Christmas Shopping

Last Friday I wrote that this three-day holiday weekend is the start of the Christmas shopping season.  Retailers in Mexico have imitated "Black Friday" in the U.S., and promote this as the "Buen Fin" (Good Weekend) with bargains galore.

Yesterday afternoon, Alejandro and I went to Parque Tepeyac, the new shopping mall that opened a couple of years ago.  It's just down the road from where Alejandro's family lives.  We could easily walk there, or it is just two Metrobus stops away.  However, since we were planning on shopping, we took the car.  We had driven by Parque Tepeyac the night before, and we saw how horrendous the traffic was.  So we took a longer, round-about route to arrive at the rear of the mall.  The parking lot consists of three underground levels, but we were very lucky to quickly snatch a parking space as someone was pulling out.

The mall was already decorated for the holidays and was dominated by a three-story high Christmas tree (artificial of course).

Although the photo does not really reflect it, the mall was very busy and the stores (there are around 250 of them) were filled with shoppers.  There were, however, no mobs of people pushing and trampling each other in their pursuit of bargains.  The atmosphere was one of joviality, not aggressiveness, and as "White Christmas" played over the loudspeakers, I was in the Christmas spirit.

As I mentioned earlier, I needed to buy a new TV, and I figured this would be the best time to buy one.  We first went to the Liverpool Department Store which anchors one end of the mall.  I saw an LG model which I liked, and it had a 35% discount.  Delivery would be sometime in December.  

However, before buying I wanted to check what they had at Sears, at the other end of the mall.  Sears of Mexico, unlike the defunct Sears in the U.S., is considered an upscale store, so we were somewhat surprised to see that the discounts there were even bigger.  They had a more expensive LG television, but with a 50% discount, it only cost a little more than the one at Liverpool.  Furthermore, they had it in stock, and we could take it home with us.  I wanted to do some Christmas shopping while I was there, so I asked the salesman if I could pay for the TV now and then pick it up when we were done with our shopping.  "Not a problem," he said.

We walked all the way back to Liverpool where we bought a couple of items, and then hit several other stores as we made our way back to Sears.  My Christmas shopping for Alejandro's sister and nephew is complete.  

I still have to buy something for Alejandro's father.  Alejandro said that he could use some new belts.  The belts that we saw at the mall were made in China... a disgrace since Mexico produces high quality leather goods.  I figure sometime before Christmas I will head downtown.  There is a store in the Historic Center that has been around for more than a century.  They originally sold saddles and other riding gear.  They have leather goods that are made in Mexico.

As for Alejandro, I still have to figure out what I am going to buy for him.  We were in one clothing store called "Lefties", and I saw turtleneck shirts.  I used to wear turtlenecks a lot, and I said to Alejandro, "Are those back in style again?"  Alejandro does not need more clothes any more than I do, but I asked him if he would like one, and he said "yes".  So he has one small present.  I now need to think of something else.

When we returned to Sears, the TV department was much busier than before.  We waited in line a while to pick up the television.  We finally got it, and an employee put it on a cart and took it all the way down to the car in the basement parking lot.

So, we had a very successful shopping day.  "Buen Fin" is busy, but not nearly as frantic as "Black Friday", and I got some good bargains.  Looking at my credit card statement this morning, between the discounts and the strong exchange rate, none of my purchases (except for the TV) cost more than 20 dollars.