doug — off the record

… Christmas shopping?

I got a little inspiration for this post by reading this article.

A sentimental Reddit thread is remembering a Toronto that no longer exists

Aw, that brings back memories.

A long, long time ago, we had a Peterson pre-Christmas family tradition. We’d get in the car and head to London and Wellington Square. I suppose that it would be considered just another mall these days but it was spectacular for us. Most spectacular was the Eaton’s store. At Christmas time, it was fully decorated and we’d walk around and just look at stuff. As I look back now, I’m sure that Santa was looking over my shoulder for what would really get my attention.

There was one particular event that I remember from those years gone by and that was seeing Santa in a broken down car on the way back home. I think it was just outside Lucan and we gave him a lift into town.

At university, there was more of this. My girlfriend/wife and I didn’t have much money but we did walk the malls, looking and wishing. A popular destination was Market Square and the big store anchoring this was yet another Eaton’s store. I need to give a shoutout to Fairview Park as well and it featured Woolco and Simpsons-Sears.

For the one year I was getting my Bachelor of Education, I lived in Toronto and my friend told me I needed to experience the Eaton Centre. And, it truly was a spectacular event to experience. Of course, there was Eaton’s at one end and Simpsons at the other end. In between, there were all kinds of stores.

Around here, we did have the White Woods Mall with a much smaller compliment of stores and the big department store was the Met. It has long since been torn down but we could still go into Windsor to the Devonshire Mall. Until recent years, it featured Sears and The Bay. As we know, these are now shuttered.

What made going to these malls unique was the ambience. There was Christmas music and all the stores were decked out. In particular, the big anchoring stores went over the top and there really was a sense that this was an important season to gather (and spend money). I just happened to be at the Devonshire Mall this past week and there is a big black wall covering the entrance to The Bay but at least the Santa Claus photo place was there. You can now book a time to get your picture taken. Really? Time marches on.

The old Sears store is gone and is now another entrance to the mall. I think I’m going to miss The Bay the most. It was the only place where I know I could buy my wife’s favourite perfume, Trésor.

Picture created by Google Gemini

There probably are at least as many stores if you were to count and you can work your way in and out of stores in a strip mall. We haven’t had any significant snow yet so it’s not as cold/slushy as it could be. That certainly detracts from the experience.

Things truly are different now. As a morning walker, I go by piles of recycle boxes on Friday mornings and the one thing that is common is Amazon boxes. I’ll confess; you might find the occasional box outside our place.

As I think about the difference between the mall and the strip mall experience, it really is different. I don’t ever remember going back to a store while doing the strip mall thing but certainly did at the mall. Plus, you could stop for a snack or a drink if you wanted and availability of washrooms meant that you could spend the whole day there if you wanted. Malls can be decorated; strip malls not so much.

And, I get that it’s a business decision to move to a different model for hosting businesses. Christmas is just a little different since I go to a lot of different stores and not just a quick in and out to get what I need.

For a Sunday, what are your thoughts?

• do you have the same type of nostalgia for the shopping mall experience?
• is shopping at Christmas different for you than other shopping excursions? How?
• do you miss access the big box stores?
• does the convenience of Amazon or other online shopping take away from the Christmas experience?
• have you started Christmas shopping yet?
• do you have a favourite shopping mall?
• where can I buy Trésor?

As always, I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

This is a now irregular feature here on Sunday mornings. You can visit the all the past posts here.

And, I’m always open for ideas for posts. Do you have one? Inspired me!