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Alert! Start your Christmas shopping now, before time is gone! ...At least, that's what your friendly neighborhood department store would like you to think.
This Christmas season started like any other... Thanksgiving eaten and behind you on the calendar, your children giving you more long letters to ship to the North Pole, you reading said letters, the son/daughter you thought you had finally gotten rid of at college returning, and of course, the sudden and unexpected snow fall.
One thing no one expected was the sudden turn on Wall Street or the blockbuster presidential election. So, while many would like to complete the list included with the letters for Santa, many will be unable to provide as much as they would like, due to lost jobs, or the raising of taxes.
What any people don’t understand, is that the fastest way to get the economy back on track is to spend the money that they are currently stocking in their bank accounts like squirrels before winter. What they should be doing is following the advice of the bear before winter… Eat. Or, spend in this occasion. It doesn’t matter how much the government borrows to the banks. If people continue to hoard rather than take out loans and purchase, nothing will get better.
And so, wonderful consumers, follow the advice of your friendly neighborhood department store, and spend until your wallets are emptier than the pockets of Big Brother.
Monday, 8 December 2008
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
8th Floor Display at Macy's
Every year around Christmas time, Macy's (Marshall Fields/Dayton's for those of us who remember) would put together an animated display for the general public, a Christmas gift of sorts. The display takes up almost the entire 8th floor, discounting the gift shop or line space. They base the display off of a certain topic. For example, one year the display was based off of J. K. Rowling's novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This year, 'A Day in the Life of an Elf' was the theme of this year's display in Downtown Minneapolis.
The display followed every aspect of an elf's day- from awakening to the collection of Santa's mail and, of course, making the toys. After walking through, you can get a picture with Santa (you would be amazed how many people can fit in a picture with Kringle in the middle!), purchase something at the gift shop, or give in to the amazing scents of Gingerbread Cookie, that have been wafting from the moment you stepped into the room, and get yourself a cookie from 'Mrs. Claus's Bakery.' Even if you choose to step downstairs to the shopping section of the building, or even further down to their dining area afterward instead, you are bound to return year after year to this celebrated holiday experience.
The display followed every aspect of an elf's day- from awakening to the collection of Santa's mail and, of course, making the toys. After walking through, you can get a picture with Santa (you would be amazed how many people can fit in a picture with Kringle in the middle!), purchase something at the gift shop, or give in to the amazing scents of Gingerbread Cookie, that have been wafting from the moment you stepped into the room, and get yourself a cookie from 'Mrs. Claus's Bakery.' Even if you choose to step downstairs to the shopping section of the building, or even further down to their dining area afterward instead, you are bound to return year after year to this celebrated holiday experience.
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Coffee Shop Studies
Seeing as how I work at a Dunn Brothers Coffee, I figured it may be an interesting subject for my next blog.
Anyone who frequents, or works at, a coffee shop in the earlier hours of the day, has the opportunity to learn near everything about the other coffee drinkers. There haven't been any studies, or at least that I know of, that show that specialty coffee drinkers are more susceptible to mental intrusion before they've had their coffee, but I'd be willing to bet my next paycheck on it. They will willingly tell you their life stories while you stand before them creating their über caffeinated Turtle Mocha.* Or behind them in line, waiting for their Zebra.* And then there are the odd ones: the coffee drinkers that want regular, black coffee and they want it NOW.
If I was doing a study, my findings [so far] would be: those who order flavored beverages, be it a latte, a cappuccino, or a gloriously tasty frappe, they are considerably more apt to tell you everything about them and usually have no idea what they want in Dunnbrothian language, and proceed to as for something in Starbuckish. Those who order coffee just need something to get the through the morning and would rather be fighting in some sort of mass, infantry and explosive-heavy war than going to work.
From my [extremely] unofficial study, you can see that those who have more fun with their drinks seem to be more open and, as a result, happier as people.
Therefore, I ask you... How much do you spend on your morning coffee?
*For those wondering, a Turtle Mocha is Carmel and Mocha Latte and a Zebra is White and Dark Mocha Latte.
Anyone who frequents, or works at, a coffee shop in the earlier hours of the day, has the opportunity to learn near everything about the other coffee drinkers. There haven't been any studies, or at least that I know of, that show that specialty coffee drinkers are more susceptible to mental intrusion before they've had their coffee, but I'd be willing to bet my next paycheck on it. They will willingly tell you their life stories while you stand before them creating their über caffeinated Turtle Mocha.* Or behind them in line, waiting for their Zebra.* And then there are the odd ones: the coffee drinkers that want regular, black coffee and they want it NOW.
If I was doing a study, my findings [so far] would be: those who order flavored beverages, be it a latte, a cappuccino, or a gloriously tasty frappe, they are considerably more apt to tell you everything about them and usually have no idea what they want in Dunnbrothian language, and proceed to as for something in Starbuckish. Those who order coffee just need something to get the through the morning and would rather be fighting in some sort of mass, infantry and explosive-heavy war than going to work.
From my [extremely] unofficial study, you can see that those who have more fun with their drinks seem to be more open and, as a result, happier as people.
Therefore, I ask you... How much do you spend on your morning coffee?
*For those wondering, a Turtle Mocha is Carmel and Mocha Latte and a Zebra is White and Dark Mocha Latte.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Communities
Unfortunately, the community is split a few ways, so people really only talk to those in their community, taking away much interaction.
Being that the size of my town is so small, one would think that the community is more connected. Naturally, the only wide-spread apparition within a small town is the want to grow. Key locations are hard to find as well, as the each person has its own tastes. you are most likely to find people at one of our restaurants and, of course, the town hall. The most common discussion you will find is that of getting a high school, as the middle and high is cramped into a middle school building.
Zimmerman was originally built around a man-made lake, so it has always been small. Of course now that the population has doubled a couple of times, the need for a larger town is becoming more imminent. back in the 90's, everyone wanted a middle / high school so they would not have to send their children to Elk River or Princeton. Now they are vying for a high school, as once mentioned.
Our 'sources' of info involve giving us wonderful rumours that you will never know whether or not they are true. The go-to person for those? Just about every person in town, sadly enough.
The moment you step foot in town the hic-ness almost suffocates you. Although the population is a very mixed bag, the town itself screams hic.
Being that the size of my town is so small, one would think that the community is more connected. Naturally, the only wide-spread apparition within a small town is the want to grow. Key locations are hard to find as well, as the each person has its own tastes. you are most likely to find people at one of our restaurants and, of course, the town hall. The most common discussion you will find is that of getting a high school, as the middle and high is cramped into a middle school building.
Zimmerman was originally built around a man-made lake, so it has always been small. Of course now that the population has doubled a couple of times, the need for a larger town is becoming more imminent. back in the 90's, everyone wanted a middle / high school so they would not have to send their children to Elk River or Princeton. Now they are vying for a high school, as once mentioned.
Our 'sources' of info involve giving us wonderful rumours that you will never know whether or not they are true. The go-to person for those? Just about every person in town, sadly enough.
The moment you step foot in town the hic-ness almost suffocates you. Although the population is a very mixed bag, the town itself screams hic.
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