The Rules of South American Shopping!

February 3, 2011

Conquering the Mall – Rules of Shopping

I have a major exam tomorrow that is comprehensive over the last two weeks (40 hours) of class. So, I should be studying. But, this afternoon I had this urge to go shopping. So, a couple hours ago armed with $50 and a VISA I set out for my adventure. I had a particular type of light weight jacket in mind that I wanted to buy to wear over my tanks. The first decision I had to make was whether to go to the air conditioned mall and most likely pay a higher price, or walk along the streets of the city store to store to hopefully score a bargain. I decided to do a little of both. I scouted the first floor of the mall and priced a few options. Then, headed to the streets! When I found that the street stores were over priced too, I came back to the mall to try the top two floors. Like a game hunter, I wanted to find the best rack of bargains, so I walked throughout the whole maze of a mall, which is not like a mall in Texas at all. (There are dead ends and levels and ½ levels that take you to two or three stores or an exit on the street, escalators that take you to elegant food courts etc. So, you have to figure out how to navigate through it all. Then there’s the fact that perhaps 5 stores in the whole mall have familiar names, one of them being Starbucks. The others are all uncharted territory.) I learned a few lessons during my walk!

RULE #1, if there is a security guard or a leather couch in the store look out. The prices may be high! I came into one store and found exactly what I was searching for. Then, I looked at the price tag and just about jumped for joy. It looked like a steal at merely 39 pesos (about $10). I was then “attacked” by an associate who took the sweater to the dressing room for me. Which brings me to the next rule.

Rule #2 If the associate at the store talks to you or says hello, chances are it is an expensive store! I then decided to probe around the store a little longer and noticed my mistake. It was not 39 pesos, but over 300. Yikes, I don’t think I want to pay that much for a little jacket. So, I went to the fitting room, sort of tried it on quickly and declined the purchase.

Rule #3 If the store has more than one room in it, search hard for sales because it may be an expensive store! I walked into another store that reminded me of The Gap Outlet or Old Navy. I thought maybe they would have better prices. And they did, in the center. But, the cute clothes were still exorbitant. How do people afford to live here?

Rule #4 (Also applicable to shopping in the US) Look out for the word SALE or Licuidacion or anything of that sort! If you are a male reading this, you perhaps will not relate. But, a woman is drawn to the word “sale” just as Peppie la Pew was drawn to the cat! (If you are over 30 you know who I am talking about). You see, the word S A L E just lures a woman in and makes her feel like she is getting a better deal. I scanned scores of racks of clothes that were advertised as ON SALE and still found crazy, inflated prices!

Rule #5 Just because the store does not know how to use English grammar properly does not indicate that its prices are reasonable. My next approach was to go to the store that said “We are on sale” to check to see if I could find a bargain. I mean, if the clothes at that store can talk that’s worth paying a visit in itself! What I found were clothes that could not talk but were still overly priced.

However, one other store caught my attention. It was called “I Love 47 Street”. It was there that I found my jacket…not at a bargain and it was a much thicker jacked than I wanted (meaning since I will live through two summers in two hemispheres this year I may not get to wear it much until next year) but even still, I felt better about myself to be able to not go home empty handed!

Now, I suppose I should study???