Sometimes I Wonder
A couple of weeks ago I heard that Mervyn's was going out of business, and it made me sad. I'm not a big shopper, but I've had some real fun times with my daughter there. When I moved to my new small town, it'd been a delightful surprise that they had a Mervyn's, and I'd been looking forward to some fun forays on her visits.Instead I got a Going Out of Business Sale and BigTea to shop with. Now, his idea of shopping is charging into a place, grabbing what he (thinks he) needs, doing the tuck-and-run--like football, and getting out as fast as he can. He hates shopping with me because I always make him try on stuff.
To make things worse, I invariably see something I want, so he has to wait for me to try things on too. Even this time, because, though we went for him to buy pants (his are literally falling apart), I had to buy pants too. Well, you would too. Levi's 501s for 30% off?!?
But this isn't what this blog is about. This blog is because when we were there, 30-50% off notwithstanding, the place was empty. Seriously e--m--p--t--y (as in there was nobody shopping!?!). It was weird. I know the economy is bad--all I have to do is look at what happened to my retirement fund and I get a tummy ache, but the thing is, I'm not living on it yet. I know that people are getting laid off--after all, I did. But lots of people are still working. They are getting the same paychecks that they did last year when they were out spending them. But now they have stopped.
Here in SoCal/CentralCal gas prices are down about $1.50/gallon from the top.
So what's going on?
This makes me wonder if mass hysteria is making people hoard their money. Or has everyone buckled down, and--instead of using them--paying off their credit cards?
Strange.
posted by Gina Black at 12:06 PM
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6 Comments:
Wow! Totally empty? Whao. Better get over to my local Mervyn's for the 501s. :)
I probably wasn't clear (and I call myself a writer!). It was empty of shoppers. :)
So hie the over there to get your 501's. They are probably waiting for you.
I'm sad about Mervyn's, too. They always had great shoes.
Mom and I went to an arts and crafts show last weekend and the vendors were down about 1/3, and there were hardly ANY shoppers! I ended up buying some stuff I didn't particularly want because I ended up talking to vendors and I felt bad, so....you know. But it made me sad about the lack of shoppers.
When we lived in Texas and Arizona, I enjoyed shopping at Mervyns. I'm sad that they are going out of business.
I think people are hoarding their money, Gina. 2 years ago, I begged my husband to let us install a swimming pool and build a deck. He said no way (the mortgage company was salivating to loan us the money as a home equity loan). I guess I'm glad now that we didn't, only because in an emergency if we had to sell our house, we could drop the price to a ridiculous amount, but still... I'm hoping that one day I'll get that swimming pool:)
Yeah, Mary, I liked the shoes and the pants and the sweaters and pretty much I think their buyers were buying for me. ;)
I think you're right about the hoarding, Maria. And you WILL get that pool. Sometimes you just have to wait a bit.
Hey Gina,
Here is an in depth explanation of what is going on at this blog:
http://advancedgreenlivingandbees.blogspot.com/2008/10/great-bush-depression.html
The links included in the above may help fill out the details and, in turn, link to other sites that show how horrific things are looking to some folks. May be why you find no one shopping?
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