On Wednesday at 10am, luxury brand The Row opened its sample sale to the public at The Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City’s Flatiron district, with people waiting since 10:30pm the night before just to get a place in line.
The brand, which was created by tycoon twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in 2006, sells its simple, understated pieces for thousands of dollars at retail, but this highly coveted sample sale allows hopeful shoppers to snag items at prices up to 80 percent discount.
When DailyMail.com got there around 8 a.m. Wednesday, the line was already nearly 200 strong, stretched for two blocks and wrapped around West 19th Street and Sixth Avenue.
Some people we spoke to had even played hooky from their jobs for the day, calling in sick, while others balanced their laptops on their laps while “working remotely.”
First in line for the sales extravaganza, which runs until Saturday, was a young man named Brian Patterson, who had been there since 10:30 pm the night before, except he wasn’t there to buy clothes.
On Wednesday at 10 a.m., luxury brand The Row opened its sample sale to the public at The Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City’s Flatiron district, and people have been waiting there since 10:30 p.m. the night just to get a spot in line.
First in line for the sales show, which runs through Saturday, was a young man named Brian Patterson.
“Some people have tents, others just lie on the ground on boxes or just bundle up in chairs, for the most part,” Patterson told DailyMail.com on Wednesday morning.
Patterson works for a company called Same ole line Dudes LLCwhich allows people to hire others to wait in line for them.
“Some people have tents, others just lie on the ground on boxes or just curl up in chairs, for the most part,” Patterson told DailyMail.com on Wednesday morning.
Robert Samuel, the owner of Same Ole Line Dudes, told DailyMail.com that they charge clients $25 an hour and an additional $15 if they start before 7am.
Patterson couldn’t tell us exactly how much he was making for this gig, but confirmed that it was less than $1,000.
In this case, Patterson had secured the best spot in line for his client, who hired him a month ago and was due to show up to replace him at 9 a.m.
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“It’s called being on time, that’s all I can really say,” Patterson said. “Even if they give you a correct time to be here, try to arrive a little early.”
Samuel told us that they had fifty employees working on the line.
In this case, Patterson had secured the best spot in line for his client, who hired him a month ago and was due to show up to replace him at 9 a.m.
Robert Samuel, the owner of Same Ole Line Dudes, told DailyMail.com that they charge clients $25 an hour and an additional $15 if they start before 7am.
“This is our Christmas,” Samuel said, explaining that The Row’s sample sales have easily taken the cake as their biggest gig, superseding iPhone launches.
Patterson couldn’t tell us exactly how much he was making for this gig, but confirmed that it was less than $1,000.
They even had to hire reinforcements from their back-up team, not to mention their core team of 26.
“This is our Christmas,” Samuel said, explaining that The Row’s sample sales have easily taken the cake as their biggest gig, superseding iPhone launches.
“We received 50 (inquiries) on the first day of the email announcement,” he said, joking that his “life was ruined” last Monday at 4 p.m. when the email announcing the sale reached customers.
One of Same Ole Line Dude’s customers, Defne, 23, decided to hire a babysitter this year after waiting nearly 10 hours in line during last year’s sale.
“I met Robert at the Missoni sample sale earlier this year,” Defne said. “So I thought, I’ll hire them.”
One company, Future Reference, which is a reselling platform, even used the sale as a business opportunity and arrived early in the morning to hand out free coffee and brochures for their website.
Others, however, decided to wait alone, like clients Ali, 42, of Westchester, New York, and Grace, 29, who lives in the West Village.
Ali’s husband dropped her off at 11:15 the night before and Grace arrived twenty minutes early, both hoping to find a bag, coat and shoes from the coveted brand.
Others, however, decided to wait alone, like customers Ali, 42, of Westchester (right), and Grace, 29, who lives in The West Village (left).
One company, Future Reference, which is a reselling platform, even used the sale as a business opportunity and arrived early in the morning to hand out free coffee and brochures for their website.
When DailyMail.com got there around 8 a.m. Wednesday, the line was already nearly 200 strong, stretched for two blocks and wrapped around West 19th Street and Sixth Avenue.
The two, who are veterans of The Row’s sample sale, became fast friends while waiting in line overnight, only to be numbers 29 and 30 in the long line.
“I ordered a pizza,” Ali, who waited 10 hours last year, told DailyMail.com.
“We talked,” Grace added, explaining that the person next to her had even started DJing.
But despite the grueling all-night wait, they both agreed it was worth it simply to get some new pieces at a discount and not have ‘FOMO’ (fear of missing out).
“I don’t want to see someone else’s loot, I want my own,” Grace said.
Others skipped a day of work for the momentous occasion, like Marie, who used a different name to maintain anonymity, who had been following details of the sale on TikTok for a week.
I was trying to figure out the best strategy for purchasing some shoes and knitwear, and that required calling from work.
“I said I’m not going to participate,” Marie, who works in academia, told DailyMail.com.
Others skipped a day of work for the momentous occasion, like Marie, who used a different name to maintain anonymity.
“I ordered a pizza,” Ali, who waited 10 hours last year, told DailyMail.com, adding that someone else acted as a DJ while they waited in line overnight.
Marie arrived around 7:30am and was at the back of the line when we spoke to her, along with her friend Ian, who also used a different name to maintain anonymity.
Ian was about to take out his laptop to start working remotely.
While we were there, Marie revealed that the line is not without drama. He said that last year, some people used the Jimmy Choo sample sales line, which was significantly shorter and in the same building, to sneak up on The Row.
I was trying to find out if people were doing the same thing this year.
“I would totally consider it, I mean, this is New York City, the movers and shakers,” he told DailyMail.com.
“We have to work quickly,” he added.
For Winnie Wong, who works in Democratic politics, today’s sale wasn’t her first rodeo.
She told DailyMail.com that she had actually been at the private sale for The Row’s friends and family the day before, but returned for the “second round” today around 9am, as she lives just a few blocks away. away.
“I commit to waiting until the battery runs out, because when it runs out, I have to go back to my desk,” Wong said.
“I’ve had some work calls that have been substantial and important, but can be done standing on a good day,” he added.
During the private sale, Wong bought two silk shirts, a long skirt and a pair of sandals, but this time she was looking for a T-shirt dress.
“I really love The Row, I think what they’ve done with the brand is smart, strategic and certainly profitable,” Wong said.
‘But would you pay full price for Row items even if you could? No.’