A day in Downtown Fredericksburg
On Friday September 26th at 10 AMish I started on my journey into downtown Fredericksburg. I started by driving down from the top of Princess Anne street. I noticed that the top of the street contained mostly automotive shops and either fast food joints or little mom and pop diners but that was not what I found so intriguing; that part of town looked very similar to something I would imagine a late 50’s early 60’s town would look like. I found an interesting biker type shop called Big Daddy Leather, the store was populated mostly by large men who were more interested in socializing than shopping.
I headed down Princess Anne to the main downtown area. I parked my car across the street from the Court House and proceeded to walk to the corner of Princess Anne and William Street and found a cute coffee shop called Hyperion Espresso. I made a point to ask the barista if this coffee shop was independently owned and she replied in the positive which made me very happy because I believe that Starbucks rules the world…even though I work there. Surprisingly the coffee shop was well patroned for 10ish in the morning and the customers ran that gambit; business men on a coffee break, students, and many ladies that seemed to be over 40. Most of them were sipping their coffee from large mugs provided by the coffee shop, in other words, most of the patrons were eating and sipping in store rather than taking their caffeine to go. This was certainly a leisure activity.
After grabbing my small soy chai latte I headed down Williams street to Caroline street. This was such a lovely street full of little shops that seemed to be generally targeted to women. I stumbled upon that beautiful little tea shop that was buried inside of what seemed like a business owners co-op. It was called Tea Tyme I have to remember to take my mom there when she visits from NY but that is besides the point. Anyway, the shop was adorable but the only soul I saw in this “co-op” were the people behind the counter at their shops. The shop had a menu of tasty teas as well as some merchandise like little knick-knacks and mugs, it was very novelty but definitely a good find. This little shop made me feel warm and brought back memories of my youth when my mom would take me in the Manhattan for tea and cakes at Serendipity.
I strolled further down Caroline Street an noticed an abundance of antique shops with all sorts of things ranging from old signs to beautiful (and expensive) furniture. The strange thing is that these shops had zero customers, not a single person! I found it odd but then realized what time it was and figured that people would probably shop a bit later. I have to say that the coolest shop I found was a real life 50’s style pharmacy. It was called Goolrick’s and there was a soda jerk and a pharmacist. I have never actually seen one of these places…other than in movies. I also noticed a trolley system which was really cute and added to the novelty of the town.
I also must mention this one little shop I went into that turned out to be a museum called the Hugh Mercer Apothecary this was a really interesting find. The docents were dressed in 18th century garb and had a great knowledge of the different types of herbs that cure all ailments. There was a family of 3 on a tour and they were so excited to be there.
In the end, I think that the next time I go on the shopping field trip I will probably do it a bit earlier. I think that the shopping habit of the average person do not take place at 10ish through 11ish on a Friday morning…well except for the coffee shop patrons.
Field Work | Comment (0)Reflections and Thoughts
This past week was quite an interesting one, we learned about the departmentalizing of certain stores such as Macy’s, the trend of eliminating the “Jobber”, and the reformation of packaging and the processing of goods.
As a New Yorker, I know that Macy’s at Herald’s Square is the one of the staples on NYC. It is truly the largest department store next to Harrod’s that I have ever seen. Macy’s at Herald’s Square is 9 floors of clothing, kitchen wear, and everything else but the kitchen sink…on second thought, they may have kitchen sinks! Just as Susan Stasser states in Satisfaction Guaranteed, it includes a post office on the top floor, food and places to sit and hang out. Its not just a shopping trip, it is truly an experience.
I would like to switch gears and talk about the attempts to reform packaging and processing of food products. I read the Jungle by Upton Sinclair a long time ago but I still remember the horror and the exploitation of the workers in the meat packing industry. Not unlike many of the images that Eric Schlosser dipicts in his book Fast Food Nation. It makes me think that though we have come a long way from Upton Sinclair’s day, we still have a ways to go. Schlosser talks about the exploitation of workers for Tyson Chicken, the less than desirable conditions of the processing plants and even an explanation of what we are ACTUALLY consuming in our meat. Now I have to admit, neither Upton Sinclair’s of Eric Schlosser’s accounts did not sway me from eating meat, but it really concerns me that we are still dealing with these types of issues.
Meat Packing in 1906
Meat Packing Presently
Everyone Can Be a Rockstar
So I have to say that I am officially addicted to Guitar Hero! It is one of the best purchases that I have ever made and I certainly have played my money’s worth. I bought it from amazon for $89.99 which is an average price to pay. The kit included the game, a white Les Paul Gibson style wireless guitar controller, stickers to decorate the guitar, and a guitar strap.
I do fear that it is infringing upon my study time but I just can’t give it up. I could state the benefits such as hand eye coordination, quick thinking, agility, stress relief…but I have to admit that I play this game purely for entertainment. Whether I am playing “Slow Ride” or battling Slash I feel like a rockstar in my own home!
Guitar Hero was originally created by RedOctane, a company in Mountain View, CA run by Kai Huang and Charles Huang in Partnership with Activsion. It was first released in November of 2005 and has exploded on the gaming scene. Since its conception, Guitar Hero has been modified and manufactured for Playstation, Xbox, Wii (my personal favorite), Nintendo DS, MAC and PC consoles. This enables the game to reach every gamer in any gaming format.
Guitar Hero evokes the liknesses of Ozzy Osborn, Aerosmith, Sting, Billy Corgan, Tom Morello and even Jimi Hendrix. I would personally love to see Kurt Cobain and Ann Wilson thrown into the mix. A gamer can customize their player by changing the guitar model, outfits and hairstyle by using the money that the player made from all of the gigs that the player and the band completed throughout the game. A player can even enjoy the game post play by downloading and listening the the soundtracks provided by itunes.
It seems that Guitar Hero has become a cultural phenomenom! Bars across America host Guitar Hero competitions for money!
You can play it anywhere…I went to an REM concert last June that hosted a guitar hero competition where the winner got to meet the band!! Now I am good but I am not nearly that obsessed…plus we didn’t want to miss the opening band. (I totally would have done it if I didn’t like the opening band). Even one of my favorite bands that I used to follow around the country has jumped in the band wagon!!!!
I would recommend this game to anyone with a gaming system who can devote a least a little time to this addiction. It is a fun game to play with a bunch of friends, especially if you have more than one guitar controller or to pass the time by yourself. All in all I would have to say I am huge fan of Guitar Hero.
Check out this Video!!!
shopping | Comment (0)Repositioned to be Fashion Forward
For folks on a budget stores that offer fashionable clothing from well known designers is a godsend. I am talking about stores such as Kohls, Target, and H&M; these stores offer trendy clothing from some of the hottest designers. This is a wonderful case of repositioning.
Susan Strasser in her book Satisfaction Guaranteed defines repositioning as: “Organizing new distribution often involved assigning a product a new position with respect to competition or to groups of consumers, a practice now called ‘repositioning’.” This is exactly what these designers and stores are accomplishing. They are bringing fashion to the masses by offering variations of their styles at a lower price. This is specifically targeted (mind the pun) to consumers with a lower income who could not afford the more luxurious styles.
To date Target has enlisted the likes of Issac Mizrahi, Mossimo Giannulli, and Anya Hindmarch, Kohls has joined forces with the illustrious Vera Wang and H & M has collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld . All of these designers are known for their high end fashions and have since repositioned their products allowing them to be more accessible to the average person.
Repositioning seems to be a trend among many stores as gas prices rise and wallets get lighter. This is an affordable, stylish way to look good on a budget.
consumerism | Comment (0)High Fructose Corn Syrup Propaganda
So I have been seeing these new commercials on TV that are pushing the positives of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) . Who is running these adds one may ask…none other than the The Corn Refiners Association. They have launched a new campaign called “The Facts about High Fructose Corn Syrup“. Now I have been known to consume some of this sweetener, chances are most have, but this substance in not beneficial to the body in any way; furthermore, there have been some studies linking High Fructose Corn Syrup to diabetes and high cholesterol. This new campaign is a great example of how marketing can effect and dictate our consumption.
To people consuming HFCS, a commercial like this not only justifies their purchase while diminishing any doubt they had in the product, but admonishes their accountability if they or their family members develop health related issues. The fact is that High Fructose Corn Syrup is easy to produce, its cheap, and it prolongs the shelf-life of certain foods that probably should not be sitting out as long as they do. The Corn Refiners Association says that it is natural debating “well its made from corn” but the truth is that HFCS is made from fructose and glucose which are disaccharide where cane sugar and beet sugar are purely made of sucrose with is a monosaccharide; needless to say, neither is good for you but the simple sugars contributes less to obesity than the complex molecule. Unfortunately, in a country motivated to consume, and duped by branding and marketing, instead of educating the public about the potential negatives of HFCS, people are happily consuming because the Corn Refiners say “its all good”.These are the same market execs who told us that Thalidomide was safe and effective as a cure for morning sickness and look how good that turned out.
One could say that Marx’s Fetishism rings true in a situation such as this. People are depending on a relationship with a brand they trust and the company producing that brand is dependent upon the consumption of the product. There is a bit of Baudillard’s reciprocity in action here as well. All in all, one would hope that it is at the very least questionable that a company producing a substance that can be found in a variety of products would need to push a campaign that would reflect the substance in a positive light. If it was healthy for us and people were not performing experiments to test the potentials dangers of it then there would be no need for this High Fructose Corn Syrup propaganda.
High Fructose Corn Syrup Commercial
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