Anyone?

Shopping is a different affair this year as we celebrate (family) Christmas at a later date. Oh, we’ve been out among the shoppers but without the sense of urgency we would normally have. And of course I had to remember Christmas past. Not Jacob’s ghost of Christmas past, but my memories of the holiday back in the 1940’s.

We were in Penney’s yesterday morning and we were looking for toys. Nada. Zip. They have no toy department. And that was when I remembered the department stores of yesteryear. What great places to shop! And at Christmas time, they were a destination all of their own just to see the decorations and the lights. Newspapers would announce the opening of the window displays for the holidays and seeing the artistry of the department store ‘window dresser’ would be the best part of your trip to the store.

One of the highlights of our year was when we would go downtown (Los Angeles) to pick up Nana from her job at J.W. Robinson’s, and if we were lucky, we would find a parking spot and then go strolling past all the windows in the downtown shopping district. Robinson’s, The Broadway, May Co., Bullock’s and Buffum’s. If no parking was available, we would circle the blocks in the car, dad driving slowly past all of the brightly lit windows before he took us home.

Those stores are gone. The consumer has voted and we all lost. Wal*Mart mentality rules.

And speaking of Wal*Mart; as I was…they will open a Super Center in Willows soon... another blow to the local economy on the Planet Orland. Doesn’t anyone see the connection between a failed shopping district in Orland and the growth of the ‘big blue box’ in Willows? Hello? Anyone home?