Why retail is dying

A friend of mine commented last winter that retail is dying. It took me until Saturday to really get what he meant.

We hosted a BBQ on Saturday night, and while the wind kept everyone inside, I still wanted to wear a party dress. My favorite black summer dress is just a little too boob-y to wear when there will be kids around. Heck, it's too boob-y to wear pretty much anywhere. Thus, I was going to justify to myself purchase of a Patagonia dress I've had my eye on for, oh, eight years or so. The Morning Glory halter top:

Source

I planned to pick up the dress while running some errands on Sunday morning. We live in a sporty, athletic town, and I've seen this dress in practically every shop for the past 10 years. Checked REI first; they only had the pink one in my size. Went to Chalet sports; they didn't even carry the dress. Went to Barrel Mountaineering; nope. Went to Northern Lights; nope. Called the Bozeman Angler, a flyfishing shop, for christsakes, where I'd seen the dress before; they only had an extra small left. 

I struck out in five different places. In trying to find a dress I've seen everywhere for a decade. 

And then I figured out what Ben meant when he said retail is dead. Why spend two hours running around town not finding what I want, when I can order it online, have it shipped to my door within 24 hours, try it on in the privacy of my own home and in some cases ship it back for free if the item doesn't work?

Well. If you already know what you want, and you don't want to wear it that afternoon, then yeah, ordering stuff online is just easier. And less time consuming. Shopping isn't all about the hunt for me; I'm a buyer. If I see what I want, I buy it and be done with the process. Hunting online, where I can read reviews and price shop while drinking my morning coffee, sounds like a much more enjoyable process. 

Good things lately

I learned a few things this fall which have made life pretty darn awesome. They are small little tricks and free items that make life more convenient and enjoyable.

The first is free audiobooks from the Bozeman Public Library, who partners with libraries across the state to share audiobooks for download to library patrons. You go to their webpage, log in with your library card number, download the software, and can browse through over 5,000 audiobooks to download to a computer, ipod, or other handheld device. It looks like this:

I know I'm totally dorking out here. But FREE. EASY. Something to listen to on road trips and driving to the office and on long bike rides, walks and runs. Yes, I just said I will run listening to an audiobook! While it lacks a pump you up beat, it sure as hell keeps you from shuffling through your iPod to find just the right song.


Seriously. Use this free technology from the Bozeman Public Library. It rocks my face off.

The second thing that made life easier just yesterday was ordering photo prints online from Bozeman's F-11 camera shop. Some lucky family members are getting wedding photos as Christmas gifts. I've been procrastinating getting them printed until it was pretty much too late. I googled F-11 to see what the cost per print would be, and saw the "Print online" button. SCORE! I was able to upload photos, decide what size and quantity of prints, and order them in about 10 minutes. No walking to the store. No trying to find a parking space. The photos were done 3 hours later too! Super, duper, extra awesome.

The third awesome thing I found this fall was these containers, Rubbermaid take alongs:

Yes, I'm serious. These things are awesome. 

You may or may not know that I have a slight obsession with having single-serving soups in the freezer in the winter. I almost always eat lunch at work, and it makes life a LOT easier if I can just reach in the freezer and grab a frozen soup. About a month ago I realized that we didn't have 15978348375348918 enough containers, so I grabbed more at the grocery store while stocking up on supplies for crock-pot soup. 

The next day, while ladling out soup into freezable containers, I realized these containers have a measurement line on the side of them. GENIUS! Especially for those of us making the portion control effort. 

So there you have it. Three things I found this fall that make life awesome.