Stories Of London

PAGE TWENTY ONE CONTINUED:
A NEW COUCH FOR OLD

Casanova/Puppy is now Ten Years Old

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PART TWO

I remember reading a book by the author, Christopher Isherwood, (1904-1986) who moved to California at the outbreak of the Second World War. He writes about his visit to a Supermarket, something that did not exist at the time in Europe, and how he was amazed at the variety of Breakfast Cereals available to the public. Like many others then, and since, he was somewhat bamboozled by choice!

Piggly Wiggly, the first true self-servicegrocery store

I also have had a similar state of loss when I was faced with too much choice. I recall that when I first came to the U.S., I was taken to a Howard Johnson’s restaurant to sample from  the enormous varieties of ice cream available. Apparently the restaurant offered TWENTY-EIGHT flavours!

Noblewomen eating ice cream in a French caricature, 1801
Gravure coloriée à la main de la série Le Bon Genre publiée par Pierre de la Mésangère

Unlike most Americans, I am not overly enamored of ice cream! My own taste in this food is simple. As I listened as those accompanying me to the restaurant wrestled with their choices, finally deciding on a flavour that I had never heard of before, I stood, totally lost, and when it came to my turn to answer the question, What flavour? I could only think to answer Vanilla please! This caused those around me to gasp and offer their help to aid me in trying a new flavour. However, the choice available proved too much for me and I stuck to my guns and choice.

Sadly or happily, my choices in ice cream have changed little over the years despite having tasted a number of variety. I prefer Vanilla – perhaps French Vanilla at a pinch and chocolate if my other two choices are not available.

And now, and even more sad, my horror of too much choice reared its ugly head once again when it came to deciding on a new couch!

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Casanova/Puppy’s old couch was a 3-seater and took up a great deal of space in my sitting room since the room was smaller than that of his original home. As a result, I decided that I would buy a smaller couch, a 2-seater, which I was sure would still be of sufficient size to allow him to stretch himself out. I discovered the dimensions of a 2-seater and they seemed of sufficient size for mine/his needs – and – I also discovered that a 2-seater couch is often known as a LOVE SEAT!

Dimensions of the Proposed New Couch

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What I was looking and hoping for was a simple couch. One that was plain and simple in design. I decided not to look for one with leather covering, but one that was of plain fabric with no design and one of a dark colour ……. a very dark colour such as charcoal. I also did not want one that had the ability to be turned into a bed.

A Range of Available 2-Seater Couches

I began the search for a new couch on-line. I spent what seemed like an age looking at various furniture sites on-line. I hate to admit it, but my patience with searches-on-line is somewhat limited. My success rate at actually finding anything on-line is abysmal! The thought of sifting through pages of things I do not like causes my patience to ware thin and I quickly reach a point when I need to turn the computer off! And this search soon proved to be no different and equally as exhausting as those that came before. And I became disillusioned and over whelmed by the choice of available couches!

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Despite my glumness, there was hope, and not too far away! At one time, just a short walk (<1 km) from my house is a small shopping area, sat a wonderful store.

I chose to live where I do since having such a shopping area close by would prove an added bonus and suit my needs once I became too old to travel far. The little shopping mall included a supermarket, that although not entirely to my taste, would do once I aged (this was before on-line shopping became readily available), along with a small department store, Roses, that was part of the Roses Discount Stores chain, which, once I discovered it, proved to be a virtual Aladdin’s cave.

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When I retired, I took to walking at least four miles a day each morning. I used to enjoy these daily jaunts and used the time to think. As a result, ideas drifted in and out of mind that led to my putting some down on paper and then into websites. Occasionally, during a warm Friday evening, I would go for a long walk and would always seem to gravitate to the local Roses. I would like to purchase a few tasty sweetmeats that were not perhaps the healthiest of foods and contained a huge number of calories, but after a long walk, were always enjoyed!

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Roses held an important position to the neighbourhood in that it fulfilled a need. Most of the people living in the area were either members of the working class or else retired, but they all lived on limited funds. The store offered some food products, furniture along with materials for the gardener and the needs for simple motor vehicle repair. It also offered things for the home such as sheets, curtains, towels etc and clothing for the whole family. Perhaps the products on sale were not grand and would not appear in glossy magazines, they were durable and offered at a reasonable rate that the society could afford.

Also Roses offered something very attractive to the members of the neighbourhood and that was ten percent off everything on Wednesday. The store was always filled on this day of the week with retirees and mothers with huge families!

Of course some of the goods on sale were what are referred to as seconds – i.e., containing some minor fault that was often hardly noticeable. Once I retired, I was very happy shop at Roses and bought all my everyday-clothing there since I no longer had to dress for others or for appearance to show-off my position in society.

In addition, the staff of Roses were all very nice. Most were middle-aged women with children. They were kind-hearted souls and always proved to be helpful.

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Roses was in a shopping area named The Bordeaux Center here in Fayetteville, N.C. I was greatly amused by the name of the Center since it has a small (very small) replica of La Tour Eiffel! No one has been able to explain to me how The Bordeaux Center got its name at the time of building in 1964 and how it came to merit such an edifice. But no matter!

Left: The Bordeaux Tower; Right: The Eiffel Tower

When the Center opened, it did so with a Supermarket and a Five & Dime Store. Were these establishments  the Piggly Wiggly and Roses, I wonder.

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When I first visited the Center, the major stores present were the Winn-Dixie Supermarket, which had evidently replaced the Piggly Wiggly at some time earlier, along with Roses and the Bordeaux Drug.

The Piggly Wiggly Supermarket at the Bordeaux Center

Over time, the Winn-Dixie Supermarket became an IGA Supermarket, which was later renamed Charlie C Supermarket. However, and despite the name change, the Supermarket apparently remains a member of the IGA Group.

Top: The Bordeaux Center Winn-Dixie & Logo; Left: An Australian IGA & Logo;
Right: The Bordeaux Center Charlie C’s 

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The renowned Pharmacy,  Bordeaux Drug, had been an original member of the stores present with the Center opened. Although I can not say that I shopped at the store for medications and toiletries too often, it did have several features of great interest that brought me there quite often. And these features included the staff and its old-style Lunch Counter.

The Bordeaux Drug Lunch Counter

Lunch Counters were once features of Department Stores, such as Woolworths, as well as many Pharmacies while stores such as British Home Stores and Littlewoods etc offered food and beverages at their cafeterias. It was a welcome to me to find such a Counter at Bordeaux Drug.

At such Counters, simple fare was offered such as coffee, soft drinks, chips/French Fries, sandwiches, hamburgers, hot-dogs, simple fruit pies and a small variety of ice cream. A simple salad was perhaps offered at some Counters.  I liked to visit the Bordeaux Drug Lunch Counter although all I tended to order was a cup of coffee; mainly I went there to talk to the staff members working at the Counter and in the Store. They all were delightful people.

The Pharmacy & Staff

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I remember one dreadful day, walking into Roses and being greeted by a large placard on a easel  announcing the date when the Store would close! What was this?

Although the closure of Roses does not compete with these natural disasters,
it was a tragedy and shocked  the neighbourhood

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The Effect of Hurricane Ian (September 2022)
Top: One of my Dogwood Trees was blown over by a 60 mph gust of wind; and
Bottom: Casanova/Puppy inspecting the Tree.

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Everyone in the store seemed to be stunned. Although there were many people and staff near the front of the store, no one was actually buying everything and everyone spoke in hushed sounds. The staff appeared just as puzzled as the patrons by the news.

After commiserating with a number of patrons and staff members, I found the manager and asked her what had happened to bring about the closure. She told me that the lease for the store/land would not be renewed since its rent now proved too costly.

It had been decided to close the branch in a month or so. Apparently a smaller store somewhere way off outside the neighbourhood would be opened to replace it. She said that they were beginning a Closing Down Sale later in the week when everything in the store would be offered at a very reduced price. She said that there will be plenty of bargains on offer. I asked her what was going to happen to the staff? I remember her sighing and then saying that some would go to Roses’ other stores, but some would be laid off!

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The tragedy of the store closing lay in the fact that it held an important place in the neighbourhood and would leave a gabbing hole in our lives when gone. There were many retired and very old people living in the area who shopped there and at the other shops/stores of the Bordeaux Center. Most of the area’s populace, including me, did not have regular access to a motor vehicle and so found it difficult to shop in the larger supermarkets and stores about the town. Although the town has a bus service (i.e., F.A.S.T., Fayetteville Area System of Transit), service was limited and each line seemed to take an age to arrive at the destination. In addition, many found it difficult to struggle on and off a bus with bags of groceries etc and fellow riders are not always willing to help others-in-need. The presence of Roses gave us an independence.

F.A.S.T. Buses & Logo

When Roses finally closed, the building sat empty for well over a year before work began on its transformation. During this time, whenever I past by, I could see the huge miserable cavernous space, now dimly light by a few small lights, that this was once an Aladdin’s cave.

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Evidently I failed to appreciate how business is done, as I did not understand why the store had to sit vacant for so long. Meanwhile, the neighbourhood people hoped that another similar store to Roses would open there. However, our hopes were dashed, as we learned that not all wishes come true!

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Eventually work started on the transformation of the-once-Aladdin’s-cave that was Roses into a K & W Cafeteria. K & W Cafeteria is a chain of self-service restaurants serving Southern Comfort Food, which first opened in 1937 and was, and remains, family owned.

I remember that The Cafeteria was originally installed in an area on the other side of Owen Drive, which bisected the Bordeaux Center. I would occasionally visit the Cafeteria, and along with a huge number of others who had also grabbed a tray, and wait patiently for my turn to request some battered fish. This was a particularly delicious entrée and I would ask it to be put into a container so that I could take it home and savour at my own kitchen table along with home-made English-style Chips.

Crisp, golden brown Fish ‘n’ Chips with real English-style Chips

I have never understood the necessity to close the original building and transfer the Cafeteria to the site of Roses. But then, as I have often said, I am not a business man.

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I have to confess that it took me a while before I visited the K & W Cafeteria. However, once I did, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a well-planned dining establishment with a pleasant décor and with well-prepared food and considerate staff.

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Although Roses was lost to the Center, it was not lost to the City. And neither was The Bordeaux Drug; however, it did rise like a phoenix, but as a smaller establishment when it moved to the kiosk in the centre of the parking area of the Center that had once been a Subway.

I once had an office at 200 (see the arrow at the top right-hand corner)