What amazed me in the US was the sheer number of stores selling greeting cards for every taste and color – literally in every populated area along with the standard set of mattresses-zoo-gourmet-and-maybe-book store, there almost always was something to do with greeting cards. Mattresses in this group were surprising too.
Today I discovered that here before Christmas there are stores with roaming decorations, but – it’s not that simple. Decorations, baubles, come in any imaginable theme, and here these thousands, maybe tens of thousands, gather together. Because it’s a universal gift. You can buy just about anything. Even Bernie Sanders in mittens, or a dog of any breed. Here are athletes from all kinds of sports. And doctors with specialties. Probably, if you look hard enough, you can even find pathologists. It seems that for any somewhat frequent keyword there will be a sale, and it needs a bauble on the shelf. And these are not just cheap plastic, but something much heavier. Likely, the cost of manufacturing in small batches has been greatly reduced, and now the store impresses with its assortment. Ornament central – one of the major players. And here, balls with different patterns are somewhat tucked away in the corner. They are bought too, but the store was not built for them.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 