Edgars Parow Centre: A lonely self-help experience

Edgars Parow Centre had a mood inspired by a Celine Dion Classic… All By Myself.

The experience in this store can be only be described as a self-help service. You’re all alone and apart from the make-up assistants, who are more than willing to shove product down your throat, no one cares about your presence in the store. It’s like an online store come to life.

Edgars Parow Centre has all their shoes on display, which adds to it’s self-help service feeling. On this occasion it was a pair of sneakers that I was scavenging for. When I say “scavenging”, that is exactly what was required of me. The shoes are displayed in no particular order. You have to turn into Dora the Explorer to find the shoe and size you want.

After about 15 minutes of searching, I finally found the sneaker that I wanted in my required size. This hunting experience was followed by a very shocking one. As I prepared to leave the shoe department, I realised that the mannequin in my vicinity was actually a sales assistant. I had mistaken him for a mannequin because that’s how little he moved the entire time I was there.

The point of sale was the final false note that ruined this horrendous musical. Being the only person in the queue, I assumed that this experience would be fast and efficient. It was everything but that. The two cashiers took roughly five minutes of staring at each other to decide who was going to help me.

Neither of them were going to give in so it was up to me to break this staring competition. The cashier that I chose clearly wasn’t a happy camper. I received more attitude than I did service. My items were tossed in a bag and I was spoken to as if I was being disciplined.

Edgars Parow Centre should take notes from who they are inspired by. We all know Celine Dion can perform and it’s high time they do the same.