores are great and make up for it.
I’ve had terrible customer service with BR, so I gotta go with Amazon.
The “reviews” on that 55 gallon drum of lubricant are hysterical. I voted for BR. I love their sweaters and accessory items (scarves and the like) when they’re on sale.
Love amazon, but for clothing they’re not very interesting. Have to go with BR, at least in this context.
If this was best retailer for living it would be Amazon, but for clothing specifically it has to be BR
BR’s clothing is incredibly boring, and far too expensive for being so basic. It’s the worst.
Does Banana Republic include Banana Republic Factory Stores? The fact that J.Crew and J.Crew Factory are separate entries makes me think it does not.
Eeeeasy Bezos. No need to get huffy now. Points are well taken, but for the record, personally: shoe and leather care items come from my local cobbler guy. Ironing and sewing supplies, can’t recall where I got the iron. Nato straps? I got my leather pair off ebay, and for the other colors/striped ones, picked up a few slip-thrus at target. But I don’t wear em’ that often. Shaving items and hair care, brick and mortar stores. I’m not too picky, so that stuff is easy to find for me.
Rest assured I will pass along your suggestion for alternative employment to my supervisor.
A friend passed that drum link on to me. It’s rare that I say this, but sometimes? I love people.
Unlike the BR Factory items, J. Crew Factory is available online. It’s not necessarily limited to online companies, but it helps if everyone has access to them.
BR
I dont always prefer their clothes, though many things are very nice, but Ive never even considered Amazon for clothes. Shoes maybe, but for clothing its no competition. I dont see BR winning the next round though.
BR is a great place to get staple items if you’re smart enough to wait for sales + coupon codes. If you can snipe a 40% coupon code, their tailored suits are the best deal I’ve found on a well-fitted OTF suit, especially since I need separates anyway.
Amazon is a great place to get watches, but that’s about it for me. Their sizing/color system is too cumbersome to make clothing or shoe shopping particularly convenient, and many of the other small things other folks have mentioned (shoe care products, etc.) are just as easy to find and buy in person at local stores.
*OTR suit.
Maybe YOU can…
I used to buy button ups at Banana all the time, but I hardly fux w/ BR at all anymore. I would be willing to try a suit during a sale, but that’s probably it.
I shop at Amazon quite frequently, but not for clothes. I took the upset here, but thinking in tourney mode, this is like comparing, say, Ohio State and Duke. In fo otball, OSU wins by 40 every time, but in BB, it’s a toss up. If I’m shopping for a watch or shaving cream/ DE razor blades, Amazon, but probably not for clothes.
BR. Sure, I tend to use Amazon in a pinch when I’m buying personal care supplies or other necessities, but they’re all things I can get at the cobbler or Walgreens anyway. I’ve only bought a few items of clothing from Amazon and I’ve been all but disappointed with sizing and quality.
Tough decision being that these two stores are usually used for very different reasons… gave it to Amazon because the only thing BR is good for (imo) are their slim-fit non-iron shirts; most everything else is just not worth the price.
For clothes? BR.
the mad men promotion should preclude br from winning. they were about four years late on that fad.
plus, amazon is amazing.
agreed. cadillacs to fiats. BR hands down
Yeah, they do. Amazon sells everything
Yes, but when you know your size you can order a ton of things online. I’m 6’5″, 255 and the XLT fits me perfectly. All of my casual shirts are BR, and most were bought at least 30% off. I love them.
BR in a blowout, this is a 1 seed vs a cannon fodder 16th seed. Especially when it comes to building an office work wardrobe, BR excels at shirts ( Their slim fit dress shirts blow away Express 1MX for guys that have bigger shoulders but still narrow waist, their v neck undershirts are awesome, and their chinos are fantastic. Blazers also great. The trench coat Joe has talked about is incredible as well for the price. The only issue I have with BR is their online customer service, make sure when you place an order you really want it. They make canceling an impossible task. That is the only knock I have against them.
Other side of the coin, BR tall is just not tall enough
It’s really hard to be on either end of the extremes.
This one is a tough one. Last year, since it was the first Store Wars, I could weigh my entire experience of the two stores and I would have gone with Amazon because I have found a ton of great deals through Amazon. Truly some amazing stuff. The problem is that I haven’t found any clothing deals from them, in the past year. I don’t think I have bought any clothes from Amazon and so they lose (plus, they have been a lite evil lately so I am deducting a point for that)
That said, I haven’t been too keen on BR lately either. Outside of their outerwear, their clothes haven’t been great. Overpriced, not great quality and made in China. I would rather go to Gap and save a few bucks or J. Crew and get a better quality piece.
I like BR. I have a ton of stuff from there. Never really check Amazon for clothes. Maybe I should.
Nothing BR/GAP/most Old Navy fits me right. They seem to have a hard time scaling up clothes to XL, although the trench you suggested fits pretty great. I have to go with Amazon. I don’t really buy a lot of clothing through Amazon however they are worth it for accessories and watches. They also are a great resource for clothing supplies like hangers, shoe trees, brushes, irons, ect. While those things are not clothing they do impact what you wear by quite a bit.
BR is over priced and bland.
I hope you know you’re not supposed to wash cashmere.
Sorry, pilling after one wear*
if you’re 6′ and 200 lbs you should easily fit into BR clothing. Most of their stuff is relaxed fit. My friend is 5’10 and 220 and wears mostly BR.
Amazon is a mess of disorganized random sellers, awful or dated brands and items, and a lack of any styling. Banana Republic nails the ‘Good not Great’ brand of clothing to my tastes.
in store that’s true, but they carry up to 48 online. my beef is that all of their jackets come in their pre-tailored fit. I’m a bigger guy, and their modern fit just doesn’t work on me.
easily Amazon….which gives you the option to select a variety of high quality clothiers, as opposed to the generally-overpriced poor construction of high-priced Gap…
It’s been years since I bought something at Banana Republic. Probably gonna stay that way.
BR all the way. Yeah, Amazon has everything. Yeah, I spend a ton of money through them. Have I ever bought clothes through them? No. Will I? No. The mish-mash of brands and stores is hard to navigate to actually find things you will like, and it seems like many of their items at low prices even appear to be of poor quality. Plus it’s an online only experience, a huge knock for me, as I pretty much need to try things on before I buy them.
BR, on the other hand, has always provided great in store customer service, and what I consider pretty good style. I’m not going to say you should build your entire wardrobe from BR, but there are definitely worse places you could go. I’ve never experienced any issues with quality, and their OTR fits are pretty great.