When we flew to the UK, both Helen and I came with only two suitcases each, containing mostly work clothes and not much casual. As it turns out, both of us dress casual at work. So we felt some new wardrobe was "needed".
Today we went to The Centre, a really large mall in Livingstone, an hour from home. This mall is so large, it has three McDonalds in it, so there's always one where you need it. We really just went for a look, honest! We came home loaded. Four pairs of shoes, six shirts, bed linen, pillows, and most importantly we got at least 5kg of yummy goodies from Cadbury's factory outlet shop.
Additionally, Zavvi is closing. They are a CD/DVD chain store similiar to HMV except that HMV haven't gone into administration. Zavvi's loss is our gain, we picked up a pile of heavily reduced DVDs a week ago.
With the credit crunch, almost every shop here has sales. Even banks now have the big red "SALE" signs in the windows. Prior to Christmas, sale items were perhaps 10% or 20% off RRP. Come Boxing Day, 20% became standard, more for some items. Come New Years, retailers were getting desperate for cashflow, and sales went as far as 50% off. Now, another week later, some retailers are showing up to 70% off some items. Incredible! It does numb the senses though. With "SALE" signs at every turn, it's hard to spot the real bargains.
People are still out there shopping, and are certainly buying judging by the bags they're carrying, and retailers are no doubt still getting cashflow, but I doubt that the cashflow carries much margin at present.
Anyway, today we are personally enjoying what may be the only benefit we receive from the credit crunch.
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