I needed Christmas bulbs. Like, a set of 12 — was thinking a mix of clear and champagne metallic and shimmering white, or something along those lines. We only started putting up a tree when we moved to Los Angeles a few years ago — before that, we never remembered Christmas — and it needs to be filled out. I wanted to buy them in the store because I thought it would be more satisfying.
This week, in the afternoon after it had already turned dark, we traveled as a family to the local Caruso mall for a Disneyland-inspired retail experience. Caruso, the developer and recent mayoral candidate, sets his shopping centers up like a small town; at the Americana in Glendale, a train wiggles down the middle of the brick road, passing by an Apple store and an Indochino and Deluca’s, an Italian deli that has nothing to do with Dean and Deluca. The buildings are sparkling with thousands of red-and-white lights, and fake snow occasionally flurries down. So classy, I do love it.
I went to Nordstrom, which I expected to have a whole section of Christmas decorations. I went to Barnes and Noble (which seems to sell more toys than books). I went to Anthropologie, which I imagined would have Christmas trees covered in John Derian knockoffs. I found nothing. Well, not nothing, but nothing buy-able. Just a few unremarkable fabric ornaments. On the drive home, I placed an order on my phone for a set of softly colored metallic bulbs and a fabric pretzel.
I like the Caruso malls. I want to plan a day over the break when I meet up with my friend Pam and we go shopping, then have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. But the only thing I will probably end up using my credit card for is spinach-artichoke dip. Now that we’re so accustomed to shopping online, it’s harder for retailers to know exactly what to stock in their actual, physical shops. Should it be like a showroom, where you can try on every, single style and then have it shipped directly to your home? Or should it stock what people would want to shop for in-person, last-minute?
I’m not sure either solution is a good solution. The only great shopping experiences I’ve had in the past year have been at grocery stores and A'maree's. Oh, and Camp, the kid’s store. Oh, and John Derian in New York City, the ultimate place to shop for ornaments. Anything in between is just so disappointing, and not only because of the selection, but the way it all looks and feels, too. I asked my husband when I left Anthropologie, “Is everything junkier than it used to be, or am I just out of touch with reality?”
A good shopping experience can feel like a brain massage that lasts for days — similar to the feeling you get when looking at art or reading a magazine. Whether or not the generation younger than me, which has always been able to shop online, will continue to seek out that feeling through visiting stores, I don’t know. Retailers, please dazzle me!
A Selection of Things I Wrote and Said in the Last Six Months of 2022:
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