Occasionally I am surprised to find a bargain and today I did. I was wearily hunting and gathering in both Edinburgh and Glasgow shops with no luck in finding any of the three urgent items I was looking for. Although, I have now discovered how close Buchanan Galleries are to Queen Street station and what a pleasant place it is to visit.
These were gifts, so I can't say what, in case the intended recipients are reading!
I was particularly frustrated in M&S Princes St because that is a negligently sign-posted maze clearly designed to draw the unwary in out the rain and keep them there until all money is spent. On the other hand, when I wandered into their cafe I had the pleasant surprise of finding their offer of cake and coffee for two quid! This applies after 2pm and had obviously attracted lots of other weary gatherers.
I had cappuccino cake, which was adequate quality for that price and a really huge slice so that I felt revived enough to return to the hunt and actually succeed in getting what I wanted - eventually.
The downside was getting a bus on or near Princes Street. Terrible! I can only hope that Lothian Transport are subsidising a whole dedicated branch of the Samaritans to talk despairing bus drivers out of ending it all and taking their passengers with them! Or perhaps these bus drivers are made of patience and find tranquility and let the chaos drift by.
Showing posts with label shopping malls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping malls. Show all posts
The Store
Sometimes, I’m propelled backwards in time as if aboard some demented time machine - at least in my memories. This happened on reading that in Livingston, West Lothian an extension to a mall is going to make it the largest in Scotland.
Leaving aside all the negative scenarios surrounding the impending recession, and all the discussions about low value retail sector jobs, as well as the notions that consumerism is the way out of a recession; that’s the spend, spend, spend version of economics (which as mother of an Olympic-class shopper, I have close knowledge of) I feel moved to comment.
Returning to my mention of malls, large and larger, I am reminded of my first encounter with a proper, civilised (?) grown up shopping mall. This occurred in London, Ontario about 30 odd years ago.
I grew up in a wee town dominated by the ‘Store’ otherwise known as the Co-op which provided for everything provincial Scots were expected to need or want. Most food we take for granted nowadays was unknown there. To buy celery was to step into the unknown, mushrooms were merely a slight aberration. So imagine how it felt to shop in a mall, even those of 30 plus years ago.
On that occasion, I vividly recall buying a dress. A handkerchief dress in white and blue. I also got an ‘Afro’ hairdo in this mall. But best of all, it had air-conditioning modifying the outside temperature of over 30 degrees so that it was cool and calming inside.
The contrast with my home town was marked. It was with great reluctance and not a little encouragement from my long-suffering hosts, that I returned home. But the impression never left me of comfort and ease of shopping, to say nothing of choice. Some of Scotland has caught up over the years, but we have lost that all encompassing birth-to-death service provided by the ‘Store’ (Co-op) that I grew up with. I’m not sure the trade-off has been completely positive, but the freedom to choose from more than common root vegetables and packets of chicken noodle soup can’t be underestimated.
This new development in Livingston will apparently house 1000 plants, so maybe there will be oxygen to spare when breathlessly contemplating a new dress.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7660837.stm
Leaving aside all the negative scenarios surrounding the impending recession, and all the discussions about low value retail sector jobs, as well as the notions that consumerism is the way out of a recession; that’s the spend, spend, spend version of economics (which as mother of an Olympic-class shopper, I have close knowledge of) I feel moved to comment.
Returning to my mention of malls, large and larger, I am reminded of my first encounter with a proper, civilised (?) grown up shopping mall. This occurred in London, Ontario about 30 odd years ago.
I grew up in a wee town dominated by the ‘Store’ otherwise known as the Co-op which provided for everything provincial Scots were expected to need or want. Most food we take for granted nowadays was unknown there. To buy celery was to step into the unknown, mushrooms were merely a slight aberration. So imagine how it felt to shop in a mall, even those of 30 plus years ago.
On that occasion, I vividly recall buying a dress. A handkerchief dress in white and blue. I also got an ‘Afro’ hairdo in this mall. But best of all, it had air-conditioning modifying the outside temperature of over 30 degrees so that it was cool and calming inside.
The contrast with my home town was marked. It was with great reluctance and not a little encouragement from my long-suffering hosts, that I returned home. But the impression never left me of comfort and ease of shopping, to say nothing of choice. Some of Scotland has caught up over the years, but we have lost that all encompassing birth-to-death service provided by the ‘Store’ (Co-op) that I grew up with. I’m not sure the trade-off has been completely positive, but the freedom to choose from more than common root vegetables and packets of chicken noodle soup can’t be underestimated.
This new development in Livingston will apparently house 1000 plants, so maybe there will be oxygen to spare when breathlessly contemplating a new dress.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7660837.stm
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