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| - It breaks my heart a little not to be able to leave a five star review. I am a huge fan of all this shop's owner does for this city, and I'm rooting for this business and all her projects, and there's a lot about this store that is very charming. I'll also say that my critiques are easily addressed, not irrevocable or intrinsic, so I'll look forward to coming back to write a more positive review in the future. At present, though, Room Service is OK, but a little bit disappointing.
First: when I walked in there today, the place just smelled terribly of cigarette smoke. The smell was strong enough and fresh enough that I could in no way persuade myself that it had blown in from the street or next door--it seemed the only explanation was that someone had been smoking in the back. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm wrong, they sure need a new ventilation system. That may not be a deal-breaker for everyone, but it certainly left a terrible first impression on me, and it immediately ruled out my buying any of the adorable vintage outfits or Cleveland-themed clothing or bags I wanted (I bought the latter elsewhere instead). I'll confess that it left a negative enough impression that perhaps it colored everything else too strongly, because I really just wanted to get out of there quickly. So hey, if you're a smoker, take what I say with a grain of salt. Not everyone is as touchy about this as I am, but it did lose this one person's sale.
Smell aside, the store itself is completely adorable--but the items within it are unfortunately pretty limited. The owner really is a genius designer/decorator--her experience with interior design at Anthropologie, etc. is very obvious. Antique typewriters, cool old boots, well-arranged linens and tsotchkes: I wanted to buy all the displays! On the other hand, alas, the items actually for sale are quite few, so unless you happened to want one of these very particular gifts, it's hard to find something to buy even if you wanted to (and I wanted to: I came in not to browse, but to buy). I realize that no one wants to tie up huge amounts of capital in inventory unless you have confidence it will sell--tricky in our beloved Clevo--but without more variety, there's no chance to linger, discover, consider, and find. It takes 5 minutes to wander through the store, even though it is interestingly and thoughtfully laid out. I wish there were more interesting books, household and kitchen items, decorative things from clocks to ottomans to doormats to plates to wall-hangings to calendars to vases to... well, just *more* cool "lifestyle" and vintage and hip urban stuff of the sort that's already there. Because her taste is fantastic--truly. But any shopper needs more than a few dozen items to choose from. And one gets tired of buying earrings as gifts all the time.
The service is always first-rate. Extremely friendly without crowding you, helpful and professional. The store is in a terrific new location, with lots of other little places to wander around nearby, so you can spend several enjoyable hours in the area shopping and eating, etc. Room Service has a clear vision, a great aesthetic, a lot of promise, but it is simply too thinly stocked, at least for this particular shopper. And there's no excuse for smoking in a place that's selling fabrics and paper goods that are going into people's homes.
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