When stores started doing online shopping and user experience designs, scrolling on phones, and shopping on Amazon; retail empires, as we called them, became obsolete. Nowadays, walking through lightly wrapped packages, a store’s grand entrance, and missing the feeling of real shopping and the memories while shopping online.
Table of Contents
- 1 1. Personal Service from Career Sales Associates
- 2 2. The Magic of Holiday Window Displays
- 3 3. Elegant Tea Rooms and Restaurants
- 4 4. Beautiful Gift Wrapping Services
- 5 5. Fashion Shows and Special Events
- 6 6. The Joy of Browsing
- 7 7. Children’s Departments That Sparked Joy
- 8 8. The White Glove Treatment
- 9 9. The Satisfaction of Immediate Gratification
- 10 10. Seasonal Department Transformations
- 11 11. The Charm of Store Credit
- 12 12. The Grand Architecture
1. Personal Service from Career Sales Associates
Shopping malls used to have an art. Even the sales associates created special magic. It wasn’t just plausibly their first real job and definitely not their last. It was a profession for life, and everything was part of the experience. They trained themselves to remember their customer’s sizes, tastes, likes, and dislikes. They even gave their customers gifts on anniversaries and birthdays. Even though it was a sales job, they helped customers create full outfits to get new clothes.
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2. The Magic of Holiday Window Displays
Children use to look forward to walking past shop windows and customers use to look forward to smartly dressed dummies. Even in the holiday season decorated dummies and animated displays easily created crowds. There was an unmeasurable value and joy in walking down a street lined with shopping windows.
3. Elegant Tea Rooms and Restaurants
At one time, shopping really was a magical experience and an all-day experience. A highlight of the day was lunch in one of the store’s tea rooms. Especially on a mother and daughter shopping trip. The tea rooms were famous for their chicken salad, club sandwiches, and delicious desserts.
4. Beautiful Gift Wrapping Services
Wrapping gifts was an art. The Christmas season meant that wrapping gifts of all shapes and sizes became a work of art. Gifts could be wrapped with perfect corners, matching bows, and the store’s signature wrap. They even had special tape that made the finished product look incredible. Just like today where we use bar codes and labels to ship to our homes, in the past, we would take items to the cash register and let them wrap it.
5. Fashion Shows and Special Events
Fashion shows, and trunk shows are just two examples of events that were hosted in stores to make shopping fun. These events were held to promote local businesses of all kinds. Stores, designers, beauty places, and any others involved were engaged in a social event. These events promoted local businesses and were social to the community.
6. The Joy of Browsing
There was a reason each department was laid out as it was. The reason stores put up displays in each department was so that you would buy things you hadn’t planned on buying, like new gloves, a new handbag, and a beautiful scarf. Customers have been trained to buy items that other customers have bought as a result of the algorithms.
7. Children’s Departments That Sparked Joy
For all of the stores kids departments, they had a special storytime, holiday events, and toy demonstrations. These events created a lot of excitement and a lot of memories. For the parents, shops stores built rides and play areas so that kids would be kept busy while their parents shopped.
8. The White Glove Treatment
Shopping was an experience in stores. The sales people would wear gloves to handle the fine merchandise. The attention to detail in the store and their emphasis on their customers comfort meant every purchase meant a lot to them.
9. The Satisfaction of Immediate Gratification
Do you remember the days of shopping at brick and mortar stores? You saw an item, purchased it and got it right then and there. You didn’t have to wait for shipping and tracking updates. You could feel the item, try it on, and leave with your purchase in a fancy shopping bag. That sense of instant gratification, knowing that the items were yours to take, added to the overall experience.
10. Seasonal Department Transformations
Every season brought changes to every department. Spring time brought flower shows, summer brought resort wear, the fall introduced new fads, and winter created holiday wonderlands. Shopping throughout the year was made fresh and exciting due to these changes.
11. The Charm of Store Credit
Department store credit cards meant a strong relationship with the store that issued them. Card holders had early notice of sales, access to special hours, and even more services. This was more personal than the online accounts with rewards and point systems we have today.
12. The Grand Architecture
The department stores were architectural wonders with huge entrance ways, grand staircases, and ornate decor. Many had chandeliers, marble floors, and elaborate designs on their ceilings. Shopping in the department stores made every visit feel special; a feeling that no website can replicate.
