The economy -- Are people shopping?
rutt
Registered Users Posts: 6,511 Major grins
On Saturday, I found myself in midtown Manhattan with a camera and an afternoon to kill. I thought I'd go investigate the economy by way of some of the big stores and see how busy the retailers were. After all, I hear that things are bad, very bad, a recession, a depression, but I don't really know what that means. Perhaps a some first hand experience would give me a more concrete view.
I started out in Bloomingdale's. To be honest, I haven't been in there since the '60s, so I really had nothing to compare it to, except my expectations, which are probably based on Sex and the City or something. I expected that Bloomy's on a normal Saturday afternoon would be so crowded that I'd barely be able to move without bumping into people. As you can see, this certainly wasn't true.
But it wasn't actually totally dead. I think I should clarify. Initially I thought I might find these stores to be so quiet that I'd get an entry for the Silent or Loud Challenge, perhaps something I could title The Sounds of Silence at Bloomingdale's. But, in fact, there were quite a few careful looking buyers everywhere I looked.
Two places that seemed plenty busy were The Apple Store and Abercrombie on Fifth Avenue.
In fact, Abercrombie was so crowded that there was a line around the corner just to get into the store.
I talked to the people in this line and discovered that none of them were Americans. I met people from England, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Japan, but nobody from the U.S.A. The people told me in the line told me that either there was no Abercrombie where they lived or that the prices were much lower here than at home. SO perhaps this was a special case.
On the other hand, it was deadsville in Bergdorf Goodman.
Saks was a mixed bag. Not many people upstairs,
but a lot of people getting free makeovers downstairs.
Of course, it's impossible to draw a valid conclusion from this afternoon's entertainment. It's the absolute opposite of a scientific survey. But honestly, it made me feel a little better about things. People were out and about, doing at least some of what they usually do.
Maybe if more people bring their cameras into the stores, we'll get a better picture of the state of things...
I started out in Bloomingdale's. To be honest, I haven't been in there since the '60s, so I really had nothing to compare it to, except my expectations, which are probably based on Sex and the City or something. I expected that Bloomy's on a normal Saturday afternoon would be so crowded that I'd barely be able to move without bumping into people. As you can see, this certainly wasn't true.
But it wasn't actually totally dead. I think I should clarify. Initially I thought I might find these stores to be so quiet that I'd get an entry for the Silent or Loud Challenge, perhaps something I could title The Sounds of Silence at Bloomingdale's. But, in fact, there were quite a few careful looking buyers everywhere I looked.
Two places that seemed plenty busy were The Apple Store and Abercrombie on Fifth Avenue.
In fact, Abercrombie was so crowded that there was a line around the corner just to get into the store.
I talked to the people in this line and discovered that none of them were Americans. I met people from England, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Japan, but nobody from the U.S.A. The people told me in the line told me that either there was no Abercrombie where they lived or that the prices were much lower here than at home. SO perhaps this was a special case.
On the other hand, it was deadsville in Bergdorf Goodman.
Saks was a mixed bag. Not many people upstairs,
but a lot of people getting free makeovers downstairs.
Of course, it's impossible to draw a valid conclusion from this afternoon's entertainment. It's the absolute opposite of a scientific survey. But honestly, it made me feel a little better about things. People were out and about, doing at least some of what they usually do.
Maybe if more people bring their cameras into the stores, we'll get a better picture of the state of things...
If not now, when?
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In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose
Great photography !
As far as economy is concerned i have observed a big difference here majorly not because of recent economic crises but because of the greedy politicians. Thanks god they have solved the electricity problem otherwise i had to sit in street light about 2km from home to prepare for exams till morning ! and i was worried about the winter
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On a more local level, I have noticed that the new mall near my home is overall not really busy. They opened an Ethan Allen store at this outdoors mall and within 8 months it was closed as well as a few other stores. Also I have been receiving coupons in the mail early than ever for discounts at these stores.
Will be interesting to see what happens after the election
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Last time I tried to use a big camera (I think it was 828, maaybe 20D) in a mall I was asked to leave in like 10 minutes after I started. Guess it depends on location, maybe Bloomy is photog-friendly...
They didn't mind me in the places where people were shopping and hated me in the places where nobody was.
I was shopping in Macy's last week and was wishing I had a camera with me as I thought a photo of the stylized mannequins without eyes, mouth or ears might make a good entry for the "silent or loud" challenge.
Glad to see your still kickin' (& clickin')!
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That was certainly true at Abercrombie but certainly not true at Bloomy's. I did a little interviewing and the results were pretty clear.
I think the bulk of Abercrombie's photo work is film. I've met the guy who does most of the developing work for their print campaigns. He has one of the last remaining B&W shops left in Manhattan.
As a shopper kinda girl, I can tell you that Bloomie's IS empty like that on many floors even in good times - by design. When they have a sale, the stores are packed and not so much when the stuff is regular priced. Saks too. This is a quiet time of year until maybe mid-Nov. Many of the shoppers have personal shoppers in the high end stores and they don't need to look on the racks. Cosmetics departments are usually busy. Now I am not saying that traffic isn't down - but the shoppers who buy high end don't shop often on Saturday - that's amatuer day. I was in Beverly Hills yesterday and it was a zoo. (I was working and not on photos - too bad, it'd have been a great day to shop!)
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Cheers
Craig
"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do." Walt Disney