SHOPPING

  It looks as if online shopping has not entirely taken over from the retail store buildings, but it has certainly made a dent in their profit.

  For some years the empty store front was representative of the inner city, downtown area, a phenomenon which went along with the rise of the gigantic shopping mall on the outskirts of urban areas, accessible both by public transportation from the city and by automobile from surrounding small towns. 

  Now we are seeing an increasing number of empty store fronts in those malls and mall owners are having to come up with more and more ideas for getting people to their sites to shop, such as automobile or home improvements fairs, activities for small children and food courts.

  Online shopping is doing it – ebay is doing and it and hundred of online catalogues are doing it.   There is not a department store or a specialty store which does not carry a line of merchandise to be purchased online.  Clothing, gifts, books, music, furniture (new or used), automobiles, computers themselves – they can all be purchased online, often with promotional gimmicks such as free shipping and handling for good customers.  There was a day when catalogue shopping was for farmers or anyone else who could not readily get to a “real” store – but with the busy lives that people are leading today and the high cost of transportation, online shopping appears to be not only here to stay but even the “in” way to shop.  Who can resist the idea of doing one’s Christmas shopping from the comfort of home – with maybe an in-person visit to a store to meet Santa or just get the feel of mingling with other holiday shoppers?  One visit is often enough and back we go to our favorite online shopping sites.  If you haven’t done it yet, you have a treat in store for you and one which may wind up saving you not only time and energy, but money too!

Websites

What can you say it is Walmart.

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