I’m finding that as I get older, I’m starting to get my Father’s attitude towards shopping. On the 27th of December, the day after Boxing Day, Andrea and I took an excursion down to Bluewater Mall in Kent. This mall was huge and very nice. We both thought that it was bigger than Bell Square Mall in Bellevue. We were hoping that we would be able to find some good deals and have an enjoyable day strolling around the mall, checking out everything English shopping has to offer. Little did we know that would not be the case.
We arrived at the mall 15 minutes prior to its opening and we were surprised to find people lining up at some of the stores. I instantly saw why, in most stores there were signs claiming “Up to 50% off.” I guess traditionally the weekend after Christmas is the time to get a good deal. The flood gates opened at 11:00am and the mall was packed. It was by far more packed than any day after Thanksgiving Day sale I have ever seen. It was almost impossible to move around the hallway let alone the stores. Don’t even think about trying something on. I’m pretty sure that if we had driven, I would have turned around and walked out the door and made the 90 minute trip back home without doing any shopping.
Outside Bluewater Mall (Avoiding the Crowds)
The really odd thing about this whole experience was the way the people treated all the stores and their merchandise. Nobody could be bothered to fold or put something back from where they grabbed it. Every store was a mess. Stuff was piled on the floors, heaped on tables and falling off the racks. Even if you found something you liked, you couldn’t find other sizes or more of the same thing because who knows if it came off the rack or table you found it on or from across the store. We did buy a few things though. Andrea found a very nice sweater and hat from H&M. We enjoyed a very good lunch at a very English place………..TGI Fridays, I know we come to England to eat at TGI Fridays, but they didn’t have a line and we were by it when we realized we were hungry and didn’t want to wade through the humanity to get to something else. We also had a pint and an appetizer from a place called Pizza Express while we were waiting for our bus to leave.
We both want to go back to the Bluewater Mall, just not on a busy day. They had a lot of really cool stores that we wish we had the time to leisurely browse through. There was one good thing about the trip though, the people watching. If you know Andrea or me, we love to people watch and there was no shortage of interesting people and outfits to keep us amused. I just wish I was quick enough with the camera to take a picture without getting caught. I probably could have started our own website, www.peopleofbluewater.com. It might have been good enough to give my favorite website, the www.peopleofwalmart.com, a run for its money.
***PS***
People have been asking us about posting comments. I finally figured out how to change the settings so anybody can post a comment. So if you want to post a comment just click the Comments section at the end of the blog post you want to comment on. After you finish writing your remarks chose Anonymous, click Post Comment and you are done. All we ask is that you put your name at the end of your remarks so we know who wrote it. Thanks!
***PS***
People have been asking us about posting comments. I finally figured out how to change the settings so anybody can post a comment. So if you want to post a comment just click the Comments section at the end of the blog post you want to comment on. After you finish writing your remarks chose Anonymous, click Post Comment and you are done. All we ask is that you put your name at the end of your remarks so we know who wrote it. Thanks!
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