This shopping recommendation reminded us that we needed to get over to South Knoxville and check out the Steve and Barry's store (discussed here previously).

Report after the jump....

The austere but neat and clean operation is as advertised. We didn't see anything in the store that cost more than $20, including an extensive line of sports shoes. They mostly sell tops, shirts, t-shirts, and shoes, but they also have a good assortment of jeans. There's also a good line of athletic and collegiate wear. No casual slacks for men, though.

I got two nice, 100% cotton polos for $6.49 each and a pair of training/walking sneakers for $14.98. The total bill for two polos and a pair of sneakers came to $30.54 with tax. That's less than half of what you'd pay for one Polo brand polo shirt at the mall. The Mrs. found a couple of tank tops she liked, but they were cut too long for her liking (apparently that's the style these days).

They seemed to have better variety and selections for men's clothes, with lots of different styles and colors of polos and other shirts. If you're looking for a Hawaiian shirt, they have a boat load left over from summer on sale for $6.50 each.

The only real complaint was from the Mrs. Apparently the store's featured big seller is t-shirts with printed slogans (they had about a million of them). Some of the slogans were inappropriate to the point of offensive. Many extol the virtues of being drunk and/or stupid, and there are quite a few with sex and drug references. I can't imagine where anyone would wear some of them. Even having your kids see them while shopping and asking what they mean could be a problem for some families (I had to explain a couple to the Mrs.). Or maybe that's just the norm for the R-Rated society we seem to live in these days.

Anyway, this store will be a great benefit for those starting out in the workplace who need to dress up a little on a budget and for families who need to outfit their kids on a tight budget. I predict huge success.

(The sub-standard labor conditions of suppliers and displacement of American workers is an entirely different topic that was discussed in the earlier post. But one of the shirts I bought was made in India, the other in Egypt. The shoes were made in China. Another shirt I looked at was made in Bulgaria. I didn't see anything made in America.)