Dress Barn Closing: Shop NOW, Don't Wait For Liquidation!

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Heads-up bargain hunters!  In a surprise announcement, Dress Barn has announced that they will be closing all of their 650 stores in the United States.

However, 'store closing' sales don't automatically equal crazy good buys.  

Here's how to shop the Dress Barn going out of business sale and really save money.

Know what a good price really is. These store closing sales will often jack up the retail prices on items, even higher than what the store originally charged for them.  

So a pair of pants that might originally have cost $36, for example, might now be on 'sale' for 25% off a new retail price of $49.99 -- which means you could be paying $37.49 for that pair instead.

I saw this phenomenon first hand back when Borders went out of business.  The liquidation sales attracted customers who typically didn't shop the store, and therefore thought 10% off books or Blu-rays was a steal.  

Regular customers, on the other hand, were used to snagging new releases for 30% or 40% off list price.  

I will never forget talking to a cashier at that sale who said, "If these new customers had been this excited to shop us before, we never would be going out of business!"

I did go to my local Dress Barn location this week, however, and it looks like current prices -- including an additional 50% off all clearance! -- are still in effect.  

Plus stores are still accepting text, email, and receipt coupons on both sale and clearance items.

So you might actually want to shop now rather than wait for a full liquidation sale to start!

Stick to your list. Decide in advance what sort of items you're interested in, and stick to browsing those sections. 

This tip works whether you're a shopper who gets carried away by the thrill of the hunt, or you're a shopper who gets easily overwhelmed by too many choices.  

As always, the impulse shopper is the one that spends too much money.

Don't expect assistance from staff personnel.  In fact, often those people working the cash registers in a store closing didn't work there before.  

Frequently, a company will lay off long-term employees early in a liquidation process, and then hire a cheaper team of employees just to make it through the closing of the doors.  

That means those folks have NO idea where the items you want are, and honestly don't have a lot of motivation to help you out, either.

As of May 21, though, the employees appear to be the regular retail staff -- so again, another reason to shop now rather than when the liquidation sales start!

Get creative.  As the Dress Barn store closing sales progress, stores will sell fixtures, furniture, shelving, and basically anything that isn't nailed down.

Now might be the time to score some storage for your stockpile, or other household organizers!

What other advice do you have about shopping store closings or liquidation sales?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!