I guess, the only thing I would even consider buying at mervyns is like socks and underwear. But regular clothing, fuck no. I haven't been in a Mervyns for years now.
You just have to do what my parents did, don't show them where you get the expensive clothes. I looked for Nikes @ Payless for years before I found out about footlocker.
Hahaha...one of my best friends is a manager at a Burlington Coat Factory. He hooks it up with "discounts" all the time. They got some decent stuff there sometimes.