After almost a year of being dark and shuttered, at long last our redundant Woolworth's store has been taken over by another retailer. It's lovely to see the huge store-front open and alive once again and it adds a real buzz to the high street (which, with it's plethora of empty shops - including the Oxfam shop, it really needed.)
The new shop is a 99p shop - everything is priced 99p or less. It opened last Friday and, when I went past on the bus, it was absolutely heaving with people. P had a quick look in there on Saturday afternoon but said it was so busy he had a job seeing what they had for sale. I too went in, just to have a look-see, on Monday. There were a few foodstuffs I might have bought if the queues had not been half way up the (very large) shop and I'm sure it might well prove to be a useful shop in the future. Not as useful as Woolworths was - I never knew I'd miss good ol' Woolies as much as I have - but a reasonable alternative nonetheless. However, what struck me when I was looking round was that most of the 'stuff' they sell (and I'm excepting the foodstuffs and toiletries here) was total tat - plastic rubbish imported by the container-load from some sweat-shop in China (probably), and yet people had such over-flowing baskets they could hardly hold them. And I've seen people absolutely laden with 99p shop carrier bags in the high street. Do they really need all this extra 'stuff,' or is it just destined for landfill in the new year?
Maybe I'm just getting to be a grumpy old woman, or maybe I've been reading too much about Freegans on the internet lately, but somehow this 99p shop, and the voracious appetite the public of Wickford seem to have for their tatty wares, makes me feel rather uneasy.
Recently, I've been making a big effort to rid myself of a lot of my 'stuff' that's been cluttering up the house. Every place I look in or every drawer I sort through, I find yet more 'stuff' that I really don't need or, even more worryingly, that I've forgotten I even had. And as for the loft - please, don't even go there (I haven't for a few years!) goodness alone knows what's lurking up there - I sure as heck don't any more. When did I manage to accumulate SO MUCH 'STUFF', and how big are other people's houses that they have the space to fill it with Chinese-made plastic crap?
But, do I practice what I preach?, absolutely not. I may not be buying 'stuff' in the 99p shop but I can't resist the lure of a good bargain in a charity shop. Today I came back from the high street clutching a Jeff Banks wool and cashmere blend gents tweed winter coat, which I hope will be suitable for P to wear to work. It cost me, gulp, £7.00 - a bargain, I know for a good winter coat - and I've been assured that I can take it back if it's not suitable - which is really nice of them, but I don't know as I'd have the nerve to. And, for myself, a totally unnecessary pair of chav-tastic star-shaped earrings, just because I really liked them.
I boy do I agree with you regarding the amount of stuff in one's house! What really bothers me is all the money that has been spent (read wasted) on it. Like you I am trying hard to get rid of things. This week I discovered terry towelling nappies in a drawer. My youngest child is now 31. I think they call that hoarding!
Posted by: lindsey | 12/02/2009 at 09:10 PM
I miss Woolies as well. We have a store called Ware Mart in it's place, another shop full of cheap tat, nothing of interest for me there. My decluttering is going well, I take bags of stuff to the charity shops. Ilona
Posted by: Ilona Richards | 12/02/2009 at 09:43 PM
Agree about 'stuff', Elizabeth - and as for the state of our loft, I dread to think. I don't go up there myself, so I can just imagine the state of it, if Ashley keeps it anything like he does the shed!!
On another note, at least purchasing from charity shops is recycling, whereas the 99 p shop is the polar opposite.
Posted by: Caroline | 12/03/2009 at 11:15 AM
Since we had our loft converted I have far less stuff, nowhere to put it. Well that's not strictly true as I am a terrible hoarder but I tend to keep things that will come in useful or could be recycled into something else.
The coat sounds like a great bargain, hope it fits him.
Posted by: French Knots | 12/03/2009 at 07:51 PM