The Banana Republic store at the Wilshire Boulevard entrance to the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica has an interior design that is so sweeping and soaring you want to clutch the staircase handrail for fear you'll start levitating. http://www.cimgroup.com/cities/santamonica/1202_third.asp But the clothes neatly piled on tables and shelves or suspended from hangers quickly bring you back to reality. The color spectrum creeps cautiously from black to khaki, with an occasional red that looks as if it's been stone washed so it won't call attention to itself. The staff, on the floor and behind the checkout desk, is friendly and helpful. But there's nothing they can do to inject fashion excitement into the men's jackets, shirts and ties. (The women's clothes don't look so great either.) You say to yourself, J.C. Penney has more thrilling threads. Wouldn't you know, this Banana Republic used to be a Penney's.
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