this is the "gateway center", a place with some shops not too far from our house. there is a huge, gigantic parking lot, and several shops. every so many miles, you find such a shopping center here in the us. often you can only get to them by car. the shops are more or less the same, and they are huge. i always wonder how so many shops, the same shops, can coexist so close to each other. usually there is a "home depot", which sells everything for your do it yourself (DIY as they call that here) home improvement and construction (like a dutch "gamma", but then 10 times bigger). there is a paper store, for all your office needs, also enormous, an enormous toy store, a crafts store (we were there this weekend for the first time; my goodness, i didnt know that they could fill such an enormous store with... well... that kind of stuff), and usually there is a target, a retail store. perhaps comparable to the dutch "V&D", but ofcourse much bigger. then there are some (cheaper) shoe/sport or clothing stores. and i really cannot stop wondering how this is sustainable. within a not too big radius we have a few of these malls, all with the same stores. especially their size is very weird for a dutch... :) even our supermarkets arent this big, or numerous (i also imagine that the tiny size of all stores in the netherlands must be a shock for americans! haha.... also, dont expect to buy your stuff in as large quantities as you can here; most beverages (milk, orange juice, etc) are sold at a max of 1 ltr per bottle, shampoo and stuff is in at least 2 times smaller bottles than here, and i guess double the price etc etc.).
anyways. we sometimes goto target, although we never need anything. and then we come out having bought all kinds of stuff. or the shoe store (although not the above one, im a fan of DSW; shoes can be so deceivingly cheap there! i cant go there too often, as i always buy a new pair of shoes. even after more than 2 years in the us, i still tend to think in dutch/european prices when it comes to clothing and shoes, and its soooo much more cheaper here!!). this time (sunday) i got some clothes; a trouser, a shirt and a dress, together for just 30 dollars..... :)
6 comments:
Hi, CaT. This is one of those interesting posts where you look at American life from an outsider's perspective. But you ask an essential question that puzzles Americans, too. How can they all survive? I am becoming afraid that before long we will discover that the answer is They can't. The stores are so big and they have tons of money tied up in inventory, but often shoppers are sparse. And you didn't even mention CVS and Walgreens, huge drugstores found every half mile and usually across the street from each other.
You're right, clothes and shoes are very cheap, that is nice to buy some. But the shops are indeed so huge, you get lost in them. So different from Europe.
Enjoy your day !
Best regards from Paris,
Pierre
@jack; indeed!!! how could i have forgotten the CVS and Walgreens? and its exactly as you say; often there are in the same street, opposite of each other...
cvs does do a good job keeping me as a customer; seducing me with discounts every now and then, i have never set foot in a walgreens...
The scale of most of these stores is overwhelming and often (as in most of the office supply stores) employees have no idea whether they carry particular items. Service can be a joke. Where we live we have one of each and it serves a largish region, so there aren't so many of them. But it makes it harder for smaller, personalized and locally owned businesses.
We have these types of malls here in Australia as well, unfortunately... I much prefer the old style "strip-type" shops along shopping streets. We still have quite a few of these and they remain popular - or rather they are becoming ever more popular.
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