Lineblogging

The Line for Today's Mulberry Sample Sale Started at 7am

By Tiffany Yannetta Sep 10, 2013, 8:35am EDT

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Mulberry hasn't held a public sample sale since 2008, but today, one will kick off at 9am at Soiffer Haskin. Racked reporter Mickey Sery has been on line since 7:30am. Read his account below.

7:30am: So far there's a line of about 50 people. The second person here arrived a little before 7am. The first person in line was sleeping on a stool.

7:35am: A delivery truck just arrived that needs access to the freight entrance next door, which the line was blocking. Without being asked, everyone politely separated to let the truck in, and got back in line in order. This might be a good sign that the crowd isn't the smack-a-bag-out-of-your-hand-to-get-it crowd.

7:38: The line is all women except for two guys, plus me.

7:40am: Ten more people have lined up behind us. The majority of the ladies seem to have brought large bags. Hopefully the coat/bag check is a smooth process.

7:45am: People walking to work keep asking what the line is for. A lot of them assume it's Fashion Week related.

7:46am: A guy just walked outside of the building and said "something happened" and we need to move. He ushered us across the street in groups of ten so that no one would get hit by traffic. Everyone remained in the same order without any upsets.

7:56am: Groups of people in line have started making trips to Dunkin Donuts, which is right around the corner.

8:00am: About ten more people have arrived.

8:05am: Stanchions have been brought out to prevent us from blocking another service entrance to the post office we are standing in front of. About 80 people in line now.

8:13am: Someone behind us brought their laptop and they're doing some serious work. Upon closer inspection, it looks like they're analyzing DNA. No joke.

8:15am: Just walked back to check the stanchions and the barricaded areas is a large freight entrance. The beginning of the second line has about 20 people in it.

8:26am: More guys are starting to pop up in line—about 20 of them have joined.

8:36am: All of a sudden the line just moved forward about 20 people. The guy in charge is now directing people back across the street to go inside the building. No word if the sale is starting early, or if we're just lining up inside.

8:40am: They;re letting more people in and it looks like we are lining up inside. The guy in charge just announced that we have to check all bags and whatever we are carrying, everything except wallets and cell phones.

8:45am: We're inside! The space at least, the sale itself hasn't begun yet. Half of the line has their stuff checked already. No beverages allowed in, so everyone has to ditch their coffees.

8:50am: The coat check is passing out clear plastic bags so you can carry your wallet and phone with you and keep your hands free. They're letting people up the stairs now.

9:05am: We're still not in, but overall there's a calm vibe amongst the crowd.

9:06am: Movement! The sale's open!