Hong Kong offers a wide range of shopping experiences from the ultimate in boutique stores in high-end malls (the IFC), to box stores right on the street.
The Leica Store in IFC (International Finance Centre). Along each dimension of style, design, lighting, colour, cleanliness, such a store is at the opposite end of the spectrum of the others below.
A Street-side vendor of electronics in Sham Shui Po offers a unique selection at a low price point:
Like many places in Hong Kong on this street in Causeway Bay the clutter of the signs adds the the chaos of the crowds, in contrast to the order of the up-scale malls.
Learnings: [1] shopping is just as much about the journey as it is about the buy. Both need to be in balance and what defines the right balance is dependent on whether the underlying motive is a “good deal” or whether it is to satisfy the ego. [2] If the context is the former, don’t take your wife to a Leica Store; they loose interest quickly and only complain about how expensive everything is.
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