Retail Shuffle

Window shopping was entertainment when I was growing up. We walked downtown streets and gazed through the shop windows at all of their wares. Fancy dress, jewelry, household goods, shoes, toys, and all the rest. It was fun. It was dreaming of days in the future when we might actually go into the stores and buy what we wanted.

Sort of like reading the Sears, Roebuck catalog! The dream book, we called it. I especially liked checking out the Good – Better – Best selections and the price differences of each. Somehow I thought that made me a better consumer! And of course, all young kids in America somehow train to be a good consumer. It’s practically our religion, don’t you know?

Well, as the years passed by shopping became a task, a chore, and a very practical thing to do and accomplish.  Our lives became more and more busy so buying the things we needed on a regular basis became a task to be managed. Grocery shopping was one; and then the shop owner expanded his inventory to contain even more consumer goods related to the household other than groceries.  Pots, pans, kitchen gadgets, cut flowers, greeting cards and a whole bunch more. One stop shopping. Then came drug stores included in the same space. Along with that came glassware, school supplies, cameras, film processing and still more consumer goods. Cosmetics became a huge portion of most drug stores.

Retail shopping evolved. With the rise of drug store emporiums, the Dime Store disappeared. With full service grocery stores, huge mega food stores were introduced. Then Wal-Mart’s and their department store approach. They even included Christmas trees in the winter to replace the full garden store during summer months.

Catalog sales began to slump. Then the internet arrive on the scene and catalogs disappeared entirely except for specialty markets. Even those, however, are hanging by a thread as websites take over catalog shopping.

In the old days (not all that long ago!) we took weekend short trips to suburbs with shopping areas built around themes.  Old Small Town was one such theme. Long Grove, Illinois, is a good example. Old shops, or new ones made to look old, lined several streets. Specialty goods were ever present. Cute merchandising displays made the stores even more attractive. If you closed your eyes, or maybe squinted them, you could feel you were in a small town emporium of 60 years prior!  Fun. Shopping as entertainment.

And boy did we spend. We decorated our homes with such goods, even redesigned the décor. Of course this required more shopping and return trips. Lunches in small dining rooms with precious wines and crockery, heightened the experience. Old ladies abounded. Old guys, too, as they toted the bags of the ladies. Shopping bags and boxes lugged from store to store and finally to the parking lot and to the back seat of the car. Lots of stuff. Lots of fun. Lots of entertainment.

We revisited Long Grove this past Sunday afternoon. When we arrived, plentiful parking greeted us. And empty stores. Sad peeling paint and dirty smudged windows. Weeds in the sidewalk. Very few shoppers. A shoppers’ paradise in full decline. How very sad.

We encountered a local shop keeper and she admitted times had been tough through the recession. She claimed four new stores were coming next week so things might be turning around. Somehow, she lacked the zeal that would make this a true prediction.

The phrase “shopping as entertainment” kept running through my mind. I remember being entertained by the shopping experience. But not recently. No, not recently.

With the recession, aging of my body, and retirement accompanied by restricted income, shopping is very much NOT an entertainment for us. Evidently we are not alone. A lot of people are no longer shopping as entertainment. Thus the Long Groves are disappearing. Perhaps future theme parks will blaze on the scene a la Disneyland? Maybe. Maybe not.

The retail shuffle has eliminated many retailers. Only specialty shops remain, and some thrive in special locales. It is now even more a science and art in selecting retail space if it is to be successful. Most are not. Successful that is.

No, the website/internet/shopping experience has replaced old-time retailers. Consumers have found their new store in the comfort of their home in front of a keyboard connected to a screen. There they explore the full range of goods offered for sale. There they are able to familiarize themselves with all the features of the products. Once selected and purchased, the goods are shipped quickly to the home. If you bought enough in the one visit, shipping might even be free!  What a deal.

For people like me, I often need to see, feel and measure dimensions of the goods before buying. So a visit to a store is likely a future trip for me. Trouble is, where are the stores located? Well, the internet will come to my rescue once again. Perhaps I’ll just buy the thing now over the website? Sure. That will do. Think of the gas I just saved!

July 31, 2015