Boxing Day shopping

Everyone shops for presents for others before Christmas Day. Then they shop for themselves on Boxing Day. That's Dec 26th, if you are not familiar with Boxing Day. That is the biggest sale day of the year. This is what happened in Melbourne yesterday. It seems like everyone wants to go to the Chadstone Shopping Mall, which is the largest in Melbourne. I am not sure about the other big malls, but the smaller ones don't seem to have that pull. I am not a shopaholic. In fact, my eyes get dry and tire very easily inside a shopping mall. My legs grow weary after a short walk. I feel uncomfortable with sales assistants waiting to pounce on me the moment I show the slightest interest in a display. I happen to like looking at cameras and mobile phones. Boy, do they love to pounce on you when you go near one of these!

Anyway, back to Boxing Day sale... I decided to go to two places yesterday with my son who simply loves shopping. First, we went to Chapel street. It was a pleasant experience. The shops were nice upmarket ones. They were not crowded and there was no shopping frenzy. The discounts were genuine. If ever there was I time I wouldn't mind shopping for clothes, this would be THE time and THE place to go.

Next, we headed for Chadstone Mall. The cars going there were backed up more than a kilometer long. Inside the mall it was as crowded as a fun fair. You'll find the same shops here as in Chapel Street, but vastly different crowd. Department store like Myers and David Jones were like giant flea markets. While Chapel Street was a pleasant experience for me, Chadstone Mall had the opposite effect. Unless you already had in mind what you wanted to pick up, I suggest you stay away from a Boxing Day sale at Chadstone. I did manage to part with some money on a few good buys, but it was mostly in Chapel Street.