Globalization
I was at the bathroom recently (you know that's a whole issue for me), and I casually looked at my pants' badge (I don't know how you call the thing where the size is) and I realized they were made in Bangladesh!!! I was really impressed, I mean, I barely know where that country is!! And pants actually travel half the world to cover my chilean butt!!!! And they are not exclusive pants or anything, they are from Zara (I think you should have that store in the US because the size is detailed for Mexico, USA and Europe), that is pretty popular around here.
Things like this make me realize how far have we gone in terms of globalization don't you think??
Then I got to think about stores (I do a lot of thinking in the bathroom, as you can see) that we have/don't have here, but we do know here, or stores that are absolutely a mistery for us.
U.S./Multinational Stores we have here:
- Food: Mc Donalds (of course), KFC, Burger King, Submarine, Domino's Pizza, Pizza Hut, Starbucks Cafe, Haagen Dasz, well a lot of those...
- Clothes: not very big ones, there are a few Hugo Boss's stores, Burberry's, Louis Voitton (how the hell is written that), mainly exclusive stores, well and of course ZARA, my favorite store!! MNG also (spanish brands)
- Cars: almost every brand
- Department stores: none (pretty nacionailsts! but no, I'll explain later)
- Supermarkets: none (same reason as department stores)
- Others, I can't think right now, it's easier to name the ones we don't have
Stores we know about but don't have here:
- (K's favorite) Wal Mart (well come on, it's like the biggest retail empire in the world)
- K'mart (it's like the same thing as Wal Mart or isn't it?)
- Sephora (well, I know about that)
- Wendy's
- Gap (amazing ha?)
- Banana Republic, Express, Toys'r'us (paradise for chileans visiting Miami (typical destiny) mainly)
- Macy's
- Bloomingdale's
- H&M
Stores I've learned they exist thanks to blogland: mainly Target (I would love to know more about that store!!)
Stores that were here once but due to lack of adaptation, they had to go:
- JC Penney (GREAT failure)
- Home Depot (actually this brand was bought (in Chile) by another homestore that is called Homestore (haha))
- Carrefour (same thing, brand and infraesructure was bought by a local supermarket)
- Guess Jeans (never hit it)
I think that's about it, please tell me about Target, that I'm so curious!!
posted by Josefina @ 4:11 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I am so embarrassed at how the US has colonized everyone. I felt this especially in England, where a Starbucks was a five-minute walk from Shakespeare's grave. Is nothing sacred?
I have not heard of ZARA but that doesn't mean anything. It may be in a city I haven't visited, or 'regional.' (By the way, we call the badge a 'tag.')
Wal-Mart is huge and ubiquitous but has a poor reputation for cheap products and poor working conditions. It became so powerful because they built in rural areas where people didn't have access to such a wide array of products. In doing this, they also put a lot of smaller businesses out of business because the smaller ones couldn't compete. Meanwhile, rural areas tend to have a lot of poverty so their employees were happy to have jobs, even if they paid next to nothing and (still) carried no health insurance. They also were sued for not promoting women to management positions, which is notable because most of their employees are women.
K-Mart is similar to Wal-Mart, only it's older and doesn't have the bad reputation with workers. Last year it merged with Sears, which you probably know. It raised K-Mart's product quality and lowered Sears'. My dad has worked at Sears since 1960!
Target is one of my favorite places. It's like Wal-Mart but without the shame. It's clean, bright, well organized and they treat their employees well. You can get very nice-looking things (everything from home furnishings to pharmacy to cameras to cleaning supplies and toys) from there. The clothes are hit or miss - some pieces fall apart with one washing, others last forever.
I also like Kohl's, which is like a JCPenney or Sears but without the tool and auto department. You would never be able to find a nice dress or business outfit at Wal-Mart, and probably not at Target, but you would at Kohl's or Sears.
Oh! And another store is Bed, Bath and Beyond, which is very popular for brides and anyone setting up a home. But that's a story for another day.
Globalization is an interesting thing. I think it's interesting that the biggest import for you guys from the US seems to be our food. Given the terrible rise in obesity in this country, I can't think that's a good thing. I truly am surprised you don't have Wal-mart. I think that's a good thing :-) Target is similar to WalMart in that it's a discount retailer of clothes, home stuff, food, etc. I think Target has a little bit higher quality stuff and they don't emphasize low prices as much as Walmart. But I do find them competitive on a lot of things. They have a very distinctive style of clothes and housewares - a sort of 60's retro look. Check out their website and you can get a feel for it. This is a good example of their style (and a bedding set I've been eyeing for a while!)
Hi there! Now that I'm counting the days until baby, I finally got to stop by and read up on your blog. Thanks for all of your support on mine! :) I'll definatley post pictures after baby gets here!!
Target. I love target. Great store. I purchased "BIG boy" at target. And so much more classier than walmart. Walmart is the Devil store. If you can get out of Walmart spending less than $50.00 you are fortunate. Target = good. Walmart = bad.
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