a very odd, merry, season

[msmemory_archive]

The news is full of tales of stores not having enough customers, making incredible markdowns, and in many cases failing. But it's all kind of abstract, as though it's happening hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Til I went to the Natick Mall (excuse me, The Natick Collection) tonight. I parked three cars away from the door to Penney's, having passed other open spaces on the way. There were many stores where I was the only customer, or one of few. (And a shout-out to Penney's, where I couldn't find one single open register.) Yet, it was still a frustrating and mostly fruitless trip. I did not get *anything* I went for. I made a couple of small purchases of a routine nature, like shower gel and binder labels, but that's it, and no Christmas presents. There I was, credit card in hand, unable to spend the money I'd planned on!

Enough of that! The goodness was, despite the thin crowds, or because of them, the people around me were really fairly cheery, allowing merges in the streets, waving baby carriages ahead of them, etc.; even the teens weren't hogging the aisles. Merry Christmas Shopping Season!

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[rosinavs.livejournal.com]

I was in the Burlington Mall for lunch on Monday and it was crowded. And it wasn't just the line of kids with parents waiting to sit on Santa's lap, either. We figured lunch break was when people were doing their Christmas shopping.