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| A typical Staples office supply store, in Ontario, California. Photographed on March 22, 2005 and uploaded the same day by user Coolcaesar. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Kind of a running gag that I have upon returning from a vacation is that as I exit the freeway and head toward home, I'll say to my wife, "I wonder if much has changed while we were gone?"
Whether it be a few days or seven weeks like our most recent vacation, I'll make my little joke. Most of the time there is no change or, if any, only something minor. So it seemed when we rolled into our hometown last Tuesday--everything looked the same. It took me two days to realize there was a very big change--one that was very disappointing to my wife and me. The Staples store across the street from us was closed down.
This change won't affect us too adversely, but it was convenient to have an office supply store so close that I could easily walk to it. I had grown so used to looking out our back windows to see that friendly Staples sign across Rosemead Boulevard. Now there's just a sad red rectangle where words used to be.
The demise of our neighborhood Staples came without any real warning unlike the closing of the Borders store that was in the same shopping center. Borders advertised their closing for a few months ahead of time and each week cut prices until that last week when the little remaining stock went for ultra-bargain prices. You can bet that I stocked up on books during that closing sale. I reaped benefits but I was disappointed to see the store close. A major bookstore in easy walking distance was like a dream come true.
And now Staples. Not only Staples but also an AT&T phone store where my wife and I had bought all of our cell phones over the past several years. Losing the phone store is no biggie since phone stores seem to be on every corner around here. The closest office supply store will now be at least five miles away. Still convenient, but not as much as one I could see from our house.
So what will show up next in those empty store spaces? It took a while to reoccupy the Borders space. Eventually a Petsmart--a mega pet store--moved in. I was not particularly thrilled about that since I don't own any pets and don't intend to. Only once have I entered that store and that was to buy some of those colorful rocks like you put in aquariums. My granddaughter kept emptying decorative vases that we have around our house to add to her rock collection. I bought her a bag of colored stones so she might let our vases be. Haven't been in that store since.
The phone store space will probably find a new occupant relatively quickly since it's a smaller space. The former Staples site might be a tougher proposition. It's a big space. I'm not sure what I'd like to see there next. I wouldn't be too surprised to see a pop-up Halloween store open in that space for a couple months or maybe a temporary Christmas store.
The shopping center already has Lowes, Walmart, Ross, Marshalls, and a plethora of smaller shops dealing in clothing and other sundry items. With stores closing all around us I'm not sure who else would venture to open up business in the current economy. Goodwill maybe? I suppose I could see that though I hope I don't actually see it. Then again, I wouldn't have to go so far to take my cast-off items for tax write-off donations.
Whatever does end up opening in those spaces--and I do hope the spaces become occupied quickly--I hope it's the ideal store for me. A place that I'd love to go to look around and even maybe buy something now and then. At the moment I can't imagine what that store might be. There's not much I want these days. After all, I'm trying to get rid of stuff. Hmm--that Goodwill store is starting to sound like a good idea.
Battle of the Bands
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Another Battle of the Bands is coming this Friday August 15th. Participation grew to greater numbers last round so I would imagine we might see similar numbers this time around. And even if you aren't staging your own Battle we hope you will vote on the ones who are. My next Battle will be the start of a themed series where I will be pitting "Boys against the Girls". The classic tune I've chosen is an oldie but excellentie. It's one of my favorite tunes--one that I hope you too will enjoy. Please stop by on Friday.
