Oh, no SoHo
My husband Nick, bless his heart, was unsure of what to get me for Chrismukah. In the past, Nick knew that anything from The Cambridge Artists Co-Op would warm my heart and tickle my fancy.
So, Nick, like any smart person from this century, went to the internet to find such a gallery in Princeton. If you want Talbots, J. Crew, Starbucks, or Banana Republic - then downtown Princeton is for you. If you want little shop to buy handcrafted pottery, funky jewelry, or blown glass - then downtown Princeton is NOT for you.
One of the places Nick found in his gallery search was called Oh no, SoHo. Yesterday we set out to find the gallery. We started down (you guessed it) Route 1, made a few twists and turns, thought we were going in the wrong direction, turned around and went in the opposite direction, hit a dead end, turned around and went on in the original direction. And on, and on.
Now, one might think that a place which includes SoHo in it's name would be in a hip, funky location. When we called the store from our car, the woman on the phone told us to "Keep going past the corn fields, and we're in the seven year old strip mall on the left." We turned into the strip mall, and following her directions, drove to the far end of the mall. On the way, we passed a liquor store, a dance school (or should I say, School of Dance?), an Indian restaurant serving an all-day buffet, and, you guessed it, a supermarket.
We pulled into a readily available parking spot, and as we got out of the car, a cold rain started to fall. We peered into the window of Oh no, SoHo and it was clear that a gallery, this was not. It was a high priced gift shop with both Judaica and cat sections. We walked into the overly bright store with jazzy Muzak playing and heard two women giggling in the back of the store.
The thing I don't understand about stores in the suburbs of Jersey or Philly is that they all look the same. They all have those white laminate wall units with horizontal grooves running from floor to ceiling. Display rack that hold hanging clothes hook into the grooves. I suspect the idea of the grooves is that you can change the displays by hooking the racks into different grooves, making some very high up and others lower. I can just hear the wall unit sales person making his pitch to the manicured, face lifted new shop owner "See you can change things around to create Visual Excitement for your frequent customer!" The shop owner, opening the store as a new hobby because her children won't let her dress them anymore, nods in agreement.
I wandered to the back of the store to look at the counter of uninspiring beaded necklaces and charm bracelets and the two women were sitting behind the counter. From the looks of the hair and plastic surgery, one of the women was clearly the owner. They looked up from their giggley conversation and the older of the two said to me "We're sort of on a break." and they went back to giggling and conversing.
Nick and I continued to browse through the store when a fifty-something man with hairplugs and a teenage girl walked in to the store. The two women rushed out from behind the counter and gave the newcomers big hugs and kisses. It turns out that the man was the husband of the owner (read, funder of the store) and the teenage girl was her daughter.
At that point, Nick and I left and walked back to the car. I sat down and a wave of nausea came over me. Then, it dawned on me. We had read the name of the store wrong. It's not "Oh no, SoHo!" it's "Oh, no Soho." As in "On, no Soho here, only the crappy ass suburbs with rude people."
If you are keeping score, put one in the Reasons Not to Move to New Jersey Column.
So, Nick, like any smart person from this century, went to the internet to find such a gallery in Princeton. If you want Talbots, J. Crew, Starbucks, or Banana Republic - then downtown Princeton is for you. If you want little shop to buy handcrafted pottery, funky jewelry, or blown glass - then downtown Princeton is NOT for you.
One of the places Nick found in his gallery search was called Oh no, SoHo. Yesterday we set out to find the gallery. We started down (you guessed it) Route 1, made a few twists and turns, thought we were going in the wrong direction, turned around and went in the opposite direction, hit a dead end, turned around and went on in the original direction. And on, and on.
Now, one might think that a place which includes SoHo in it's name would be in a hip, funky location. When we called the store from our car, the woman on the phone told us to "Keep going past the corn fields, and we're in the seven year old strip mall on the left." We turned into the strip mall, and following her directions, drove to the far end of the mall. On the way, we passed a liquor store, a dance school (or should I say, School of Dance?), an Indian restaurant serving an all-day buffet, and, you guessed it, a supermarket.
We pulled into a readily available parking spot, and as we got out of the car, a cold rain started to fall. We peered into the window of Oh no, SoHo and it was clear that a gallery, this was not. It was a high priced gift shop with both Judaica and cat sections. We walked into the overly bright store with jazzy Muzak playing and heard two women giggling in the back of the store.
The thing I don't understand about stores in the suburbs of Jersey or Philly is that they all look the same. They all have those white laminate wall units with horizontal grooves running from floor to ceiling. Display rack that hold hanging clothes hook into the grooves. I suspect the idea of the grooves is that you can change the displays by hooking the racks into different grooves, making some very high up and others lower. I can just hear the wall unit sales person making his pitch to the manicured, face lifted new shop owner "See you can change things around to create Visual Excitement for your frequent customer!" The shop owner, opening the store as a new hobby because her children won't let her dress them anymore, nods in agreement.
I wandered to the back of the store to look at the counter of uninspiring beaded necklaces and charm bracelets and the two women were sitting behind the counter. From the looks of the hair and plastic surgery, one of the women was clearly the owner. They looked up from their giggley conversation and the older of the two said to me "We're sort of on a break." and they went back to giggling and conversing.
Nick and I continued to browse through the store when a fifty-something man with hairplugs and a teenage girl walked in to the store. The two women rushed out from behind the counter and gave the newcomers big hugs and kisses. It turns out that the man was the husband of the owner (read, funder of the store) and the teenage girl was her daughter.
At that point, Nick and I left and walked back to the car. I sat down and a wave of nausea came over me. Then, it dawned on me. We had read the name of the store wrong. It's not "Oh no, SoHo!" it's "Oh, no Soho." As in "On, no Soho here, only the crappy ass suburbs with rude people."
If you are keeping score, put one in the Reasons Not to Move to New Jersey Column.
posted by Susan P. at 12:48 PM
2 Comments:
I do not know how I did not see this but this is the most inaccurate and mean-spirited , unintelligent posting I have ever seen on the internet. Do you really think such vile content is seen as valid from You? What makes you an expert? I have been shopping at theat horrible store OH NO SO HO for 12 years.....perhaps you do not know what kind of business you are disparaging but they support all of our local charities, including high school scholarships....they hire local kids .... they have sent kids to college who never could have...how dare you make such evil statements ....obviously you are uneducated... and have too much time on your hands...want to learn about life.... I know the owner and I know she will pity you and will give you a job so you can learn what retail is about. I have sent her your peice of drival and she pities you. I hope your children grow up to be less judgemental and opinionated . You must have another reason for being so mean.....unahppy in Life????
I do not know how I did not see this but this is the most inaccurate and mean-spirited , unintelligent posting I have ever seen on the internet. Do you really think such vile content is seen as valid from You? What makes you an expert? I have been shopping at theat horrible store OH NO SO HO for 12 years.....perhaps you do not know what kind of business you are disparaging but they support all of our local charities, including high school scholarships....they hire local kids .... they have sent kids to college who never could have...how dare you make such evil statements ....obviously you are uneducated... and have too much time on your hands...want to learn about life.... I know the owner and I know she will pity you and will give you a job so you can learn what retail is about. I have sent her your peice of drival and she pities you. I hope your children grow up to be less judgemental and opinionated . You must have another reason for being so mean.....unahppy in Life????
Post a Comment
<< Home