Our oldest daughter, O, who is 9-years old has always been all about reading and art with a bit of jazz/hip-hop sprinkled in. This past summer, with the Olympics on, and me training for a 5K run, there was a ton of female sports power going on in our household. At her summer camp, she was excited to join the swim team (inspired by Missy Franklin, no doubt). She then was inspired to join our community’s swim team and tried out and made the VARSITY TEAM! You don’t know how happy my husband and I were to
Most recently, O has expressed interest in joining her school’s track team (!!!). Now, our reader/artist/dancer had NO proper shoes to run a New York City block, so I was glad to find out that a new kids sports apparel store called Rookie USA had opened up. We decided to leave downtown Manhattan and take a shopping trip to the Upper West Side to check out Rookie USA’s kids sports apparel selection. We were hoping to get new running sneakers for O, a new pair of sneakers for S, a pack of sports socks for both girls and a new swimming suit for O.
I went on to the Rookie USA Website to find out where it is located and the store hours, so we can plan our Saturday morning shopping trip. The great thing? You can sign up right on the website to receive a $20 gift card for your first in-store purchase! So, I did and immediately, I received an email with my Rookie USA e-giftcard. Perfect for our shopping trip!
I then tried to look around for any store information like its address and store hours, but no information was on the website. Now, I thought that the information has to be on their Facebook page – so I went on to Facebook and searched for the Rookie USA Facebook page. I found the page, which did have the address but it didn’t have the store hours! So I wrote a post on their Facebook timeline asking what their hours were and they wrote back within 25 minutes, which I appreciated their efficiency.
We took the 2/3 subway up to 96th Street and walked over to the store which is quite large, spacious and easy to shop. It was separated right down the middle with girls apparel on the left and boys apparel on the right. We did, however, beeline towards the huge sneaker wall in the back.
Olivia had a hard time choosing, she chose 3 styles and tried on a bunch of sizes. She had grown so much! I thought she was a size 13 or 1, and when we measured her, she actually was a size 2! That tells you the last time I bought her shoes!
S gravitated to the sparkly “No Time to Lace” Converse low-tops, which are perfect for a 5-year old who does not know how to tie her shoes yet.
While we waited for our shoes to come up to try on, I searched for a pair of skinny jeans for my girls. Finding a pair of skinny jeans that fit our girls has been a very tough challenge for me the past couple of years. Quite similar to buying a swimsuit. For real. I appreciate their huge selection of Levi’s jeans that come in every size, style, color. Unfortunately, neither of my girls were in the mood to try on anything except for some flashy new sneakers.
O decided that she loved the Nike Pegasus in the grey/electric yellow combo, which after some time (the sales associates were very patient in bringing up a several styles and sizes) we found the right size. S decided that she wanted the silver pair of “No Time to Lace” Converse sneakers – which I love because it goes with everything from jeans, to leggings to even a skirt.
As we made our way out the door, O passed by the Nike girls apparel shop and I showed her the different styles that girls wear for the different sports, from sports bras, running shorts, Nike Dri-fit t-shirts that keep you dry even though you are sweating, to some completer pieces.
O fell in love with this Nike jacket and it looked so good on her, we decided that it would be a great complement to her new sneakers and perfect to wear to track practice.
We had a great shopping experience and the store associates were very helpful and patient, but I do have thoughts on how to make the Rookie USA shopping experience better:
- More information online: I’m sure all customers would appreciate it if all the Rookie USA store information was on their website (such as hours and address). Their store address is on the Rookie USA’s Facebook page, but it would have been great to have both pieces of information on the website and on the Facebook page.
- Complete the outfit: Since my daughter bought new sneakers, I would have loved to have bought her Nike socks, but they did not have any in big girl sizes – only little girls.
- More sports represented: I would have loved to see swimming apparel and soccer shoes and apparel as well. Soccer is a big sport for O’s friends and I know that they would want to buy soccer apparel and sneakers.
The girls liked their purchases so much, that they wore them right out the door! Since we were in my old neighborhood — I lived around the corner from the Rookie USA store after college — Michael and I took the girls to one of our all-time favorite diners on the Upper West Side, for a celebratory lunch of a successful shopping trip!
WIN IT! Super easy: First five people to comment on this post, wins a gift card for in-store use – so GET COMMENTING!
For more information visit the Rookie USA Website, Like the Rookie USA Facebook page, and follow them @RookieUSA.
{I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Rookie USA #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions expressed are always my own.”}