HOT CHIPS
5-11-2021: One thing that disappoints me is the hot chips you get at most takeaway shops these days.
They are cooked from frozen, and taste awful-all the same size, big, square in cross section, floury and dry, nothing like the chips we used to get.
About once every two months we drive to Semaphore for a weekend outing and buy fish and chips at the Semaphore Rd fish and chip shop, and they are
delicious old style, but it's a long way to go.
It was therefore a delight to see an article about the most popular shops for chips in 'The Advertiser' on
27-10-21, such that I thought I should indulge in yet another heartfelt letter to the paper in reply. On 5-11-2021 'The Advertiser has followed up with
another article about chips. They are trying to find the 10 best places to buy hot chips in Adelaide, and get advice for cooking them.
Good luck with that! I'd suggest that fresh potatoes cut up on the day by hand would be the first step.
An even more annoying example of paper based decoration is found on doll houses which can cost well over $100. The wallpaper and carpets etc which
decorate the wooden structures are paper based. If a dollhouse is left out over night or washed or splashed with water, the paper shows water marks and
starts to dissolve at the edges. In such toys the decorations should be painted on in manufacture or at least sprayed with a strong sealant to
prevent this water damage. How are house-proud dollies expected to clean their house when all the backgrounds are not waterproof?29-9-2018: Every Saturday morning for about 10 years now, I've been going to garage sales, graduating from white elephant stalls at fetes etc.
I don't find it easy getting up out of bed early on a Saturday, even though I'm retired, and it is an effort looking up the locations of the sales and driving to them, especially if it is cold. But what is really infuriating me lately, is that sellers advertise their sale and only include the suburb, not even the time.
On Gumtree and on Facebook, they say what's for sale, sometimes the date but don't give the time or address, just the suburb. If you have enough time before 8 am when most sales start, you can go back on Gumtree and they may have added the street name and the time, otherwise, I suppose, you are expected to drive randomly around a suburb and try to find the sale. It drives me crazy.
There are stories out there about householders being woken up at 5 am by dealers knocking on the door or the gate. That is probably only if you put in the exact address. How would dealers know you're having a sale otherwise, unless you put out all the signs the night before? Don't do that. Wait until you are ready to start and then put out your signs. Keep your goods out of sight in the shed or behind the house and no one can see you are the one about to have a sale. Even if a dealer does come, is it that bad that the whole garage saling community has to suffer with the inconvenience of trawling around? Often I just drive on home. You are the ones that don't sell the gear.
Here is my advice for people holding a garage sale:
- Advertise the sale in the paper or free online, giving the date, time, street and suburb. Don't give the house number unless you want "early birds."
- If you are going to have a sale, organise it in advance. Get some cardboard and proper large textas to write the signs. Cardboard boxes are fine. You may want a sign at each end of your street or at the nearest intersection.
- Write in neat, large letters so that everyone can read it, especially from a car.
- Secure the signs so that they are not able to be blown off course, and point in the right direction.
- Don't just write no. 48. Also have an arrow pointing to left or right.
- Put up a big, clear sign on the actual house and balloons on the gate or fence, so that they can be seen from a distance.
- Put everything out on tables or trestles or at least unwrapped and on the ground. I am not interested in stuff that has been in your shed for 10 years and you haven't even bothered to unwrap.
- I like things organised by kind and price. So toys might be in $2 or $5 groups. It is up to the individual but you are not a high class antique dealer so don't ask ridiculous prices for what you think may be collectables.
- Be friendly and greet visitors when they arrive. On the other hand, don't have a large group of friends drinking coffee and eating croissants and acting like they are better than the buyers.
The Garage Sales Facebook page is mostly not garage sales but individual people selling things and asking to be messaged or phoned. If it isn't a garage sale, advertise somewhere else.
TEA DRINKING
Had a letter published in "The Advertiser," 21-11-2017, a complaint as usual, about the cost of a cup
of tea at a small cafe in a local shopping centre. Radio 891 ABC rang up and interviewed me on air about the letter, but they obviously thought I was a crank,
writing about such a thing. After all, there is the SSM debate which has occupied the letters column on and off for most of the year,
not to mention electricity supply and cost. IMHO the cost of drinks at local eateries is a worthwhile topic for a state newspaper and one
that relates to everyone. I didn't get a chance to tell them of my many complaints about being a tea drinker, in Australia and overseas.
I have mentioned it in other web pages, but I'll recapitulate here.
POTS: As I've said in the letter, when you ordered tea at a cafeteria like John Martins or Coles when I was younger, you usually got 2 little pots, one
for tea made from tea leaves and one of hot water to regulate the strength. There were no tea bags
readily available in Australia that I was aware of until about the 1980s (I tried looking it up but can't find when they became common). When we had
the Beach Palais at Pt Germein during the 1950s, people would order tea and we would serve up a pot of tea, a pot of hot water, however many cups and
saucers were required on a metal tray and the customers would take the lot out to the beach. As far as I remember, there was no cover charge.
They just brought back the tray when they were finished.
TEMPERATURE AND DRIPS: Once teabags became common, there was no need for a pot and soon a cup of tea became a tea bag floating in water, possibly boiling if you are lucky.
In case you should burn yourself, many places turn the temp down so that hot water is only 95 degrees-making for a pathetic luke warm cup of tea.
The cafe will serve up the cup with sugar in small wrappers on the saucer and no where to put the tea bag when you remove it from the cup
but in the saucer where it soaks into the sugar. You dab at it with the small serviette supplied and then that is another bit if rubbish with nowhere to go.
Surely it is not so hard to supply a small disposable saucer about 5 cms wide in which to put the used tea bag?
TEABAGS: Overseas it is quite hard to get real tea in hotels and cafes. Tea to them is any herbal infusion. In hotels for breakfast
they will have a huge range of 'teas' in a glamorous container but none are actually tea. After battling over it for years I now take a supply of
my own tea bags and have them in my handbag. If you do not specify a flavour at a cafe, and ask for tea, they will ALWAYS serve Earl Grey. I think they
imagine it is more classy because of the title, but Enda Kenny
perfectly describes my opinion of bergamot flavoured water.
TRENDS: Now tea is back in fashion, fighting for survival against the current mysticism of coffee. It can't be just ordinary tea, it has to be specially
blended, expensive, sourced responsibly etc and it comes in strange little pyramidal shaped gauze bags with big leaves. Even though I am a tea lover,
I'm still not in fashion, because I like ordinary tea-happy with Liptons, Nerada, Bushells, not so keen on very strong tea
like Yorkeshire though I love their ads.
There's a lot of bull associated with food and drink. Have whatever the way you like it, and don't be patronised by others who claim to know better.
STAMPS
18-11-2016: I can't believe I've never put into words here just how angry I get when I go to the post office with cards, letters
or parcels, and without even asking, the clerk puts a printed label on the article instead of a proper stamp. Why does Australia Post print stamps if
not for the purpose of putting on items being posted? You have to actively insist on stamps. Most post offices or
newsagents stock only the uninteresting definitive stamps and none of the more exciting issues. 
11-2021: Even if you are interested in collecting stamps, the latest ones come with multiple nicks in them like the 2021 Xmas gingerbread tree sheet stamp,
in case you manage to soak them off
and re-use them, because the post office doesn't seem to frank the stamps most of the time. That's ironic, as hardly anyone is writing letters,
let alone soaking the stamps off. Now they certainly needn't bother as the glue is impossible to move and the nicks tear the stamp. All those new
stamps being issued, are they for postage or just revenue raising as almost pointless collectibles?
Modern computer printed labels are so plain. Surely post offices must see that they are discouraging an interest in philately and in people
communicating by mail. Stamps have so much history, are attractive and interesting and give an insight into the country they come from.
What is more exciting than
receiving a parcel adorned with a variety of fascinating stamps? Please insist on proper stamps on your mail, like the lovely jetty series at right
released 21-2-2017-click on them to go to Australia Post.
Big wide deep necklines (at left) -
freezing in winter and too much exposed flesh for burning in summer. You always have to wear layers underneath and scarves if it is cold. 
Necklines shaped but not supported
- a U neck drops down at the sides and grandfather edges also flop. It seems as though a proper collar is taboo unless it is on a denim or linen
shirt. In winter I used to wear light silky-type shirts with collars under a jumper. They didn't look bulky or stick to the jumper and provided
warmth at the neck, but those shirts no longer exist. I live in hope - after all, navy blue clothes are back after about 10 years when the colour
disappeared from the clothing spectrum. Late 2021, I am seeing light shirts with long sleeves and collars appearing back in the shops.
Wait 20 years and things do come around full cycle.
HOTELS
29-5-2016: Having had a number of long holidays overseas and in Australia staying at hotels and motels, not
on organised tours of any kind, I have a number of complaints.
1.If there are 2 of you on a trip, and you rent a double room, chances are you
will each have a suitcase. That's 2 people and 2 suitcases. It would be nice if a few more hotels actually provided somewhere to put the 2 suitcases.
If you are lucky there is one stand or shelf and some don't even have enough floor space for the second suitcase. You have to put it next to the bed
and fall over it if you have to get up to go to the loo at night.
2.The second biggest complaint is the lack of shelf space for toiletries bags
in bathrooms. Everyone has such a bag. Please supply a decent sized shelf near the basin to put them on. And don't fill shelf space with hotel
toiletries either. They can go anywhere.
3.The fancier the room, the more the furniture, it seems. Get rid of all that unnecessary stuff. If I am
staying 1 or 2 nights I do not need a full lounge suite and a chest of drawers. Just give me enough room to fit the suitcases!
4.I don't want
cushions or other silly decorations taking up room. What is the purpose of a 40 cm strip of material at the end of the bed?
5.I'm not the only
person who complains about the sheets being tucked in. Seinfeld and
Danny Bhoy, Live at
the Apollo, Series 1, Episode 6 also had something to say on the subject. Why do they do it? You have to untuck them before you can fit into the bed
and it messes up the arrangement of sheets. Often the beds are rigid and very hard to untuck too. It must be hard for the housemaids to do that in
the first place.
6.Many hotels have become lazy with dunas and I understand why because getting them in and out of covers is hell. They are using
them like blankets with a sheet under and over. But who needs a duna in the middle of Summer? They need to have season appropriate bedding. We have
sweltered through summer in Europe, USA and New Zealand with bedroom windows that don't open, no airconditioning and the only cover a duna.
7.Do
not fill the fridge with drinks, chocolates and other inordinately expensive snacks. We do not want them but we do need room for our own stuff.
8.If no parking is supplied by the hotel, give us a sheet with information about parking printed clearly and simply in the appropriate languages.
Don't wave a hand and say there is parking just around the corner. We have never been here before and we don't know what bloody corner you are
talking about.
28-5-2013: There has been publicity about the high but
unjustified cost of many things in Australia recently, including computers, books and accommodation. If you've tried to buy a paper sewing pattern
you will find that it costs about $20 for a pattern to make clothing for a one year old. That is ridiculous.Modern patterns actively discourage people from home sewing. Each envelope contains the patterns for about 5 garments in a multiplicity of sizes. It is so overwhelming that by the time you have opened out all the paper pieces, chosen which size you want, worked out which bits you need and tried to refold the ones you don't, and attempted to put unwanted pieces back in the tiny envelope, you have totally lost interest. Not only that, but if you want the smallest size, you've either got to cut off the bigger sizes on the patterns anyway or trace out the pattern onto different paper. Why are patterns made like this nowadays? It's all too hard so that the few remaining haberdashery shops don't even bother to have paper patterns half of the time.
Material and thread are also hugely expensive. It's easier to buy some cheap, imported, ready-made garment than have the satisfaction and pleasure of making something yourself.
Patterns should come in a single size and a single garment e.g.overalls for a one year old, at a cost of say $3-$5. We don't need all those sizes, all the different garments and the huge price, which I am sure is inflated in Australia anyway, because they can.
Having written about patterns, I thought I should just check on the internet and found that you can actually download patterns, after you have logged on and created a password. I chose a cheap pattern in case something went wrong, and paid for it online-$3.99 for the pattern and $0.75 for processing. It said it could take up to 2 hours to download or even 24 hours.
After much mucking around and several emails for help,
I was able to print off the pattern-32 pages organised into Rows A-E. Each piece is labelled A1, C3 etc but it would have been good to
have some instructions on the actual pattern about what to do. You then glue all the pages together and cut
them all apart again! Row E turns out to be 6 blank pages except for about a centimetre of pattern at the top of one of the pages! It is quite
clever, but it would be even more clever to sell each piece of clothing as a separate package. It's was interesting. $4.74 for the pattern, 32 pages of
paper, considerable quantities of ink to print, at least an hour to cut and put it together (but you'd get faster once you had the hang of it) and an
hour or so working out the downloading. Too tired to do any sewing now!
Similarly, nursing homes are run for profit. Why? Is someone's life about profit? People need to pay their way, but they don't need to be ripped off and charged exorbitant amounts for very minor services and help. Perhaps community cooperatives need to be involved in such organisations which should be completely transparent in operation and administration. Only the government has the power to see that things are run according to the strictest and best guidelines.
My second complaint about labels is how intrusive on the product the labels are. You buy a flannel or towel for
bathing (like the bright red towels at right) and they have large white labels sewn into the hem. If you cut the label off you risk cutting
the fabric or the stitching so you have to leave a white strip. This even happens with pretty, floaty scarves-lovely fabric, daggy tag hanging
somewhere unsightly just when you are trying to look your smartest. Teddy bears, dolls, baby clothes, bibs, tea towels- all have these giant,
unsightly and unnecessary tags. The manufacturers have to use a stick on tag or a removeable one, not ruin the product with the label.
And while I am on the subject, shops and manufacturers should not put labels on plastic food containers or similar where removing the label could damage the surface. Put the labels underneath, at the bottom, out of sight, not on top or at least use plasticised labels rather than paper and glue.
Anyway, back to the point. Over the years I would occasionally rush in to Harris Scarfe's or Myers and buy new curtain material and in recent years it would be Spotlight for affordable fabrics. Last year I finally took the plunge and had curtains made to measure for the lounge. They are very attractive sheer material with matching new pelmets but it cost a lot of money and the curtains are made in exactly the same way I have always made them. Suddenly, in the lead up to Christmas this year I have looked at my kitchen curtains and realised how shabby and tired they are. But where do you buy curtain material to make your own curtains these days? As far as I can see, the ONLY place in town for curtain material which is there on the spot is Spotlight, and with their recent so-called renovations the variety of materials has been reduced and the way they are displayed in giant, sloping shelves is unmanageable unless you are at least 6 foot. If you want curtain material you have to order it in. It's hard to imagine what a big curtain will look like from a small sample-some no longer than 10cms. And don't even mention finding it on the internet. I've never seen so many woeful web sites under the heading of curtain fabric. How do I know what brand I want? Show a sample of each fabric at least and don't give me stupid brand names. I don't care who made it or designed it, I just want something that looks nice and is available-preferably before Christmas.
I ONLY WANT ONE
It would be good if you could buy ONE toothbrush, or ONE paintbrush or ONE of just about anything you
need. So much stuff comes in packs of 3 or 4 and I don't need that many. I'd rather buy something else with the money than get more items than I
need. And it's spread to food. It is so hard to buy small amounts of meat like 2 chops-you have to buy a pack of 5.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
Jan 2013:I hate this. It started with Coles and Woolworths and their bread...with just two of us in the
house I don't want an extra loaf of bread that will eventually be thrown out (I hate frozen bread). Now it has spread to clothes. I don't want to buy
a pair of shoes only to get 50% off a second pair. Just make the first pair cheaper.....not rocket science. From Carol
FUEL
Again, just make it cheaper and don't treat us like idiots. I am not going to spend $170 at Coles just to get 18c per litre off fuel. From Carol
CAPTCHA PATTERNED SHEETS The knife is 20 cms long, the blade about 9 and a half cms and the comfortably shaped, black plastic handle 10
and a half cms long. The blade is wavy and serrated. Unbelievably, I walked into a church op shop once and bought one for twenty cents but no luck
before or since then. They are getting old, we have 4 left and we want replacements. One has Wiltshire stainless -nox?, on it and Made in
Hong Kong and another has Laser Stainless and China while the other 2 have no brand name. Update:12-6-2012-broke one 3 days ago
when the blade snapped off the handle- found one yesterday at a thrift shop at Lyndoch for 10 cents! Update: 8-7-2017-Yay! Found one at a garage
sale-all the serration worn off but still sharp. The quest continues. BREAD KNIFE 25-8-2011 I was in K Mart today when they announced a free gift for anyone over 21. As I wasn't in a
hurry, I thought I'd see what it was about. I've heard it announced many times at different shops and knew it had something to do with knives. Commerce runs the
world and even controls the vocabulary. I am sick of being told repeatedly by shop owners that what they have in stock is what customers want.
Apparently someone as absurd as me doesn't count. NO ONE asks what customers want-we are dictated to by fashion and so-called style and by
manufacturers who give us what they want. Very few people think for themselves or buy with common sense and practicality in mind- appearance seems to
be the only criterion. There are more and more shops, a global economy and yet the varieties of some products seem fewer-cheap and fast is good but
catering for a range of tastes is nice too. On 30 August, 2018, The Australian said that Noni B has paid Speciality fashion $31m for Millers, Katies, Crossroads, Autograph and Rivers.
Noni B is actually part of the Alceon Bidco Group. It's all very confusing to see so many stores in the same shopping centres owned by the same group. At the end of 2019, Noni B brand apparently changed its name to Mosaic Brands. It owns chains Noni B, Rivers, Katies, Millers, Rockman, Autograph, Beme, Table Eight,
Crossroads, W Lane and online retailer Ezibuy. In January 2025, Myer and Premier Investment have merged and Myer will take charge of Portmans, Dotti, Jacqui, Just Jeans and Jay Jays, Premier Investment's clothing division.
That will give them many suburban retail stores but I can't see that lasting long. In South Australia most of the Premier Investment brands are found in a limited number of locations anyway.
Jan 2012: Is it just me, or do Captcha, (I'm assuming it is the same in both singular and plural form, like
'sheep') those wiggly nonsense words which security conscious people add to their websites to stop spam, drive you crazy? Mostly, I can't read the
captcha and have to type several versions to get it right. On some websites they then lock you out because of too many tries. Now they have come up
with the 'clever' alternative of having someone speaking words in a room full of noisy people. Now, do I write down all 4 or 5 words that the person
says, or just choose one? By this time I have swapped out of the website and said, 'Forget it.'
And as for coloured and patterned sheets, whether cotton or polyester, don't dare to ask. Your condescending dealer in
bedroom decor will suggest that you may be able to get patterns elsewhere, but that she certainly doesn't have any. Apparently everyone in the world
prefers white and beige now. Of course it is so uninteresting that you then need at least 8 cushions to make your bed look prettier and the
manufacturers richer. 2017: I have found that flannelette sheets are allowed to be patterned, for some reason. They even stock them at Pretentious
Home Decor in Macboring East.
BEDSPREADS
Finally, there used to be a thing called a bedspread. That was padded a little like a duna and in a pretty pattern and you could
put it over your whole bed and only wash it a few times a year. It didn't matter whether your sheets were floral or beige because the bedspread hid
it all, covered the pillows and looked very neat and attractive. It was folded back each night and didn't touch your body like those
tastefully-coloured, hot, polyester-blend, infrequently-changed duna covers. Good luck if you want to buy a bedspread now!
Update: November 2011:
The Christmas Innovations catalogue advertised a number of bedspreads. I rang and they were most helpful so I ordered one online, only to receive a
letter 
saying that it was unavailable but
coming in Nov/Dec 2011. Received the bedspread. It did not have a sham which I specifically asked about when ordering. Still, it was long enough to
cover the pillows and I removed one layer of patchwork to make it the right width. It was all cotton, including the padding, and looked pretty but
was enormously heavy because of flat cotton filling. Indian made, the cotton fabric was very thin and the stitching between the patches began to
unravel. It has now been superseded by a patchwork look Morgan and Finch bedspread which is better quality cotton but still too heavy with mostly
cotton filling. It's hard to convince the good taste gurus that polyester is better than cotton for some purposes - a bedspread is mainly decorative
and it is much easier to manage and more hygienic if it is light and easy to wash and dry.
The second knife we are looking for is a bread knife. I bought one at a fete and,
once again, everyone in the house wants to use it at the same time and we are always fighting over it. It is a very light, Feathertouch-brand,
stainless steel knife with a serrated edge, a cream plastic handle and it was made in the USA. Success-found one in a an antique shop in Mannum, SA,
on 8-3-2009! Always willing to buy another. 
When the woman started her spiel she held up a knife and asked if anyone had a knife like it. I said yes,
and that I'd been looking for one everywhere. She asked what colour the handle was and when I said cream she pulled out the knife we so love from
under her bench. She said ours had to be at least 25 years old. This new version is called Forever Sharp and she claimed it was exactly the same
knife. I ended up buying the deal-$39 for 3 of the Forever Sharp knives, 2 paring knives, a fillet knife, and wait, there was more. When I actually
got the knives home and unpacked them, I had a sinking feeling, however, because I realised I already had one that I'd bought at a garage sale. It
has a much thicker blade than the cream handled knife and is nowhere near as flexible. Still, I have put the second hand one away and am using the
new knife at every opportunity to test it thoroughly, and have to say that it is cutting through everything beautifully so far. I gave one to a
fastidious son and have one in reserve + the garage sale version. Perhaps with use it will get a bit lighter and more flexible.
PLASTIC GARDEN TABLES
The gods of good
taste have decided that plastic garden furniture, in fact plastic anything, is not acceptable. I know it doesn't last forever, but it is light and
easy to move, relatively inexpensive and looks quite nice in green to blend with the garden. For 3 years I have been looking for a small, square,
green plastic table for my back verandah. I have a round table but the legs are too close together and you can't push the chairs underneath neatly. I
have finally found and bought a table (30/8/08) like the one on the left from a big local hardware store, but guess what? The chairs still don't fit
between the legs! I am now looking for a green, square, plastic table about 150 cms a side. There were actually quite a few white plastic bits of
garden furniture and very few green. Strange.
SHOPS IN ADELAIDE
It is hard to know who owns the businesses where you shop. I have to revise my previous summary from 2017 completely in Jan 2025 because there have been so many changes recently that
I am not sure who now owns what.
It has been announced that Rivers and Millers will close (Jan 2025) These are 2 of my favourite shops. Most things are fairly affordable and you can usually find something to wear.
I have loved Rivers for their shoes-for someone with arthritic feet they have been a lifesaver. They have had shoes similar to Skechers at about a quarter of the price, and more useful.
Sadly the demise of Rivers is not unexpected. The stores are always in out of the way places. They are huge and packed with an overwhelming assortment of stuff, not always of the
best quality although a few years ago at Xmas time I bought a wonderful selection of pretty man-sized cotton women's handkerchiefs. I've only ever found them that size
in a small shop in Italy many years ago. I still have them and they have been wonderful. Just the sort of useful and quirky thing that Rivers would have.
Aug 2011: I am really annoyed at the stupid electrical
cords you get on products. I have an electric digital radio with a thick, black cord aboout 2 metres long but the radio is right next to the switch
and I only need about 30cms of cord. Folding it up is ugly and so I thought I'd go to an electrician and have it shortened. What a joke! For a start
the only electricians you can find will come to your home for about $100 callout fee -half the cost of the radio. All the old electrical shops have
long gone. I suppose appliances are so cheap now it costs less to get new ones than have them repaired, but that is not my issue - the cord would
still be too long. Why don't more appliances have plug in cords which can be of different lengths for different needs? Cords are really ugly and the
computer industry, in particular, ought to apply itself to designing a better appliance cord and plug. I know it has to do with creating magnetic
fields but with all this fantastic technology, surely someone can invent something better than the current ugly situation where dozens of cords are
jumbled together collecting dust? Perhaps the cords could be retracted inside appliances, as happens now with vacuum cleaners. I know more processes
are becoming wireless but in the meantime we need something better than the 'current' arrangement.
|
DEPARTMENT STORES Myers-apparently owned by a consortium controlled by US group Newbridge Capital. Premier Investments run by Solomon Lew bought 10.77% of Myers on 27-3-17. Owns 27% in 2025. He is putting the pressure on Myers 31-10-17 and they are seeking support of shareholders. David Jones Bought by Australian private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners in 2023 Harris Scarfe Fabric chain Spotlight together with Anaconda and Mountain Designs signed a deal to buy Harris Scarfe (March 2020). LADIES' CLOTHING STORES |
DISCOUNT VARIETY STORES SHOE SHOPS OTHER GROCERY STORES As you can see below from the article in 'The Australian' newspaper of 29-8-2025, p 20, this year has seen the collapse of most of the major women's clothing shops to be found in suburban shopping malls in Adelaide. Millers, Noni B and Rivers are gone-all cheap but popular shops, apparently leaving suppliers overseas owed huge amounts of money too. |
SHOP OWNING NEWS
7-2017: Apparently Myers are not doing well, and everyone is worried about the arrival of Amazon in Australia. That's why we should shop at local stores or,
before long, they will be gone and the only place to buy things will be online. Nothing beats being able to try on, touch and see the things you want to buy.
Retail shops should fight back by making it easy and pleasant for customers rather than a battle.
31-3-17: H and M, the Swedish chain, opened 11 stores in 2016 in Australia, giving it a total of 20 here, and they are now in Adelaide.
Overseas stores Zara, UniQlo, Topshop and Sephora are also in Australia.
5-10-17 Myers reducing floor space but still struggling, with talk that Solomon Lew may try some sort of a takeover.
14-12-2017 Had a very interesting conversation at Myers when I was trying to buy polo shirts for Xmas. The shop was offering 50% off a second polo. An assistant said that his polos weren't part of the deal
but that his price was better anyway. I commented that he was part of Myers. No, he was separate. I said I hated the idea that businesses are selling things in shops themselves, appearing to be
part of the shop, rather than just supplying their product. No, he said, customers would have to pay a lot more for the product that way and it had been happening since 1956. Darned if I know why it would be more expensive.
16-1-2020: Jeans West, currently owned by the Hong-Kong-based Yeung family has gone into receivership as did department store
Harris Scarfe in Decenber 2019. They are closing the original Harris Scarfe store in Rundle Mall, Adelaide, at the start of February, 2020, together with 26 others of their 66 stores.
Their fatal mistake in Rundle Mall was to sell their original shop for a mall on the same site, locating their own shop right at the back of the mall and up a flight of escalators which frequently didn't work.
They did have a couple of inadequate lifts too-if you could find them. The old shop opened right onto the mall with wonderful crockery
and on the first floor was women's wear and linen-everything I wanted close at hand. It wasn't glamorous but it was convenient. Every time they 'upgrade'
these stores, they sacrifice their personality.
Page created 9-8-2008. Moved information about local shops to this page 27-10-21. Updated 5-11-21 in revamp of website. Latest update 29-8-2025.
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