A FORMER TK Maxx employee TK Maxx has lifted the lid on what we’ve all wanted to know for years – how to find the best deals and prices in store.
Employee Emily Spridgens, 26, from Loughborough, now an NHS respiratory physiologist, spent nine years working in two different TK Maxx stores from the age of 16.
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“Working at TK Maxx was amazing,” she says. “I started working at 16 as a Christmas temp and worked part-time at university.”
Here, she reveals how to get the best and biggest bargains at TK Maxx and how to know when a big sale is on the way.
Keep an eye out for ‘scamping’ machines
“Every day, except Sunday, stores received product deliveries at 6 am.
“Between 10am and 11am we started labeling and placing the new stock on the shelves.”
Emily explains: “If you see employees with cheat machines, you know new stock is about to be released.
“A scam machine is a handheld device with a printer that looks a bit like a fat cell phone.”
She says that the TK Maxx team uses the machine to print the product label.
Yellow labels are the ‘Holy Grail’
“Red tags mean a product has been reduced.
“A yellow sticker is a customer’s ‘Holy Grail’ – it’s the biggest bargain because it’s a final clearance price and can be as low as 20p.”
“Each label has the number of the week in which the product first arrived at the store.”
Emily reveals that this is an important thing to remember: “Six weeks after an item first arrives in store, it is discounted by almost a third or 30%.
“The discount on older items begins when the stock delivered that day ends up on the shelves.
“If you’re not interested in new inventory and are hoping for an item you’ve been eyeing to be discounted, this is the best time to be in the store.”
“Once the team completes the daily inventory update, you know they will start fraud or discounting older items.
“Follow them and see which items are being discounted to get a bargain.”
Write down the dates
Emily explained that after an item has been in the store for eight weeks, it will be discounted again — this time by another 15 to 20 percent.
She added: “This discount continues every two weeks.
“If you want a dress or household item but don’t want to pay full price, record when you first saw the item in the store and set a reminder for eight weeks and then every two weeks.
“That’s how people get designer dresses, shoes and coats for such cheap prices.”
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Emily revealed she once shopped at a different TK Maxx store and found a pair of white jeans and a floral Prada sundress priced at £12 reduced from £700.
She explained: “It went through so many discount cycles and nobody wanted it.
“I made it and it takes pride of place in my wardrobe.”
Monitor ‘Numbers of the Week’
The TK Maxx team can easily tell if an item is discounted because the tag has the original week number when it arrived at the store, but Emily revealed that sometimes items go through the discount process.
She said: “Often an item is returned and put back on the shelf without being discounted again.
“I tell people to look at the week number on the tag, if it’s week 50 and the product you’re buying has week five on the tag, take the item to an associate and ask if it’s the correct price.
“You may find that the item has missed several discounts and you will get a real bargain.”
Why You Should Persevere with TK Maxx
Fashion editor Clemmie Fieldsend reveals why TK Maxx is such a hidden gem
It’s no secret that when faced with the rails and racks of TK Maxx bargains, you can feel extremely overwhelmed.
But you should never let this discourage you.
Think about it: in December, we will all be sharpening our elbows to face the sales.
Well, I think TK Maxx is the same except there is less scum.
I recommend going in the morning if you can.
The factory floor will be tidy and less busy, so your overall shopping experience will be smoother.
Don’t worry about going to the store on Sunday as it’s the only day they don’t take delivery so stock will be at a minimum.
I went into an agency to have a look and ended up finding a Celine dress with hundreds of pounds off the RRP.
The ‘Gold Label’ department is my favorite area, it’s a curated edit of all the high-end brands like Celine, Stella McCartney and Gucci.
If you can’t look at anything else, I advise you to go there first to get used to it.
So enjoy the rest of your time looking for a bargain.
20p is the lowest price
Emily says TK Maxx products continue in the discount cycle until they reach 20p.
She says: “This is the lowest price.
“Most of these items are sold in the store’s final sales.”
She explained that there are three final releases per year and that there are clear signs that customers can look out for.
“Shoppers may notice a final sale coming up because staff will be clearing out space in large areas of the store.
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“The next final sale this year should be in October or November – there will be leftover Halloween products, summer clothes and summer garden accessories.
“In January you can get Christmas gifts, decorations and festive items.”
But these aren’t the only big sales, says Emily: “In April, another final sale is held and you can buy winter clothes, Easter decorations and school clothes at discounted prices.
The key is to become a member
TK Maxx has its own loyalty system and Emily says it’s important to join the club, she says:
“Make sure you get a TK Maxx card.”
She explains: “Instead of vouchers you get keys.
“Once you get five keys on a card, you can choose a free gift online.
“This could be anything from bath salts to an umbrella or a chance to enter the gift draw and you don’t have to pay postage for the item to be delivered.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
