Today I went to the Laguna Hills Mall to case the joint. I need to buy a present for my mother in law, but when I saw the situation there, I forgot all about that. It was mostly empty... unusual for a Saturday afternoon, especially one when there were lots of big, drastic sales. Both Macys, which has closed a number of stores across the country, and the other anchor store, JC Penneys, had 70% off sales on lots of merchandise. Yesterday I took my mother to the latter and bought her 4 pair of very nice pants. Today I went back by myself and bought her tops to go with them. There weren't many in the correct size, and it's hard to tell what the size really is, now that the meds she is taking make her hungry and she nibbles and noshes all day long.
One store for teenagers that usually sells stylish skater shirts (Hurley and Billibong, etc) for $20. each was selling some styles for $6.99 each. I bought two for Jeremy and also a sweatshirt. Instead of $50. or up, it was $19.99. Since he won't wear jackets, and often wears shorts even on cold days, he needs sweatshirts to stash at work and in the car, etc. I got one of these too.
There were so many extremely cheap things at the mall that it was shocking, even to me, who am, if I say it myself, a skilled bargain hunter. I didn't have unlimited funds to spend, so I didn't buy anything else.
On the way home, I listened to reports about record numbers of unemployed people, and Obama's warnings about the severity of the pinch we are about to feel, which will worsen before we emerge from it. It was rather like listening to reports of 9/11, as it was happening. I was feeling the same feeling as I had then that this must be a mistake, a dream, a joke. A flashback to much earlier times, of my father's youth.
6 comments:
Maybe everyone was at Kohl's and Target where I was!
This is really an annually bad shopping time--spring clothes appearing, temperatures iffy, still hung-over from the holidays. So in addition to the recession, there's the season.
That may be, but it seems worse. And the stores are definitely more desperate than in past years. Was Kohls having a sale?
We don't have a mall, and this is the season when shopkeepers go to Florida or some place exotic, so I don't have a sense of the malls dwindling down and the party being over.
I also, shop Target and Kohl's. At Kohl's I always find pants that fit me, and at Target I shop often as recently as yesterday and friday for meds. cleaning products, and lots more.
Beth
Kohl's is ALWAYS having a sale.
I go to Target all the time for other things, not generally for clothes. For that, there are my favorite consignment stores and Steinmart and of course TJ Maxx, where I buy everything from underwear to housewares to clothing. Kohls is right down the street from me, and I shop there often for my dad and sometimes Richard, but not for myself.
As for malls, there is a phenomenon I noticed even in good times--something I call "Dead Mall Syndrome."
For some strange reason, malls start to die off sometimes, and nothing anyone can do can save them. I have seen it happen a number of times. It's like some kind of disease. I think it happens to neighborhoods too.
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