Thought this was beautiful cookware at the Amazon 4-Star Store.
BTW, can’t believe Amazon is now getting into bricks and mortar too!
These enameled cast iron dutch oven pots are colorful and useful.
In a way, they are too good-looking to use.
Maybe just put them on the stovetop and let them look pretty.
There is always the microwave for the real food. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Wow, this was incredible for my kids to find in the store…
Magic Skin Cream
My dad of blessed memory, when he was alive created a cream called, “Magic Cream.”
And it really was magic–he would put it on regularly to heal virtually any routine skin ailment.
It used all natural ingredients and he carefully protected the secret formula.
To now see the magic cream in a major retail store left me really surprised.
I wish that he had been able to bring his magic cream to market and that it would have been a huge success.
IMHO, my dad deserved this achievement–he was brilliant and hardworking and most importantly, a super good person with tremendous faith in G-d and real integrity.
I miss him dearly. 😉
(Credit Photo: My daughter Rebecca)
So this was the entranceway to a store in Florida.
As you can see, the center mannequin is set up sitting in not a very modest way for a lady.
And worse, there is a little boy mannequin situated right next to her.
It was funny to see people stop to look at this fake sexual scene.
But no amount of sexuality could sell the junk that the store was pushing.
So strutting your stuff or showing a little skin–or in this case hard plastic–may get the customer’s attention or even in the store.
However, it certainly doesn’t close the deal, although something else here would be better off shut or as my mother-in-law says, “close your yap!” 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So this open-door market has no workers there.
Someone comes in to stock the shelves periodically, and that’s it!
It’s completely automated of workers, and only has this automated kiosk for check-out.
As you shop, there are cameras watching you, so you don’t steal anything.
Then you go to the checkout and like in other stores, you scan you items and pay with your credit card, but the difference is that it’s without anyone else around at all.
Can you imagine someone would leave there business and there is no one watching you, except the cameras.
You’re on your honor system.
Just think how much money the owner saves by not having to stand there or hire someone to stand there all day.
He can have 10 or 100 or 1,000 of these stores and no daily labor to pay for.
Talk about people losing their jobs to automation and robotics!
So even if someone does steal 1 or 2 things, it’s a minor loss to the owner compared to paying someone to stand there and check people out all day (salary, benefits, payroll taxes, workers comp insurance, and more).
What if the camera isn’t even real and it’s just a dark cone, so you are just left to think that you’re being surveilled…another savings for the owner.
Now imagine if we all internalized this thought in life that we were under the watchful eye of our Maker, and everyone would do the right thing even when no one else was there watching. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So I’m in this clothing store…
And behind the cash register is this closet.
The cashier goes to the closet to get something and leaves the door open.
The closet, especially compared with the rest of the upscale clothing store, is really a mess.
But at the top, hanging is a yellow sticky note.
And the note says, “Keep Organized“.
The first shelf with some binders isn’t too bad.
But then as you get further away form the reminder to keep organized, it gets worse and worse.
Office supplies, hand creams, napkins, sprayers, and more, all sort of thrown in there.
I was surprised not to see someone’s leftovers from lunch. (lol)
And then on the door itself are all these taped up reminder papers and old used tape with papers long torn off still hanging there.
I don’t think this is the image or brand this store wants to convey.
The funny thing is that out on the floor, the salespeople were working on all the fancy displays and using these corporate design books that show them exactly what to lay out, where, and how.
Then again, what’s visible and skin deep doesn’t always represent what’s beneath the surface.
Like politics, if you knew how the sausage was made, you’d probably never eat it.
Maybe some things are better left behind closed doors. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Thought this was pretty cool art in Anthropologie in Washington, DC.
It was different paint cans attached to the wall in the store in a colorful display.
To go with this paint theme, they also had paint brushes (dry of course, but they looked wet with colored paint) hanging from the ceiling.
Anyway, in the back of the store, there was a beautiful new rug that I got for my daughter–it was a real find (and sort of looks like this paint display in terms of colors, but very refined and feminine for her with gorgeous flowers and a rich texture).
Anyway, she loved it and I ended up getting a pretty good deal on it, so I was happy too. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This little deli and grocery in downtown D.C. always reminds me of the spanish bodegas back in NYC.
The smallish store has just a couple of aisles of stuffed shelves of all sort of fast food eatsies.
Usually not very organized, but more like you see something from all the grab it type foods and drinks and just go for it.
Signs are handwritten and taped on to shelves, doors, and counters.
Food packages jut out from shelves into the aisles and frequently get knocked down by customers on to the floors of the narrower aisles.
Pour your own cup of coffee or softdrink.
Sandwiches in the back are freshly made while you wait and come heaping with toppings and the price written with a black marker on the celaphane wrapping.
The store is laidback and informal with the proprietor at the counter reading from his newspaper as people come by to check out and he looks up between paragraphs.
Very working class and for students in the area, the lines can get long to the door at lunch hour.
A little unkept and no place to sit and dawdle–this is a get in and get out little neighborhood store.
A big contrast with the cookie-cutter chain stores and franchises–this is mom and pop style. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This was a funny photo in the mall this weekend.
We are passing by this mattress store.
The sign over the bed says:
“See and feel how a Sleep Number bed adjusts to you”
This family is apparently trying out the new mattress.
They have made themselves quite comfortable–and they sort of just continue to lay there and lay there.
The guy looks like he’s watching TV and the mom and daughter are playing something.
We take a stroll around the mall and eventually (maybe 20 minutes later) pass back by this store.
Guess what? These people are still laying on the mattress, and they haven’t budged an inch.
They don’t look homeless or anything.
Not sure if this Sleep Number is adjusting to them or they are still adjusting to the Sleep Number.
Honey, can you pass the cover. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
This lady is a scream at 7-Eleven.
With the looks, personality, and humor, she should definitely have her own tv show.
Great times in Florida (thank you Hashem). 😉
(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)
I took this photo in Trader Joe’s.
I like how organized (and colorful) they are.
A binder for everything…dairy, produce, bread, cereal, meat, cheese, snacks, cookies and candy, frozen goods, beverages, and flowers, ,
Another binder for training…nice, they care about their employees.
And even for donations–another sign proudly stated that the store had donated $925,000 of goods so far this year…that’s pretty amazing!
I previously wrote about 10 Reasons To Love Trader Joe’s (and 2 to not), but this store is continuing to grow on me.
Especially with all the healthy eating you can do from there–that’s probably the most important reason of all to shop there. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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