Saving Money at Gymboree

I have a soft spot for clothing from Gymboree. Their clothes are so cute and I love their classic styles and prints. What I dont like is their price tag! But, I have found that, with a little effort, you can get Gymboree clothing for cheaper then Walmart prices.

Parent's Magazine had a coupon for 20% off any purchase in their April 2010 issue. And, I had a gift card that Mini Cooper got for Christmas. We no longer live near a Gymboree, but my parents do. So, while we were visiting for Easter I went shopping!




My loot: 2 rompers for Mini Cooper for next fall, 1 shirt for Mini Cooper, a shirt for my nephew, 3 pair of socks for Mustang, a pair of pumpkin tights for Mini Cooper, and a pair of shoes for Charger. The shoes were my best find as they were on our needs-right-away! list. The tags were cut and the shoes were worn as soon as we got home from the store, hence the second picture.

My grand total before tax was $23.95. If I had paid full price my total would have been 141.45. In other words, 17% of the retail price!!! And, if you know me, this is my normal way of buying Gymboree.

So what's my secret? No secret really, but here are a few tips to help out:

1~Use a coupon when ever possible. You can stack coupons on top of any sale or clearance price. The only exception to this are Gymbucks. You cant stack a coupon with a Gymbuck, but you can earn Gymbucks while using a coupon.

2~Go straight to the clearance rack. Seriously. Gymboree spends only a few weeks on the full price rack, so unless you need it for tomorrow, wait.

3~Go with an open mind. Try not to have something specific in mind. Just look for the best deals.

4~The little sizes are the cheapest. Gymboree has 2 sizes of clothing 'Baby' covers size 0-3 through 18-24, and 'Little Kid' covers size 3-6 months-5T. Notice the overlap on 3-6 through 18-24 months? These sizes are more plentiful. They also make size 3, 3T, 4, 4T, 5 & 5T, so again a bit of overlap there. The other sizes that tend to be on the clearance rack are size 10 & 12. I know this is due to the fact that the Gymboree styles tend to be 'cutsie' and most 10-12 year olds are looking for grown up, but if you have a child that is tall for their age this might be a great place to look!

5~Ask the sales ladies. I have gotten some of the best deals this way. They had stuff in the back that hadnt made it to the floor for lack of time.

6~Dig through the bins. I have felt like I was at a yard sale and not a pricy kids store digging through plastic bins of stuff. But in there I have found 1.99 pants, 50 cent shoes, 19 cent socks, and other great goodies over the years.

7~Dont buy stuff just because its on sale. Do you like it? Will your child wear it? Do you have some thing that will match it? I have made the mistake of buying cheap items that never found an outfit to go with. I realize this is a risk one takes with clearance buying, but some things are just quite unlikely to find a match.

8~Draw the line. While I was in the store, it was Gymbucks earnings time. If I spent 50.00 I would receive a coupon for 25.00 off a purchase of 50.00 or more-good during the Gymbucks redemption period. The fact is, that I hadnt found 50.00 worth of stuff that I REALLY wanted. Fight the urge to hit the mark just to get the Gymbucks. Gymboree makes money for a reason, they know that by getting you to spend that extra 10, 15 or 20.00, you will end up buying something that is priced higher then you normally would have spent. THAT SAID, if you do have 50.00 worth of things to purchase, the Gymbucks are a great deal and I have gotten them often.

And one last tip...Many people think that an outlet means cheaper prices. With Gymboree, that's not always the case.

I hope you have found a few things to help you dress your kids in name brand clothes for a whole lot less. And if you have the Parent's Magazine coupon, it expires 4/30/10 so get shopping Momma! God Bless!!