In the days before Walmart, the hub of most small towns in the United States was the high street general store.
Here you could find anything you could possibly need and lot more besides. There aren't so many left these days, but a great example is Horsfall's Lansing Variety in Lansing, Iowa.
Even getting into this shop is a challenge. The entrance leads directly into an aisle packed from floor to ceiling, and the maze simply continues. Household goods of every type, toys, crockery, picture frames, repair hardware, toilet seats, vacuum cleaner bags, greeting cards, candles – shelves and boxes everywhere.
Within 30 seconds of entering I had lost my wife in the labyrinth, and I blundered around like Theseus expecting any minute to be set on by a plastic Minotaur with Made in China inscribed on its behind.
I lay down my hand and found myself holding a can of black spray paint that was exactly what my son needed for a school project. Now I had to pay for it. I had to ask someone that I hoped was a shop staff person to find out where. He was, and I did – a small hole left clear in one of the towering display shelves.
As I was waiting two browsers scuttled by me, breathing heavily and muttering about claustrophobia. I was happy to follow them out, leaving my monopod behind in the process. This was alarming – not because I thought someone would steal it, but would I ever find it again?
But I did, and settled down on the hot sidewalk to wait for my wife to emerge. A woman biker sat on the doorstep of one the sealed entrances, blocked by boxes of candles, chatting away on her cell phone.
Several minutes – I think it was minutes – later my wife came out and told me that there was another branch of this same store just three buildings further up the street. An overflow, she said…
😆 You would not enjoy this store!! The aisles were about 0.5m wide. You could not pass someone in them – you had to back up. It was like driving through a Greek mountain village! 🙂
another free tour :up: thanks ! ( no check in the mail 😆 )Claustrophobia : I love my Greek, I love my Greek , :)compound Greek word,Claustos= closedphobia =phobia anxiety caused by closed/small area with limited light , air or sound. Do you know that there are people who can have a hyperventilation if they use a fitting room in a Dept. store?? Something that we take for granted.Actually I get hyperventilated if I ho shopping ! 😆 I hate shopping,so Richard, did you notice I already started the pollution?? Am I blocked yet or not ?? 😆 sorry Richard , my "make believe ADD" does a thing on me again! 😀
hahahaha Yes, Greek mountain villages are like that! If not of the green environment and the fresh air I would have labeled them claustrophobic too ! 😆
I love stores like this, but being a genuine claustrophobe, I can't stay in them very long on my best days. There aren't many left, are there? But I can't pass one up. I have to go exploring through the maze, just to see what wonderful discoveries I can unearth on the dusty shelves.Fortunately, my inner compass facilitates a speedy exit when the phobia kicks in, and I can burst through the door for air. And after a few large breaths, I dive right back in. :lol:Enjoyed the tour, Richard!:up:
Thank you! 🙂 I don't suffer from claustrophobia, but I still felt a little uneasy squeezed in with all the stuff, so I appreciate you might feel a lot worse. You are brave to re-enter – but there is so much see. It would be a sad day if all these mom-and-pop shops disappeared.
I think I'd prefer a shop like that for a great-chain store any day.
Oh I would too! Anything other than Wal Mart!
There's a general store near me, Andriacchi's, that survives by selling "gourmet" food items, locally produced crafts, and nice children's clothing alongside the batteries, vacuum bags and egg beaters. They really do have very good imported cheeses!http://my.opera.com/yooperprof/albums/showpic.dml?album=305010&picture=4595220
Glad to see someone making it. I think that has to be the way forward – finding a profitable niche like gourmet food.
I think that me and Star are on the same page with this one — I would have been in there for at least an hour. Maybe not buying, but at least looking. A kind of tomb of cultural artifacts that hasn't yet been broken into by grave robbers.