Abandonment issues

Rogue grocery carts—we see them loose in our neighborhoods. February is “National Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket” month. I know it's not February yet, but hopefully, this cart won't have to wait until then to get returned to its rightful owner.

“National Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket” month is not quite a holiday. It’s more of an awareness-raising event, created by a frustrated grocer. Anthony Dinolfo launched the event back in 1969, the year that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon . (“I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a shopping cart in one of the craters,” Dinolfo once told an interviewer.)

My wish list

I love shopping at Fry's Electronics. And the huge gears above the entrance of the store in City of Industry always remind me of the front of the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland.

I've heard a lot of suggestions for the stores that will populate the new Downey Promenade—Trader Joe's, our own Costco, or Barnes & Noble. But one of my top choices would be Fry's.

What do you want to see at the Downey Promenade?

It's an impulse

Impulse sales are kinda fascinating. I'm referring to the item you had no intention of purchasing when you came into the store, but you bought it anyway. Like, for instance, organic French Agen plums, jalapeno sea salt Virginia peanuts, or cracked pepper chickpeas. These are the kind of kitschy items you almost have to try.

I stopped by Marshall's this evening to pick up a couple of things and had these items tempting me as I checked out. It seems I'm caught in this struggle between indulgence and self-control...and I don't even know what French Agen Plums are.

Black Friday

What does everyone want to find on Black Friday? A great bargain? Well, maybe, but first, you have to find a parking space.

This is the Stonewood Center parking lot on Friday afternoon, with not an empty space in sight.  Just lines of cars before and behind me, all looking for the same thing. We don't even care if it's a good spot—any space will do.

Mathematically, your odds of snagging a space are much better if you sit and wait instead of circling the lot. (For the details, see Use math to beat holiday shopping crowds.) Keep that in mind if you venture out to the mall again tomorrow.

Clearance!

Another sign that Christmas is over is the post-Christmas sale, and the resulting traffic at the malls.

"Buying something on sale is a very special feeling. In fact, the less I pay for something, the more it is worth to me. I have a dress that I paid so little for that I am afraid to wear it. I could spill something on it, and then how would I replace it for that amount of money?"
~Rita Rudner

Thanksgiving plans

These three gentlemen are waiting in line in front of Best Buy at Downey Landing at 10:00 pm. They have been in line since 1:00 pm today. Others in line have been there since Monday. They are all waiting for Thanksgiving day at 6:00 pm when Best Buy will open its doors for once-in-a-year buys.

These three gentlemen are going to buy televisions. They already celebrated Thanksgiving, so camping out isn't keeping them from family time. One of them told me that his mom told him "go ahead and wait in line. Oh, by the way, get me this and this and this."

Shop till you drop

Young or old, a full afternoon of shopping at Stonewood Shopping Center is justification for giving your feet a break in one of the many comfortable chairs in the mall.

Imagine, dream, believe

Today the feature performers from the soon-to-be released 3D movie "Cirque du soleil, worlds away" appeared at Stonewood Center. They rode their "Vessel of Dreams" as they drew in the crowd, hoping to pique everyone's interest in going to see the movie when it comes out.

I had come to the mall to try to catch any of the sales that lasted past "Black Friday" so I could finish up my Christmas shopping. Luckily, cell phones have cameras (even if they aren't the greatest.). It was fun to take a quick break and watch the performers navigate their umbrellas (their "vessels of dreams") which slid across the floor without any apparent effort.  To see the trailer for the movie click here.

Whatcha doing?

Not quite Downey, the Target in Norwalk had a group of carts in front of my parking space. My brother, who was with me, commented that it looked like they were all looking at something and the few on the outside were trying to get in too. I laughed and agreed.

President's Day—not!

Today is President's Day, a U.S. federal holiday that celebrates all of our country's presidents. Or so I thought.

In researching the holiday's history, I came across some enlightening information on Snopes.com. This is really, officially, the "George Washington's Birthday" holiday, just like when I was in grammar school when we used to get a day off for both his birthday on February 22 and Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12. We're supposed to be celebrating George's birthday. Not all the presidents.

It turns out that the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 officially set the third Monday of February as the day to celebrate George's birthday. This means that federal workers (and students) always get a 3-day weekend—but it also means that George's birthday is never actually celebrated on his birthday, because the third Monday can never fall later in the month than the 21st. And most of the states dropped Lincoln's birthday, because the bill also established Columbus Day as a new federal holiday.

Of course, a 3-day weekend also means bargains at the local shopping centers. In its depleted and messy shelves, Stonewood Mall tonight showed the ravages of three days of sales and shopping.

Fresh and Easy

Walking down the aisles of our local Fresh and Easy grocery store, I am overwhelmed with happiness. I wish I could buy everything in the store.

Black Friday

Okay, I admit it. I'm a Black Friday novice. I usually work on the Friday after Thanksgiving (also known as "Black Friday"), so I've never really had the opportunity to experience this unique shopping event. This year, since I had Friday off, I was "convinced" to go to our local mall (Stonewood Center) at midnight Thanksgiving night to look for Christmas bargains.

To give you a little background, according to timeanddate.com, Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

Regardless of which explanation you accept, Black Friday has become the official first day of shopping for the Christmas holiday. As the first official day, retailers offer all sorts of special offers and bargains to entice customers. While I didn't spend a lot, I found some gifts at good prices. Overall, it was an interesting experience. The mall was crowded—there was a sense of excitement. While I later heard crazy stories of people getting really aggressive about shopping (stories of pepper spray, knives and shootings), everyone I saw was wandering around, having fun and spending the money retailers were hoping for.

The Patriot on vacation

One of the fun things about living in a relatively small town is that it's possible to get your picture into the local paper without doing or being anything out of the ordinary. To this end, we carried around a copy of the Downey Patriot with us on our summer vacation.

Stocking up on school supplies

A shelf that looks like this can mean only one thing—it's time to shop for school supplies. (Maybe past time, judging by the picked-over state of the inventory here.) And choosing just the right notebook is an important part of the process.

School starts in just a couple of weeks, on Wednesday, September 7. Already, teachers are back at school, attending meetings and getting their classrooms ready for the new school year.

If the boot fits...

Trying on boots at Marshall's in Downey Landing is lots of fun.

Getting the boot off again is pretty funny!

Right there waiting for you (Theme week: feet)

This young man was sprawled on the display ledge of a women's dress shop in Stonewood Shopping Center. He was playing with his cell phone, patiently waiting for his girl friend to finish shopping.

Spit and polish at the mall

When I was young, going to Stonewood Mall on my own with my friends was a rite of passage. But I don't remember being as young as these girls who apparently drove themselves to the mall for a shoeshine.



What I do remember is that guys have always enjoyed girl-watching.