Identikit?
#18
Re: Identikit?
Much of the malls in Canada are like high streets in the UK - waterstones/chapters, next/le chateau, with a lot of the same sameness... Lush, Starbucks, Aveda...
If it bothers you, just find something better to do with your time and money. It's really just that simple.
If it bothers you, just find something better to do with your time and money. It's really just that simple.
FWIW chain restaurants like dbd mentions don't bother me, in fact, I quite like them in a perverse way - at least you know the food is generally consistent between different branches of the same chain....
#19
Re: Identikit?
Oh believe me, I would much rather do something else.... however, the wife thinks it is an Olympic sport and is practising for the gold medal!
FWIW chain restaurants like dbd mentions don't bother me, in fact, I quite like them in a perverse way - at least you know the food is generally consistent between different branches of the same chain....
FWIW chain restaurants like dbd mentions don't bother me, in fact, I quite like them in a perverse way - at least you know the food is generally consistent between different branches of the same chain....
consistent, yes.
#20
Re: Identikit?
Once again you make a sweeping generalisation and state it as fact. People don't always suggest Boston Pizza, Outback Steakhouse, East Side Marios.
One of the reasons that Boston Pizza or the Outback Steakhouse were suggested for the upcoming meet in Calgary was that kids might be attending.
The get together that I attended in April in Calgary was at a pub (if one is allowed to call them that) in a trendy area of Calgary called Kensington. Others in Nanaimo also met in a pub.
You yourself have been known to suggest a pub for one or two of your meets with others. Do you not count as people.
One of the reasons that Boston Pizza or the Outback Steakhouse were suggested for the upcoming meet in Calgary was that kids might be attending.
The get together that I attended in April in Calgary was at a pub (if one is allowed to call them that) in a trendy area of Calgary called Kensington. Others in Nanaimo also met in a pub.
You yourself have been known to suggest a pub for one or two of your meets with others. Do you not count as people.
Beyond the "eating experience" many Canadian towns have an "outlet" mall selling cheaper versions of name brand goods specifically for outlet malls, the local bargain in suburban Calgary is the same local bargain as in the godforesaken corners of the GTA. I haven't been in a mall for a decade or so but I understand that they all have an Old Navy, they all have a Gap, they have La Senza. The flash ones have H&M, the less flash ones a department store like the Bay. The really rough ones have Zellers or WalMart. It doesn't matter whether you shop in Halifax or Calgary as the goods on offer are the same.
Other than the malls, each group of subdivisions has an area of big box stores; Home Depot, the Brick, Future Shop, probably a Montanas. I suppose it could be fun to go there, if you shop, but it's the same thing other people are doing coast to coast, posters even come home on the same day with the same camera.
Maybe living in a Talking Heads song isn't a bad way of life but it's not in any sense individual. North America barely even has regional accents or expressions anymore, it's not like the UK where you have to learn about whippets and owt before going past Watford.
Quebec though, Quebec's different, they have PFK.
#24
Re: Identikit?
Originally Posted by G77
Oh believe me, I would much rather do something else.... however, the wife thinks it is an Olympic sport and is practising for the gold medal!
#25
Re: Identikit?
Read on another forum and I tend to agree that Britain is becoming "identikit". I.e. go to any town/city/shopping centre anywhere in the country and you'll find the exact same list of shops....
Now shopping doesn't excite me much at all anyway, but the wife feels it's her duty to drag me along - what makes it worse is that you could go anywhere in Britain pretty much and find the same old shops selling the same old things.... Gets very dreary when you find yourself in the same shops time after time (for me anyway).
Please tell me there's more variety in Canada? I think it was dbd who said there's two malls in the GTA that are a mirror of each other? I hope that's an exception rather than a rule....
Now shopping doesn't excite me much at all anyway, but the wife feels it's her duty to drag me along - what makes it worse is that you could go anywhere in Britain pretty much and find the same old shops selling the same old things.... Gets very dreary when you find yourself in the same shops time after time (for me anyway).
Please tell me there's more variety in Canada? I think it was dbd who said there's two malls in the GTA that are a mirror of each other? I hope that's an exception rather than a rule....
That's all you need to know about Canadian shopping architecture.
#26
Re: Identikit?
Canada is much more Identikit than the US, nevermind the UK. Check out threads on where to meet in Halifax, where to meet in Calgary, where to meet in some other nowhere. People always suggest Boston Pizza, Outback Steakhouse, East Side Marios. I understand that this may be a reflection of Brits in Canada rather than Canadians but there's no concession to the idea of regional cuisine (if there is any in Canada) or regional beer (if there is any in Canada) whereas, in the US, an effort is made to differentiate between regions (Abita vs Fat Tire vs Sam Adams) and in the UK no effort need be made.
Once again you make a sweeping generalisation and state it as fact. People don't always suggest Boston Pizza, Outback Steakhouse, East Side Marios.
One of the reasons that Boston Pizza or the Outback Steakhouse were suggested for the upcoming meet in Calgary was that kids might be attending.
The get together that I attended in April in Calgary was at a pub (if one is allowed to call them that) in a trendy area of Calgary called Kensington. Others in Nanaimo also met in a pub.
You yourself have been known to suggest a pub for one or two of your meets with others. Do you not count as people.
One of the reasons that Boston Pizza or the Outback Steakhouse were suggested for the upcoming meet in Calgary was that kids might be attending.
The get together that I attended in April in Calgary was at a pub (if one is allowed to call them that) in a trendy area of Calgary called Kensington. Others in Nanaimo also met in a pub.
You yourself have been known to suggest a pub for one or two of your meets with others. Do you not count as people.
Us Haligonians (and wannabe Nova Scotians) are actually meeting in a place called Historic Properties, which looks like this:
http://www.historicproperties.ca/
Which is about as different as the regular identikit places (we definitely have them) as you will probably find around here
#27
Re: Identikit?
Originally Posted by Tuppence;5311257Historic Properties, which looks like this:
[url
[url
http://www.historicproperties.ca/[/url]
#28
Re: Identikit?
I haven't been in a mall for a decade or so but I understand that they all have an Old Navy, they all have a Gap, they have La Senza. The flash ones have H&M, the less flash ones a department store like the Bay. The really rough ones have Zellers or WalMart. It doesn't matter whether you shop in Halifax or Calgary as the goods on offer are the same.
(H&M "flash"? You're havin a larf ent ya?)
#30
Re: Identikit?
Flash for Toronto. I know it's not considered flash in Essex, perhaps not in Calgary either.
I wonder if this mall/big box/chain food culture works because Canadians tend not to go anywhere. Maybe the people in Mississauga or Vaughan or whatever the hinterland of Calgary might be called think The Keg is the only The Keg.
I wonder if this mall/big box/chain food culture works because Canadians tend not to go anywhere. Maybe the people in Mississauga or Vaughan or whatever the hinterland of Calgary might be called think The Keg is the only The Keg.