Today I went to Micros Computer Center 'cause they had a sale on recordable DVDs. I love computers and gadets.
Anyway I go in and pick up my DVDs conveniently located right at the entrance. I could’ve easily taken five steps to the check out lane, but then I noticed they also have a sale on a floppy disk drive for only $12.00. Now I don’t have one, and I have no need for one, and I’d never use it but it IS only $12.00.
Then I see the hardware to install my third internal hard drive in a new place, and that bigger fan I was meaning to get.
Long story short 45 minutes later I had $130.00 worth of stuff in my basket.
I started to the check out and stopped in horror. I put down the basket and fled out of the store.
LOL
Now I understand how Cathy (From the comic strip of the same name) would go nuts when she entered a shoe store.
My question is are there any stores like that for you. A store you go into and just want to buy the entire store out? A store that you enter and have a habit of spending too much in?
My friends and I once had a competition to see who could rack up the largest total in a shopping cart on Apple’s webstore without duplicating anything (only one desktop and one laptop system, no dual monitors, plus accessories) and I won, with a grand total (this was 5+ years ago) of slightly over $14k. I could probably blow a year’s salary buying all the Apple gear I wanted.
The homebrew store. Rare that I don’t go in to buy bottlecaps and end up leaving with ingredients for 3 more batches. And a 50 lb bag of grain. And some camden tablets.
natura and other stores that sell hippy clothes, candles, handcrafts…
My favorite bookstore in the world, also one of Spain’s biggest SciFi and Fantasy publishers. They may be the only publisher specializing in that stuff, actually. Every time I walk into the store I go in saying “only one bag” and walk out with two. There used to be a program on local TV where you had 1M pesetas to spend (in the order of 5 or 6 thousand dollars), but it had to be on physical objects and they had to be brought to the study: if the items arrived on time, you got to keep them. The people who’d meet in the store every Saturday for a chat had already warned the owner “if you get a call giving my accountID and saying I’m in that program, it’s for real, man.” We figured if he dumped 1M worth of books and lead figures into the van and drove it over, we could always trade back the ones we already had.
Yes. You can buy a container for just about ANYTHING in The Container Store. They are a bit pricier than WalMart, but they have excellent customer service, and quality products. I don’t know how many times a salesperson has helped me find juuuuust the right container, and then several other things that I didn’t even know that I needed. The staff is unfailing polite, knowledgeable, and creative, or at least they are in the store near me. Plus they usually have nifty little gadgets that make life easier. For instance, they have utensils that will pop open the lid of a jar, quickly and easily, and another utensil that will peel the ringpull tab from a can. I got one of each for my parents, after using them myself. These little gadgets are wonderful for people with arthritis. And people without arthritis.
I can easily spend a couple of hours in this store, and a couple of hundred bucks.
here is a little store in Wellfleet, Cape Cod called “Pickle and Puppy” that sells the best assortment of eclectic gifts, toys, jewelry etc. I could buy just about everything in that store and I’m not a big shopper.
I was recently in Paris, and fell in love with Pylones. They are in the U.S. too, but I’d never heard of them. There was a crowd of people in the store, playing with all the merchandise, like: “naughty” corkscrews, “Lady & gent” dustpan sets, and really strange garden tools. I mustered up every ounce of self-control, and only bought this umbrella. I think it looks like a young Shirley MacLaine.
I’ve gone nuts in Michael’s, buying soap scents and colors to make bath salts and salt and sugar scrubs. And yarn, but now I buy the good yarn from KnitPicks.
I love Coldwater Creek Outlet store. Wonderful clothes at amazing prices.
I have to go shopping with Ivylad at Best Buy, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. He likes to go visit the things he wants, even if we can’t afford them quite yet.
