K-Squared Ramblings » store

Cryptic Store

Kelson — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:58:08 +0000

Remember that mall mystery from a while back? There was a storefront under construction at the Irvine Spectrum with an “Opening Soon” sign, but no indication of just what store might be moving in. They opened in December, and I keep forgetting to post a follow-up.

As you can see, all is revealed:

…or maybe not.

Unless, of course, you recognize the logos for Hurley International (middle), Converse (right) and…what’s that on the left? With the Nike swoosh on top and the…skateboard? Sunglasses? Something on the bottom?

It’s kind of a throwback to the old medieval-style signs that showed an image instead of a name: the Prancing Pony, for instance (to pull an example from LOTR). Only instead of recognizable images, they’re symbols. Pictograms, if you will, only decipherable if you’re familiar with the symbols already, and they’ve actually thrown an obstacle in the way by muddling the most-recognized logo (Nike).

It seems odd to deliberately use a sign that would make a store hard to name (never mind figuring out what they sell), but I imagine that their target audience is quite familiar with the logos and wouldn’t have any trouble finding the store.

Overheard at Closing Time

Kelson — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:55:27 +0000

PA system: “Thank you for shopping JC Penney, and have a pleasant evening.”
Cynical teenage girl: “Must we?”

I’m Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today!

Kelson — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 07:30:00 +0000

Walking into Best Buy wearing a bright blue shirt. On Christmas Eve, no less. This could get interesting. #

As it turned out, it didn’t. Either people weren’t quite so desperate and panicked as they often are that close to Christmas, and paid more attention, or the shirt has faded past the point of confusion. In the past, I have had people walk up to me and ask questions about pricing, where to find things, etc.

Location, Location, Location

Kelson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:00:43 +0000

As near as I can tell, all they sell are iPod/iPhone accessories. But they’re right across from the Apple Store.

Help Solve a Mall Mystery!

Kelson — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:23:10 +0000

I keep walking past this empty storefront at the Irvine Spectrum, and I have yet to spot anything indicating just what is going in. The phrasing kind of implies that something specific is opening soon. It makes me wonder if I’m supposed to recognize the pattern or something.

Any ideas?

Update: The store is open now, and the mystery has been solved…sort of.

Eliminating the BS

Kelson — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:18:23 +0000

Signs spotted while shopping:

Iglot sounds so much like igloo that it should be a kind of building. “Take it round back to the iglot.”

If only there were a way for this to say “Teh Aid,” it would be perfect.

Behind the Times

Kelson — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 06:13:45 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post these photos for a while now, but with the discussion on Netscape’s impending doom, I should post them now.

Back in February, I was wandering the aisles at Micro Center and noticed a couple of odd software titles on the shelf:

Netscape Basics, a jewel-cased CD-ROM which contained Netscape Communicator 4.5 and boasted compatibility with Windows 95 and Windows 98.
Opera for Windows, a boxed copy of I forget-which-version, but judging by the “New! Voice Enabled!” badge, it’s probably 8.0.

Keep in mind that this was February 2007. So that was an 8-year old Netscape box, and a 2-year-old Opera box. Netscape had been free for 9 years, and Opera had been free for 1½ years.

Someone had sensibly marked the Netscape CD down repeatedly, ending with a price tag of $0.42. I was half-tempted to buy it just to prove that I’d found it, but decided taking a picture would be better, since it wouldn’t clutter up my desk. Incredibly, no one had thought to mark down the Opera box. They were still asking $39.99 for it.

Did I mention pictures?