Saturday, April 26, 2008

Big Box Shopping In Buenos Aires




Granite double sink at Easy about $300. US, single about $100.



Nice stone sink at Easy about $225. US


Our cab driver liked a shirt the hubs was wearing. It's like one of those shirts that Charlie Sheen wears in the sitcom Two And A Half Men, which is broadcast in English with Spanish sub titles in Buenos Aires. He asked where we got it, and we said Wal Mart. He told us he had never been to a Wal Mart, though they have them now in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
I have to confess I have never been out of the city of Buenos Aires, so I never have seen a Wal Mart in Argentina myself.
However I am very well acquainted with a couple of USA big box style stores within the city limits. There is the Coto chain, which has a huge grocery department, along with housewares, furniture, electronics, appliances, and houswares and linens. There is Jumbo, with similar merchandise, but a little higher priced, more like Target-it also has a clothing department and a toy department, and also sells some sporting goods, alongside an incredilbe wine department and salami selection. Then there is Easy, a cross between Loews and Ikea, with housewares, linens, lighting, furniture, home accents, along with tools, lumber, sinks, kitchen cabinets, bathoom fixtures, paint, really all things to do with home improvement. Prices at Easy are very good, like Wal Mart.
All of the stores have well designed merchandise, stylish, colorful, a little more hip than the average USA Wal Mart. So I am very curious about Wal Mart in Argentina, and will have to make a journey to the burbs next time we visit here.
About prices - if you see a price tag in a photo, divide by 3 to get US price, and divide by 5 (!) to get a European price. These discount big box store prices are high for Argentines, but they manage by using credit and working incredibly hard to live a middle class life style.

2 comments:

mrsben said...

LOL, did some browsing. Where are my flight tickets and my American Express Card? K-ching, k-ching, k-ching $$$. What an education and experience. Truly a shopper's paradise! Thanks for sharing.

Visual Vamp said...

OMG mrsben - I wish I could fill up a container ship and bring it all home! k-ching indeed! But at least I get to feast my eyes on it, be inspired, and share it with all you fab visual vamps out there.