Tag: retailers

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 7, 20269:47 pm

Keeping Time with Changes

You may not like the Featured Image, but I do. On April 4, 2026, as I prepared to go out on a photo walk I pointed Nikon Zf with NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens attached towards the Kit-Cat to check the battery level. The moody lighting unexpectedly appealed to me, so I clicked the shutter button.

The clock hangs to the left of the Casabelle Mail Center that I purchased from Pier 1 Imports 17 years ago. The retailer went out of business during the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 lockdowns, closing the last stores in October 2020. But the desk remains and is back in full service. Our daughter is staying with us, and I abandoned my home office for her to use as a bedroom. Cluttered and cramped best describes our 772-square-foot apartment right now. But we’re glad to have her here, and using the Casabelle is small sacrifice.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 4, 20269:31 pm

San Diego City Attorney Says Sex Shop

The questions: Why now? Who benefits?

For as long as I can remember, a massage parlor has quietly beckoned customers from the corner of Adams and Georgia here in the otherwise quaint village of University Heights. My wife and I have occasionally discussed its odd presence, with the presumption being the place peddles sex as much as massage.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 3, 20269:24 pm

Serving Brooklyn Style

Here’s a simple photo for a Good Friday evening that has nothing to do with the commemoration. The celebration of Jesus Christ’s brutal murder—execution as insurrectionist (He claimed to be a king)—never feels right to me. Let’s talk about meaning, and what matters about his life and death, on Easter Sunday. The resurrection is by far more meaningful, although it was purchased at incredible cost.

As for Sonny’s Pizza, the place first opened for business around the time I shot the Featured Image, May 6, 2025. The eatery is located where was Florabella, on Madison just off Park Blvd, here in the village of University Heights. The florist closed at the end of June 2018 in response to tripling of the rent. Maybe the landlord was hasty and greedy, because the retail space stayed mostly unoccupied for nearly 7 years.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 31, 20269:24 pm

What a Concept!

Get clean laundry and, as a bonus, teeth cleaned at the same time. Put in a load of clothes, climb into the dentist chair, and vroom. While the washer does the final rinse, you will get the final rinse of your mouth. Remember to spit! There’s debris to expel and fluoride grit, too.

Honestly, I laughed when seeing the store signage along Adams Avenue in San Diego neighborhood Normal Heights on March 26, 2026, and then connecting how someone like me would read the thing. Regardless the intentions, what a concept!

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 4, 20269:03 pm

For the King of the Throne

Oddly, we are not done with cats. Unexpectedly, once again, the topic turns to fancy litter boxes on sale at Costco. In October 2025, the product was a robotic pooper scooper on sale for 599.99 (one-hundred bucks off).

By comparison, the new offering is a bargain.: $389.99. The Featured Image is clear: Your cat can be king (or queen) of the throne, and you can monitor the animal’s health progress based on its, ah, business. Ah, okay. For our cat family, no thanks.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 27, 20269:12 pm

You can Resist!

I don’t long for sweets like days gone by. Thirteen years ago in July, I radically changed my diet by vastly cutting carbohydrates and reducing added sugars to a nearly immeasurable amount. My health improved, my weight dropped, and I avoided diabetes; my doctor had been ready to put me on an insulin regime. Not necessary.

Discipline and self-control are possible, and I say that to everyone who wants a lifestyle of having your cake and eating it, too. You can’t have both. Eat your cake, or donut, and there will be consequences to your health. I love pasta, for example, and consumed it heartedly. I gave it up. You can, too.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 23, 20268:38 pm

When Less is More

When Twiggs shuttered both locations—Park Blvd in University Heights, Adams Ave in North Park—in October 2023, many locals, me included, were blindsided. The coffee shops operated for about three decades successfully—granted, changing owners several times and more recently a few years before the sudden end.

New shops replaced both storefronts. The one on Park simply took over the space, with so little changes that one might not realize that Twiggs ever went away. But over on Adams, the new coffee shop is a complete makeover. The change isn’t just dramatic; the place stands apart from every other coffee shop in the five-community locales of Kensington, Hillcrest, Normal Heights, North Park, and University Heights.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 6, 202610:08 pm

Funny Bunny

You are looking at my first purchase from Etsy, and I am surprised that we still have it. I ordered the “Amigurumi Flowery pink bunny rabbit with matching bag” for our daughter on July 27, 2006. Yep, that’s 20 years ago this summer. Pricey but handmade: $28 before shipping fee.

I don’t shop Etsy often, but it’s my go-to when looking for hand-crafted, hard-to-find, or specialty items. I am impressed with any of the early dot-com e-shops that survived all matter of doom—from economic calamities to mismanagement to pandemic shutdowns. May Etsy continue to be a survivor.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 24, 202512:23 pm

Your Pet is Not Your Child!

Cue the music. I had a Twilight Zone moment today. While walking into PetSmart, I heard the cashier tell a customer about weekend festivities. The store will welcome self-described pet parents to celebrate Halloween. There will be “treat stations set up throughout the store”, the checker said. Oh, and of course, humans are encouraged to bring their animal(s) dressed in costume. Seriously? What alternate universe have I unexpectedly entered?

Trick or treat will be Sunday, that’s Oct. 26, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Don’t have a costume for fido or frisky? No problem, PetSmart sells them. Treats are free (I presume), assuming your animal is smart enough to find any. The trick is for those beasts unable to sniff out any, I guess.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 23, 20259:09 pm

Uh, I Don’t Think So

The many bargains of Costco are sometimes perplexing; the item carried and what someone would pay for it. Look no further than the Featured Image. Who pays $600—on sale—for a cat litter box? You tell me. If that’s you, no offense intended, but I would really like to know why?

This post’s title tells you what I wouldn’t do. There’s no robotic in the Wilcox household. Plastic bag and a pooper scooper, and either my wife or I keeps our kitties’ litter box nice and tidy. Someone else will pay big for convenience and because their animal is more than a pet. It’s a member of the family, and he, she, or they is (or are) the parent(s).

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 14, 20259:04 pm

The G-Spot

The things you are simply shocked to see in retail. Today, I drove my daughter to San Diego’s Fashion Valley Mall, which is increasingly becoming a pricey, high-end destination in the likeness of some Los Angeles shopping meccas.

She had ordered contacts and eyeglasses from Warby Parker; the former needed to be checked and fitted because of astigmatic correction limitations. What did I see used for point of sale? Google Pixelbook Go. Yeah, a Chromebook! One that released in 2019!

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 21, 20259:57 pm

Yet Another Bible Story

Yesterday, my wife and I drove to East County on an errand. Returning, she missed an exit, and we ended up in downtown La Mesa. What an opportunity! We took it. Annie parked in the neighborhood nearby the Christian bookstore where in January 2021 we bought a Bible for her and in November 2022 another for me.

We were shocked! The shop is gone. Another retailer fills the space. I searched online for some information about what happened and when but found nothing—not on Yelp or the former business’ social media sites, like Instagram. But given the new occupant, I presume the demise isn’t all that recent.