I’m old enough to remember a time when the shops at various airports differed a great deal. Although still true in a few countries, for the most part they have been standardized by big companies selling essentially the same scotch and pricey luxury colognes, cigars, clothes, chocolates and watches, “duty free”. Which is a shame, though probably profitable. Even the restaurants are often the same chains.
I get travellers buy a lot of gifts - feeling guilty if often away from family on business, trying to improve business and romantic relationships, looking to indulge a bit. They read trashy books and wet their throats with pop and Pilsner. Never seen an airport with a good book shop - maybe Britain comes closest.
But I never understood the luggage store. Who is in such a hurry that they figure they’ll just buy a bag there? Who buys so much at the airport they need more room? Am I wrong? Have you ever bought baggage at the friendly, reasonably priced airport? I guess I could see buying a lock or distinctive strap in the old, keep-your-shoes-on days…
I’ve seen enough catastrophic failures of luggage (due to wear or over-zealous baggage handlers) that I can see the need for such a store. I’ve also seen people show up for a flight with grocery bags full of stuff that gets jammed into a “purchased at the airport” suitcase before getting checked onto the flight home.
Oh, yeah. Renaissance Books. I really miss their old parent store on the Milwaukee River. 5 stories of floor to ceiling bookshelves. The airport bookshop is probably the greatest US airport bookstore, but it’s just a shadow of what Renaissance once was.
Shrinkage: Sometimes I’m flying with a backpack and my aircraft gets changed to one with smaller bins. If I’m going to need to check some or all of my stuff, I might buy a suitcase.
Thinking of you: If I’ve been traveling with a backpack and also have bought gifts (not at the airport, typically) and I’m carrying them in a shopping bag, I might buy another or larger bag at the airport for convenience.
I ain’t heavy: If Ecuadoran agents have dragged me to the bowels of the airport to search my bag for non-existent drugs and have jammed my zipper or destroyed my lock, I might buy a new bag.
Ooh, pretty!: If I see attractive or cool luggage, I might buy a new bag.
I’ve worked at a luggage kiosk, at a pre-security location. The most common sales were for large duffel bags for the taped-up garbage bag travelers, passengers who were overweight on one checked in suitcase and were able to split the weight to another suitcase, and the usual straps, TSA locks, and new luggage for those whose zipper blew. Also pet carriers, when the one they brought with them had failed somehow.
You’d be surprised how many pet owners show up to fly and are shocked, shocked I say, to discover that their precious critter can’t just ride cradled oh so lovingly in their tender arms.
Raleigh-Durham used to have a great used book store. There was a table in front with bargain books, and a nice selection of science fiction and mystery books. Since I tend to show up for flights early, there were times when I ended up trying to cram paperbacks into my carry-on.
Come to think of, it might have been convenient to be able to buy a larger carry-on before boarding my flight.
I once saw a bag that had clearly been stuck in a piece of rotating machinery like a wheel well. It was worn through and some clothes visible were cut to ribbons. Someone was in for a bad day.
Pre-everything I was at an airport where a young couple had the aforementioned garbage bags stuffed with clothes. The clerk at the (Delta? Northwest?) check-in desk immediately brought out special cardboard boxes and asked the couple to box up their clothes.
I overheard something that let me to believe the young couple were moving to a new town in the far north…
Well, I don’t think laptop pets would ever have been allowed, but you might be surprised at what we passengers were able to get away with in Ye Olden Days. When I was a kid I had exactly this Sony tape recorder with detachable speakers (amazed I could find a pic of it):
When packed up for transportation, the speakers clipped on to the top of the deck, forming a pretty big (and heavy) suitcase-like package.
It was my pride and joy and when I flew home from Christmas I of course had to take it with me, and no way in hell was I going to check it. It didn’t fit anywhere in the cabin, so I cradled it lovingly in my tender arms for the entire flight. I might have gotten some strange looks from the cabin crew but no one objected. This would have been circa early 70s.
Today of course they’d never even let you board with a thing like that.
If it’s small enough to go into our ginormous overheads you certainly could carry it aboard today. It might take a couple tries to get it past TSA’s x-ray machine without them getting confused about its weird discrete-component electronic contents, but that’s a different matter.
