Canadian department store Winners is often considered a favourite among shoppers, popular for its discounted designer goods, off-price beauty products and seasonal homewares.
With 168 stores across the country, it's a stalwart of the Canadian retail industry, and almost every Canadian will have browsed its bargain-packed aisles at some point in their lifetime.
The retailer promises cheaper-than-usual products across categories like clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products and gifts, and many of those items originally come from designer or brand-name stores.
However, as with any store that sells a little bit of everything from a huge range of designers, suppliers and brands, sometimes dud products inevitably slip through the cracks.
Earlier this year, Narcity Quebec's Laurie Forget spoke with former employee Martha* to find out which items you should leave out of your cart when shopping at Winners – from kitchen utensils to certain electronics.
The employee, who preferred to remain anonymous, worked across several departments in the store, from the cash register and fitting rooms to the store floor and the warehouse.
Based on her own experiences and the feedback she heard from customers, here are the 11 products that she says she'd consider buying from somewhere other than Winners – and why.
The headphones
Headphones for sale at Winners, Canada.
Speaking to Laurie Forget, the former employee offered some cautionary advice about purchasing headphones from Winners, noting a perceived inconsistency in quality.
"The headphones at Winners are really not worth it, especially the headphones that look a bit like Beats," the ex-employee said. "They often break after a week or two."
While Winners' headphones quality is unpredictable in her opinion, Martha said that the earbuds can be more consistent — although she noted that their lifespan is still not great in her experience.
The charging cables
Chargers for sale at Winners, Canada.
And headphones aren't the only electronics to pass on when shopping in Winners, according to Martha.
She told Narcity Quebec that the retailer's selection of smartphone chargers should also be avoided, particularly those with cheap, rubber-coated cables.
According to the ex-employee, these cables often end up twisted or broken as the cable wires bend. For a more reliable option, she suggested choosing the thickest cable option or those with a braided coating for maximum protection against wire breakages.
The bath towels
Although Winners is known to offer discounted products and affordable designer wear, that doesn't mean some items are not still overpriced.
Martha told Narcity Quebec that Winners towels are often relatively expensive — usually around $10 per towel — and said that shoppers are likely to find a much better deal elsewhere.
If getting brand-name or designer towels is important to you though, she suggested looking for bathroom sets containing multiple towels so that you can get a little more bang for your buck.
Melii brand containers
Melii brand snack containers for sale at Winners, Canada.
If you want to avoid cleaning up a big mess at the end of a school day, it's probably best to avoid Melii brand containers.
The cute animal-themed containers are designed to hold snacks or treats inside a lunchbox, but the former employee said they're often not fit for the job in her experience.
"It's Tupperware for kids with a little animal on the lid. It's really cute, but honestly it's cheap. It's hard to open, it's hard to close, then it leaks everywhere."
The cooking utensils
While Winners is known for stocking beautiful and high-quality homeware, not every product is necessarily better than a grocery store — or even a dollar store — equivalent.
Martha said that often Winners' kitchen utensils, for example, appear to be the same quality as much cheaper alternatives, and don't necessarily perform any better.
"They sell sets of wooden kitchen utensils that are the same as at Dollarama. So you're much better off buying the $1 wooden utensils at Dollarama than buying a [more expensive package from Winners] that, in the end, does the same thing."
The sugar-free flavoured syrups
While you probably don't do much grocery shopping at Winners, it's a great place to pick up gifts for foodies or other culinary delicacies that you may not usually treat yourself to — like fancy pasta or interesting spices.
In the food aisles at Winners, you can often find bottles of flavoured syrups to add to your coffee at home, but they're not something that Martha necessarily recommends trying.
Suggesting customers avoid the sugar-free ones in particular, she explained that many shoppers would try to return these types of products.
"They just don't taste good," she told Narcity Quebec. "Everyone wants to try them, and then they always end up saying that it's not good, and the food isn't exchangeable or refundable."
The face masks
Face masks at Winners, Canada.
Next time you're browsing Winners' beauty department, Martha suggests skipping the face masks unless you're really confident about what works for you and your skin.
She told Narcity Quebec that she generally avoids Winners face masks as she feels they're not good for the skin.
"They're fun for your kid in a Christmas stocking or something like that, but if you use something like that once a week on your face, you're better off going to buy face masks from Sephora that have better ingredients."
The sauces
If you've picked up a selection of expensive-looking hot sauces from Winners in the past, you're apparently not the only one, and Martha revealed it can be a great place to find unique and affordable condiments.
"Some of the sauces are really good," she said, although there is something to be aware of before you head to the checkout.
"It's just that you have to look at the expiration date," she said. "If you find that it looks a little weird in the bottle, it's probably because it's past its expiration date."
In her experience, products like hot sauce could end up expired on the shelves, so it's important to double-check any dates before you take the items home with you.
The makeup
There's a reason that Winners is so popular with beauty lovers, and that's because most stores are jam-packed with high-quality and designer products for a fraction of their usual retail price.
And while Martha said that Winners' cosmetics range is worth raving about, she did warn shoppers to check the packaging carefully before making any purchases.
"The makeup is really worth it, but I often advise people to open the packaging and check if it's clean," she said.
"Sometimes, people open the products and put their fingers in it. Eyeshadows, blushes, open them before buying because you could find fingerprints in them," she warned.
The former employee also suggested checking the expiration date on makeup products if that's something that would concern you, as she said sometimes "the reason why it's so cheap is that it's expired."
The hair dryers
Beauty electronics at Winners, Canada.
Nobody likes having to return to a store for a refund or replacement, so if you want to avoid a second trip, Martha suggested thinking very carefully about purchasing beauty electronics like hairdryers, straighteners and curling irons from Winners.
"Very often, customers would come back after a week or two to tell us that [the products] weren't working well or that they weren't effective enough," she explained.
"In my opinion, it is better to invest in a real flat iron or dryer. Even the ones from Amazon will be more worthwhile."
The suitcases
Planning a vacation? Consider getting your luggage from somewhere other than Winners if you want to avoid risking broken or damaged suitcases later down the line.
According to Martha, you can get a suitcase for a great price at Winners, although she says customers often end up returning them at a later date.
"With suitcases, it depends," she told Narcity Quebec. "Test them and take the most expensive one, because if you take a cheap one, it's going to break after one flight and then you can’t return it, it’s over."
Of course, exactly how a product is deemed to perform can vary based on a number of things, including personal opinion, assembly, usage and, sometimes, just luck.
So, it's always useful to get advice from employees and other shoppers if you're unsure exactly what to purchase — and you can usually return faulty products for a refund or exchange where eligible.
*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality. Narcity has verified their identity.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.