BeallsFlorida.com

Full review
I discovered BeallsFlorida.com purely by accident, when I was searching for a brand of women's clothing I wear most often, simply because it's a style I like, comfortable and sporty. The companies name is Caribbean Joe and features tropical floral prints, just like Tommy Bahama's clothing line except for more than half of what Tommy's sell for, yet really look the same. Big florals, palm trees, like I said a true tropical look. Well, I live in the tropics so why not? Besides, these shirts are made of 100% cotton, a criteria I insist on for the hot humid weather I must endure during the summer months…Cotton breaths and makes all the difference in the world when the temps outside are in the 90's, I throw one of these shirts on with a pair of Capri's and I'm good to go..

Problem is Caribbean Joe's line of clothing is hard to find in the brick and mortar stores and even Macy's doesn't sell them anymore, the store where I first discovered these shirts.

When I was doing a search for Caribbean Joe's Clothing, BeallsFlorida.com came up so I went to the site, typed in the name and voila, a whole page opened, offering the shirts I was looking for, as well as capris, shoes, hats and that was just for women…they offered menswear also by Caribbean Joe…really neat swimwear, shorts and shirts are available for men and just like for women they look just like Tommy Bahamas…for instance a Tommy shirt in Bloomingdales sells for over a hundred dollars..$26.50 in Bealls. And the quality looks the same. Sometimes I think they are the same shirts only with a different label

In the women's line the have sizes in Petites, Misses and what they call Positively Plus wear. Since I like my shirts to be roomy instead of hugging and showing every line of my "voluptuous body", I always buy a larger size, usually an extra large in the misses line, but sometimes this size is hard to find and I get frustrated, so, one day, just for the heck of it, I went to the Positively Plus Department I was amazed at how big the selection was. (This does vary and sometimes the selection is less than other times so I check often), this is especially true when I receive an e-mail notifying me of a sale or savings promotion. For instance last week I had an e-mail, Today Only, Wednesday, June 4th, Extra 15th off with code…then Click here for Details These kind of promotions usually do same some money and often I find just what I'm looking for, my favorite Caribbean Joe shirt..

But don't get me wrong, they have quite a big assortment of clothing lines, not only for men and women in all sizes and styles but a good selection of children's wear too and, they sell home goods as well. I have a favorite kind of casual drink ware I like to use, double insulated to keep ice from melting too fast keeping the liquids colder longer without that dripping sweat that forms on the outside of the glass, perfect for taking a cold drink to bed at night….These are hard to find and when I do, they are usually a bit on the higher price end for a set of four. BeallsFlorida.com has quite a variety of these glasses in many patterns….Last time I bought a set they were offering free shipping so I really scored, paying $9.99 for the whole kit and caboodle. When they arrived the design, featuring Water birds, Egrets and Herons, was even nicer then in the picture on the website.

The site is set up in a very consumer friendly way. If you know what you are looking for the search box is at the top of the home page just below the categories of items they sell.

If there is a special sale going on that will be featured along with the weekly ad and links to take you there; such as Gifts for special occasions, like this week, Fathers Day, so you do not have to search the entire site for a particular occasion, there is also a customer care service, gift cards and locations of their stores in the corner, on the top right hand corner is your all importantshopping bag

The categories for shopping are listed in a bar across the top in blue;
Women's, Shoes, Men's, At Home, Kids, Juniors, Brands, Sale, and Hot Deals

When you click on one of those you are taken to that main page where you will find all the sub-categories, the sizes and item categories… from there you can go to brand names, of which there are so many, and some very good brands too… These stores, both on-line and brick and mortar, sell both new items and items that are still new but not currently sold by the manufacturer…somewhat like the merchandise you find at Marshalls, TJ Maxx or Ross…Brand names for less money and sometimes much less money.

Navigating the Site
This is quite an easy site to navigate. If you are on the women's page (or whatever page you are interested in), you will find, on the left, pictures for each shop; the specialty shops, brand names, petite and positively plus and next to each picture are the brands you will find in those sizes….you can also do a search in the search box for something special, such as I do for Caribbean Joe, or Claiborne, whatever you are interested in…You are taken that particular page to see just what they have to offer…if you find an item you like and need some more info just click on the item and a new page opens with the picture of the item where you can zoom in to get a better look, which is quite a nice feature. Then there are drop down boxes for size and color and quantity. If you decide you wish to buy that item, then just add to shopping bag.

Buy one item or as many items as you wish, when you are ready to check out, it's a breeze. Just give follow the prompts and fill in all the information they ask for, you can have an account ready for speedy check out. There is also a place you can put a discount code or gift card.

Delivery and Service
To tell you the truth, I've ordered quite a few times and haven't had much of a problem… once I was curious about the colors on a shirt so I called their customer service. A friendly representative gave me the information I needed. It takes about a week before something you order gets to your door. Last Monday when I found that 15% off special I decided to check and see if they had any new shirts…I thought it would be nice to take something new with me on our little getaway to Palm Beach for business event,(actually a huge food show)and party we were going to attend the next day. Sure enough, there were some new items and one I really liked…so ordered it, the sale price came up immediately and I though it wasn't much it would cover the difference in shipping.

Right after placing my order I received an e-mail with an order confirmation number. The next day I received a notice that it was being shipped by priority mail with another confirmation number and then a shipping tracking number.

Friday my package arrived in my mailbox….the only thing I can say negative was that it seemed the shirt was just stuffed into the USPS mailing envelope…not a big deal but not like the packages I get from Lancôme which all seem carefully packaged. It was just folded inside of one piece of tissue paper then put into the bag. I really do like the shirt and actually it looks nicer in person. The return policy is that they will take anything back but you have to pay for shipping unless there is a problem on their end.

All in all, though not a fancy schmansy kind of on line store, BeallsFlorida com has a great selection of inventory and good prices. Their customer service is excellent and delivery is always quite fast. Thumbs up for BeallsFlorida com Having been to one of their tacky brick and mortar stores in Orlando, it really surprises me each time I order that the merchandise is as good as it is. Stay out of the store but order on line, that's my motto when it comes to Bealls.