Somewhere I have the photos of me sitting on the lap of the Bon Marche’s Santa Claus at about age 3. That was a fabulous store. And the scent they put into the store was incredible.
I don’t know if other stores in other cities also did this, but the Bon’s Christmas window displays had elaborate miniature train sets wired up to palm switches on the outsides of the windows so that children could run the trains. Very cool.
LOVED the Bon Marche! What an excellent store.
Boscov’s has a very specific shopper that they cater to. And they do that very well.
I’m not their target market either, but I can appreciate that they are sticking with what works. Their main competitors are/were JC Penney, Sears and Bon-Ton.
However if you’ve never visited their candy counter, then you are missing something. Their fudge is really good.
Actually, that quote - “I know it when I see it” - is from Justice Potter Stewart. Frankfurter was a great jurist, but that wasn’t his.
I’m sure you are right about knowing your customer. I think the reason many stores have failed is they forget who their customer is.
Thanks for the tip about the candy counter. I did not know that. I live about halfway between 2 of the 8 NJ stores. I may have to stop in at one of them - which one will depend upon if I am going north or south.
Speaking of chains and department stores, ever since Macy’s displaced all our local department stores, their cookware/small appliances/kitchenwares section has been pretty robust. I hadn’t been in a Macy’s since the pandemic. I had to go to the Mall today to pick up a repaired item, and I walked through the Macy’s. The cookware section had disappeared! I asked a clerk where it was, and she literally pointed to a far corner of the store, unlit, that looked like a storage area. No displays, no sales people. Just some shelves in the middle of what was I think a furniture department. Lots of ugly rugs were hanging in the walls. This mall had a Sur La Table and a Williams-Sonoma and a Crate and Barrel. They are all gone. Looks like slow death. This is the area’s largest mall.
I feel cookware as a whole has taken a back seat in many department stores.
Bloomingdale’s used to be good, but there hasn’t been one near me for more than 30 years.
To be fair, I think it may have less to do with the department stores themselves than the cookware manufacturers. It just feels there far fewer advertisements. 10 years ago: there were these talks about different ply cookware and their diagrams and their heat responses. I don’t feel the cookware industry is pushing the performance cookware much now. It is more about simple one cook pot (let it be Always Pan or Instant Pot).
if it is to be trusted, a 2021 poll suggests that Americans are less interested in cooking now than before.
“A survey of 2,000 Americans uncovered how their relationship with cooking has evolved since early 2020, finding that people want to spend less than 25 minutes on a meal, from prep to ready time. Still, many people take about an hour to prepare one meal.
That’s why more than one-third said their patience in the kitchen is at an “all-time low” (39%).”
Americans Losing Interest in Cooking After Pandemic:Survey (people.com)
Well, stores aren’t going to devote a whole lot of real estate to stuff that doesn’t sell. I guess people are sick of being forced to cook. This saddens me; humble cooking can bring a lot of pleasure. To the preparer and the consumer.
It is interesting because home cooking can save money (compared to eating out) and home cooking also help control nutrient better too.
From the survey, it seems people are just too tired to cook. They work all day long and they rather rest than cooking.
I think people still buy cookware and cooking equipment, just the focus has shifted. Cookware sale is still projected to be growing.
Linens 'n Things and Kitchen Etc. were both better sources of kitchen and dining products, yet succumbed much sooner than BB&B.
I never saw a Kitchen Etc - but Linens n Things was IMO much better this BB&B. There was also a mall store for kitchenwares/housewares called Lechter’s.
I desperately miss Kitchen Etc. I still have and use several items I purchased there back in the late 90s/early 2000s before they closed.
I was skeptical, too. Thanks for the source.
Great explanation. Thx!
I think a lot of the emphasis has shifted to convenience, e.g., , dump a bag, push a button while congratulating ourselves for our smartish, Blootruth existence. More time for watching sports and Real Housewives.
Yes, I agree. Convenience. It seems like everyone is very tried. Most people hope to able finish cooking in 30 min, which I can understand.
“if their time cooking was cut in half, they would watch television, read, sleep, exercise or engage in self-care.”
You got the sports and real housewives (they still have the real housewives?). On the other hand, more sleeping hour is a good thing. Many Americans do not sleep enough. I only hope they save that 30 min cooking and put it into sleeping, and not … watch Real Housewives.
Total cooking time under thirty minutes can encompass most fairly fancy and complex meals. On my lazier nights I like recipes with no more than five minutes of active work. Like last night when we had m and c (I ought to call it O and C because I use orecchiette). Probably about five minutes of actual work and another leisurely twenty-five minutes sitting and chatting.
That’s pretty quick to grate all the cheese & make the sauce.
