I thought the shopping assignment was going to be the best homework ever, but my mind was quickly changed. I am now a shopping hater! I have never been so overwhelmed in my life...
I thought the silk market was an outside market, so when the bus pulled up to a six story building I was a little confused. As you walk in on the main floor, all you can see are aisles and aisles of clothes: Abercrombie, North Face, Polos, Dolce and Gabbana etc. This floor was obviously the clothing floor. After some snooping around, we figured out that each floor had a different type of product, like shoes, jewelry, electronics and so on. The atmospherics of the market were so busy and crowded and noisy that after one hour you feel utterly exhausted. A couple hours into shopping I grew a little restless and decided to go exploring ahead of the group I was with at the time. Not long after did I realize I was surrounded by a bunch of strangers and the others were nowhere in sight. For the next hour and a half I went searching floor by floor for anyone I knew, praying that I wouldn't have to take a taxi back to the hotel by myself, since the market was about to close. As I got off the escalator on the 3rd floor, I ran into a member of the team and gave him the biggest hug ever. :)
The Lotte Department store was a different story. It was a comfortable environment, spaced out and clean with soothing music playing in the background. I could take my time walking around the store without feeling rushed, and people were easily visible, so getting lost was much harder. I saw an adorable shirt and went to go try it on...but then I saw the price. 200 dollars?? I don't think so! So, we spent the rest of the time simply admiring the beautiful merchandise.
There are definite similarities and differences between these two shopping experiences:
Similarities:
- Each floor was specific to a certain type of merchandise.
- The layout of the escalators forced you to walk around the entire floor before going to a different one
- The employees came up and promoted their product
Differences:
- Lotte had set prices while the silk market allowed bartering
- Employees at the silk market invaded your personal space - big time
- Lotte is a clean environment
- Lotte had better quality
$200 for a SHIRT?! I don't think so. Was the silk market size about the size of Medford's mall or bigger? Was it mostly tourists who went to these markets, or everyone?
ReplyDeleteThe market was probably the size of the mall, but in a narrow tall building. Each floor had little 10 x 10 spaces with products from floor to ceiling! If you walked 3 steps across from one, you would find the same thing. This is a market for tourists mainly, but there were many locals there as well.
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