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The Big City
Aug. 7th, 2008 04:08 pmI had a day off this morning, so I popped into the city for a bit of a look-see. It's not often I get to be in the CBD midweek, and it's always interesting to watch a big city at work.
The first surprise was that, despite the recent closures, there were still no fewer than three Starbucks on George St (I guess these were the prime locations anyway). I tried a hot chocolate from the one under the QVB and it was actually quite decent, if somewhat expensive. The staff looked relatively enthusiastic, even though one looked to be about twelve.
The next stop was the new Apple Store, Australia's first. This turned out to be oddly intimidating. It was laid out in a narrow, three level format with all glass windows up on side. There was a bit of a user interface problem in that once you entered at the bottom level, the stairs to the next were concealed behind a corner and there was no signage to tell you where to go. I wasn't the only one who hesitated before peeking around the corner, just in case it was actually a staff area. The whole thing was a bit sterile and unfriendly, a bit closer to the Death Star than the Enterprise. They did have an impressive range of accessories though, and lots of people seemed to be popping in. There were quite long queues to use the desktops.
From the Apple Store, it was a short walk to the new Fish Fine Music store on King Street. The Fish stores are something of an enigma in the current climate. As a classical music buyer, I've become resigned over the years to seeing the classical sections shrink and shrink in the mainstream music shops. Listening rooms have been vanishing, shelves have been moving further and further back from the entrances, shelf space has been getting smaller and smaller. It's something of a surprise then, to see that Fish now has three "fine music" stores in the CBD and that the new store is the largest of the three. Part of it, I suspect, is the long tail in action. Classical music is a bad game to be in for a non-specialist retailer - there's an enormous backlist and most of the buyers, backed by the internet, are more interested in picking through it than buying the latest hyped album. The three Fish stores pretty much serve most of Sydney, along with Michael's and one or two JB hifi stores that still stock a decent range.
Finally, it was down to Chinatown, for some grocery shopping and supplies. Three packets of the Hakubaku ramen that I can't get locally anymore, one pack of the Fortuna silken firm tofu that I could never get locally at all (you know you're getting picky when you'll drive into the city to get "the right kind of tofu").
All up, a fun outing and I was able to beat the rain home in time to take in the washing.
The first surprise was that, despite the recent closures, there were still no fewer than three Starbucks on George St (I guess these were the prime locations anyway). I tried a hot chocolate from the one under the QVB and it was actually quite decent, if somewhat expensive. The staff looked relatively enthusiastic, even though one looked to be about twelve.
The next stop was the new Apple Store, Australia's first. This turned out to be oddly intimidating. It was laid out in a narrow, three level format with all glass windows up on side. There was a bit of a user interface problem in that once you entered at the bottom level, the stairs to the next were concealed behind a corner and there was no signage to tell you where to go. I wasn't the only one who hesitated before peeking around the corner, just in case it was actually a staff area. The whole thing was a bit sterile and unfriendly, a bit closer to the Death Star than the Enterprise. They did have an impressive range of accessories though, and lots of people seemed to be popping in. There were quite long queues to use the desktops.
From the Apple Store, it was a short walk to the new Fish Fine Music store on King Street. The Fish stores are something of an enigma in the current climate. As a classical music buyer, I've become resigned over the years to seeing the classical sections shrink and shrink in the mainstream music shops. Listening rooms have been vanishing, shelves have been moving further and further back from the entrances, shelf space has been getting smaller and smaller. It's something of a surprise then, to see that Fish now has three "fine music" stores in the CBD and that the new store is the largest of the three. Part of it, I suspect, is the long tail in action. Classical music is a bad game to be in for a non-specialist retailer - there's an enormous backlist and most of the buyers, backed by the internet, are more interested in picking through it than buying the latest hyped album. The three Fish stores pretty much serve most of Sydney, along with Michael's and one or two JB hifi stores that still stock a decent range.
Finally, it was down to Chinatown, for some grocery shopping and supplies. Three packets of the Hakubaku ramen that I can't get locally anymore, one pack of the Fortuna silken firm tofu that I could never get locally at all (you know you're getting picky when you'll drive into the city to get "the right kind of tofu").
All up, a fun outing and I was able to beat the rain home in time to take in the washing.
