A young boy hopped excitedly next to his father. It was another trip to McEwans, a hardware store in a suburban shopping centre. His father needed to buy some washers to fix some leaky taps and this was one more opportunity for the boy to just look at all the different tools and parts and various things that could be bought. Walking wide eyed through the same aisles that he had walked though several times before in past visits, the boy drew his fingers slowly along the assorted tools and gadgets. He wondered what it would be like to use a coping saw and what he could use it for. Looking at the set of needle files, he imagined how it might be useful for his hobbies and wondered if one day he would be able to afford it.
I looked at that set of files many times after and I never did end up buying them.
As the years went on, I visited the store less and less as the standard of the shop began to deteriorate. Stock that was being carried made a mockery, in my opinion, of the term tools and hardware. The centre was renovated and the store went from being a major section of the area to being a shop in a, albeit large, tucked away corner and the quality of the store declined even further. I missed going to that store to imagine about the things I might buy in the future, and then, one day, the store closed down.
The tucked away corner store became the home of many bargain basement shops that came and went. Some of those were ladies fashion stores that I was too afraid to ever step into because what would everyone think if they ever saw me in there? Time went by and I began to ignore the presence of any store in that tucked away corner.
A revelation later, I was shopping in the same shopping centre at the beginning of the year. I had transitioned to full time but my wardrobe was sadly lacking. More clothes were definitely required and I would need them now if I was to make it past the end of the week. In the distance, I saw the old tucked away corner and I wondered what was in there now. It was probably some bargain basement shop with nothing worth looking at, but I had nothing to lose so I wandered in.
Dozens of racks covered the floor and clothes hang from every racks and wall space available. I was the only one in there, which was unsurprising given the tucked away corner location. Suddenly I saw a t-shirt with a familiar panda and I made my way towards it; it was the WWF logo and this was an authorised piece of merchandise. I had to have it! Draping it over my arm, I began to look at the other clothes and was surprised at all the bargains around me. My fashion sense had only just been born and I was still unsure how would match some of these pieces together, but I still made it out of the store with several items of clothing.
I visited the store several times and it I thought it seemed amusing that this piece of ground that was once a destination of desire as a young boy was now a destination of desire as a lady.
Shopping at another centre I stopped as a new shop caught my eye. It had the same name as my secret tucked away corner shop. Surely it wasn't part of a chain? I wondered in and saw the same panda t-shirt as well as other familiar items. The atmosphere of the shop was definitely more trendy and the prices were also higher to match.
Not long after, I decided to go back to my secret shop and grab whatever bargains I could while it was still there. I was too late. Not only was the shop closed but the whole hidden corner had been boarded up with a sign indicating that that area of the complex was being renovated. My shop would be opening in another location within the centre shortly, but I knew it wouldn't be quite like that corner store.
I smiled at the coincidence that the place that I loved to visit as a child closed and became the store that I loved to visit as an adult. Perhaps this shopping centre had more lying in wait for me yet.
