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I've been missing Fred Meyer's ever since we moved down here. When I heard they had built one about ten minutes away, I was thrilled. I finally saw it yesterday, however, and now I'm not so thrilled. It was more like a big Smith's with a clothing shop in the middle of it. The toy department was kind of pathetic. Instead of being more like ShopKo or K-Mart, it felt like the old grocery store toy sections. Although, granted, they did have more toys than a typical grocery store, but not as much as Fred Meyer's used to have. And the prices are horrible. $17-something for a Fashion Style Pony?! That's even worse than Walgreen's price! But at least I saw some new Pony merchandise I hadn't seen before, so that was fun to look at.
Now, Smith's bought Fred Meyer's years ago and converted them to Smith's Marketplace, it's true. But the ones where we used to live were still Fred Meyer's. Only the name had changed. I guess if they build them from the ground up, they make them more like Smith's. Now I'm wondering what the ones in the old area are like, if they're still Fred Meyer's inside or if they've all been remodeled and have less merchandise, like Smith's.
I was there in the first place not just to see what it was like, but as part of my search for Halloween costume pieces. I didn't have any luck there. Whereas Fred Meyer's in the old area had a big costume section, this one was dinky and not much better than a regular Smith's. And they had inflatable graves like like year, only these had dumb epitaphs that weren't even creepy. They said dumb things like, "I liked bacon" and "Dead Fred." Compare that to last year's, which had corny but creepy things like "I'll be back" and "Rest in pieces."
I also looked at the Wal-Mart in that town. They had a wonderful selection of stuff, but not what I wanted. I am especially baffled at the lack of lab coats. Mad scientists are a Halloween staple! There's never been a year when I didn't see lab coats. Surely they're still coming. I'm more worried about the wig problem. I may end up having to get that one that looks like season 1 Baxter's hairstyle, even though I really don't want to.
ShopKo was horrible. I thought maybe if I looked early in the season, they'd have more stuff. Their costume section was just as pathetic as the last couple of years. Barely any costumes and only a handful of wigs way too expensive for just Halloween usage. It's sad. I remember when their Halloween section was epic. It was one of the best ones that I looked forward to seeing the most.
At least the trip wasn't a total loss. I finally found a nice birthday present for a friend and can at last mail her birthday (and Christmas!) stuff. And I saw two Baxters in the figure department. Honestly, all the Wal-Marts except ours are ordering more than one set of the Mutagen Canisters now. I don't know why ours always has to be so insistent on just one at a time. Ugh.
It was a beautiful overcast day and fell like Fall, and the sight of the Baxters gave me a special sense of nostalgia, both of when I found mine early this year and shopping times years ago when I found YGO merchandise. The feeling only lasted for a minute, as I was walking outside in the gloriously cloudy day, but it was nice. I miss when YGO was in first-run and I found something neat pretty much every time I was out. And discovering figures of favorite characters was always the best part. Or shirts.
And I did end up ordering the Indigo Pokemon DVD set. I kept wanting it really badly and felt like I was just torturing myself by waiting, so I ordered it early Thursday morning. As usual, I immediately waffled over whether I'd made the right decision, especially when I saw eBay had it for a few dollars less. Problem is, for me it wouldn't really be less since I'd have to pay entirely in cash on eBay. On Amazon, most of it is paid with the gift card. After I'd slept, I felt at peace and that I'd made the right decision and got what I really wanted. It hasn't shipped yet. It will probably show up next week sometime, either two weeks before my birthday or less than that. And I probably will try to save it for opening on my birthday, as planned, since I likely wouldn't be doing another Amazon order to be the birthday order.
Now, Smith's bought Fred Meyer's years ago and converted them to Smith's Marketplace, it's true. But the ones where we used to live were still Fred Meyer's. Only the name had changed. I guess if they build them from the ground up, they make them more like Smith's. Now I'm wondering what the ones in the old area are like, if they're still Fred Meyer's inside or if they've all been remodeled and have less merchandise, like Smith's.
I was there in the first place not just to see what it was like, but as part of my search for Halloween costume pieces. I didn't have any luck there. Whereas Fred Meyer's in the old area had a big costume section, this one was dinky and not much better than a regular Smith's. And they had inflatable graves like like year, only these had dumb epitaphs that weren't even creepy. They said dumb things like, "I liked bacon" and "Dead Fred." Compare that to last year's, which had corny but creepy things like "I'll be back" and "Rest in pieces."
I also looked at the Wal-Mart in that town. They had a wonderful selection of stuff, but not what I wanted. I am especially baffled at the lack of lab coats. Mad scientists are a Halloween staple! There's never been a year when I didn't see lab coats. Surely they're still coming. I'm more worried about the wig problem. I may end up having to get that one that looks like season 1 Baxter's hairstyle, even though I really don't want to.
ShopKo was horrible. I thought maybe if I looked early in the season, they'd have more stuff. Their costume section was just as pathetic as the last couple of years. Barely any costumes and only a handful of wigs way too expensive for just Halloween usage. It's sad. I remember when their Halloween section was epic. It was one of the best ones that I looked forward to seeing the most.
At least the trip wasn't a total loss. I finally found a nice birthday present for a friend and can at last mail her birthday (and Christmas!) stuff. And I saw two Baxters in the figure department. Honestly, all the Wal-Marts except ours are ordering more than one set of the Mutagen Canisters now. I don't know why ours always has to be so insistent on just one at a time. Ugh.
It was a beautiful overcast day and fell like Fall, and the sight of the Baxters gave me a special sense of nostalgia, both of when I found mine early this year and shopping times years ago when I found YGO merchandise. The feeling only lasted for a minute, as I was walking outside in the gloriously cloudy day, but it was nice. I miss when YGO was in first-run and I found something neat pretty much every time I was out. And discovering figures of favorite characters was always the best part. Or shirts.
And I did end up ordering the Indigo Pokemon DVD set. I kept wanting it really badly and felt like I was just torturing myself by waiting, so I ordered it early Thursday morning. As usual, I immediately waffled over whether I'd made the right decision, especially when I saw eBay had it for a few dollars less. Problem is, for me it wouldn't really be less since I'd have to pay entirely in cash on eBay. On Amazon, most of it is paid with the gift card. After I'd slept, I felt at peace and that I'd made the right decision and got what I really wanted. It hasn't shipped yet. It will probably show up next week sometime, either two weeks before my birthday or less than that. And I probably will try to save it for opening on my birthday, as planned, since I likely wouldn't be doing another Amazon order to be the birthday order.
