Books and shopping

[callmemadam]

Do you play the game of 'which book is currently most commonly found in charity shops'? I looked in a few shops yesterday and the answer is: anything by Dave Pelzer. Also Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. No doubt many people, like me, bought and then never read it.

Remember the knitted Royal Wedding? The Book People have the knitting book for £3.99. Still with wedding fever, The Book Depository offers me this morning a free eBook: The Royal Wedding for Dummies. Where are the tea towels?

In other news on the high street: our lovely hardware shop where you could buy thingamyjigs has become a Surplus Store; two new charity shops have opened. So much for the Waitrose factor, which was supposed to increase the town's prosperity.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I had to look up the 'waitrose factor.' It sounds like this is an upscale store which is supposed to draw good stores (and people?) to an area. Is that right? In our local town, I think Main St. = High St. and sadly there are all too many cut-rate stores; used clothing, pawn shops, and nail shops. The independent bookstore which was the center of Main St. life for years is struggling. Sadly, I rarely shop there anymore. I filled out a survey they sent out and said that I simply could not pay full price for a book when I can get it online for half that. So many nice stores have closed and there are empty storefronts. All this since the 'big box' stores came in just outside of town. Again, sadly, I do shop at Lowe's etc. I guess this is what is called changing times, and I'm not sure the end result is clear to anyone at this point.

[callmemadam.livejournal.com]

Spot on with the Waitrose factor. It's an upmarket i.e. expensive food chain offering good quality goods. After fierce controversy (see here), Waitrose got planning permission for the site. To be fair, it is very nicely landscaped and now provides an open space where children can ride bikes and older people stroll about. It's supposed to attract more people to the town, which is picturesque in many ways. It also has expensive parking and too many empty premises.

I have mixed feeling about local shopping. We still have an independent bookshop but they never have anything I want and it's half price on Amazon anyway. Then when I recently asked for something in the chemist's (pharmacy) the assistant actually suggested I look online; no 'we could get it for you'. They have to provide what people want or they can't expect people to shop with them.