Ode to Joy (Joy The Store)

Member Name: sweet_decline

Product:	Joy The Store
Date:	29/05/09 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great for women's clothes, especially dresses

Disadvantages: Majority of gifts not to my taste

Quirky, fashionable and sometimes downright outrageous - these are just a few words that describe the clothes store Joy. Most women (and indeed many men) will have a favourite shop where they somehow always find 'exactly' what they are looking for. Mine is Joy.

----WHAT IS JOY?----
Founded nine years ago, Joy's slogan promises 'Love, Life, Laughter'. It sells women's and men's clothing, plus gifts, cards, shoes and accessories.

----WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT?----
There are 20 Joy stores in all, most located in and around London. There are also a number of branches in Scotland and Leeds, as well as York and Bristol.

A new website has recently been launched, which you can order from with next day delivery at £7, or within 2-3 days at £5. Free delivery is offered should you be fortunate to have over £100 to spend. These prices are fairly standard for home delivery... but I prefer to visit the shop instead. The website has a wide range of the products offered in store - but does not seem to include them all. I looked for a dress which had sold out in my size at the shop online, but couldn't find it. Of course, it could have been the end of a line.

I'm lucky enough to work right next door to a branch of Joy, so I can often be found in there at lunchtimes - browsing or hurriedly selecting an outfit for a special occasion. In fact, most things I've bought over the past year have been from this shop.

----WOMEN'S CLOTHES----
Joy sells a range of clothes, but dresses seem to be a real speciality here, and definitely my favourite. At this time of year the floral sundress trend is obviously evident, but there is a variety of dresses in all colours, patterns and styles. My local store must have over 50 dresses to choose from.

Perhaps borrowed from Topshop, they also have a 'Buy it now before it's gone' section - which is housed in an actual wardrobe, freeing up space on the shop floor.

I always find the rails of clothes to be well spaced out, allowing me plenty of room to look through them. Clothes are generally grouped together in same or coordinating colours, making it easier to find what you want. For example, I love bold reds, greens and blues (not at the same time though obviously) but don't suit pastels, so I can easily steer clear.

Dress prices start at around £25-30, with the average being about £40. Having said that, I did once pick out a dress just before Christmas and was shocked to find that it was nearly £100. Don't worry - I put it down again quickly! I've seen jeans priced £30-40, and tops from £10. The sales are also well worth attending, and they have occasional promotional offers, such as 25% off all dresses.
I find the sizes come up pretty average - less generous than Next but roomier than Miss Selfridge.

After buying dresses from Joy, I've never seen anyone else wearing the same dress - always a fear as a woman, especially if the other wearer is thinner/taller/blonder. I also think they look more expensive than they are. For example, I recently met some old schoolfriends for a night out. These ladies are not averse to paying four figures for a party dress - absolutely unthinkable for me. They loved my Joy dress that I'd picked up for less than £40 (although I didn't tell them that) and I didn't look out of place at all.

Another gem I picked up was my winter coat in 2007. I had looked all over London for something a little out of the ordinary - but in red wool. My search ended at Joy with a red wool coat with black textured stitching for £80. I have seen a few other women wearing this but I just smile at their fine sartorial elegance. The coat still looks good as new after two winters' wear.

----CHANGING ROOMS----
The changing rooms at my local branch are quite average. There are enough rails so you can take in lots of options - they've never restricted me on numbers of items taken in. There's a little stool to lay your current clothes on as well, and the lighting and mirrors are good. However, the curtains don't really cover the cubicle properly, and some cubicles can be seen from the shop floor. Need I say more? I pick my cubicle very carefully. On the plus side, I've never had to queue for a changing room.

----SHOES, JEWELLERY AND BAGS----
Joy also stocks shoes, jewellery and handbags, as well as purses and hosiery. It is all well laid-out in the shop with plenty of space allocated to each item - no rifling through bargain bins here.

One of my best bargains was a pair of shoes for £5 in the sale over a year ago. I've worn them frequently and they are very comfortable and have lasted well. The size comes up true as well. Shoes available range from strappy heels, to ballet pumps and sandals - but my local shop only stocks about 10 options altogether, not on a par with specialist shoe retailers.

Both funky plastic and sterling silver jewellery is stocked, with a range of styles and prices starting from a few pounds for the plastic to around £50 for the silver items with semi-precious stones such as rose quartz and black onyx,

Joy offers around five handbags at a time. They are generally of a decent size, with plenty of side pockets. I recently bought a leather handbag for £40 after trailing around town hunting for one that had a zip (to deter any light fingers on the tube) but with side pockets for my Oyster card and enough room for a packed lunch... oh, and not black. Easy, you'd think? But Joy was the only place that came up trumps for reasonable price.



----MEN'S CLOTHING----
I haven't spent an extensive amount of time browsing the men's section, or made any purchases. However, Joy mainly stocks printed T-shirts with logos from 70s/80s/90s TV shows, films and computer games.

Great if you're into that retro look and long to have the A-Team emblazoned across your chest. They don't come cheap though - £30 for a T-shirt, which I think is ridiculous. They also have a range of jeans starting from £50 - again, not the value for money seen in the womenswear section. My other half branded it all far too expensive and strode off to H&M instead.

----GIFTS AND CARDS----
This is where I think Joy really falls down. There is a nice selection of picture frames, novelty books and candle, but nothing really special. However, they also stock what I can only describe as puerile junk best left to the worst of novelty shops. I can't say that I have any friends who would welcome a loo roll holder that breaks wind - but maybe I just hang out with the wrong people.

Many of the cards are equally obscene, and it's a struggle to find one that doesn't have expletives emblazoned across it. I would be horrified to present someone with some of the cards found there.

----STAFF----
I've found the employees at Joy to be nothing but helpful and friendly. You are greeted with a 'hello' as soon as you walk into the shop, but there is no pushy sales technique and you are left to browse at your leisure.

I like to try lots of things on and take my time considering what to spend my hard-earned cash on, especially for a special occasion - and this has never been a problem. They are great for fetching you another size if you're already in the changing room, but they don't butt in and offer you well-meaning advice. I've come to shop, not be Trinny and Susannah-ed.

At the cash desk, the staff are again very friendly. You can pay with most credit/debit cards, or good old-fashioned cash. They also check if you need a bag - which I never do and hate some shops where you have to quickly grab your purchase before it is submersed in the obligatory polythene. They do tend to wrap delicate clothes in tissue paper, which I quite lack if it is a special dress, although I realise it is very wasteful and would stop them for a normal purchase.

----SCORES ON THE DOORS----
For dresses alone, I would have no trouble giving Joy five out of five. Alas, the gappy changing room curtain and tacky gifts drop it to a four.

www.joythestore.com

Summary: This shop brings Joy to my heart