I have yet to see a "big box" store in Europe. Even the presenter at Medtronics talked about how there is no "one stop shop" stores. In every shopping district there is just a lot of little stores. Some of the clothing stores, in Vienna for example, had only eight items that were available in one or two colors and sizes. I would never go into a store like that, but obviously people must go in there and buy things or it would go out of business. I got used to going to the "Co-op" stores and in one city I found a "Co-op City" which was like a small mall. It had two levels of clothing departments, a restaurant on the top floor and the typical groceries on the lowest level. It was the closest I got to a one stop shop experience, however, things such as electronics were still missing.
The consumers in Europe are VERY environmentally conscience at least compared to Americans. Everywhere I went I saw signs of the importance of environmental responsibility. Zurich, Vienna, and Munich all had recycling bins in most public areas. I saw solar panels, wind turbines, a nuclear power plant, and a lot of signs about fair trade. In Geneva the boardwalk near the lake had a exhibit about environment responsibility (see photos). From my observation Europeans are more environmentally responsible than Americas.
No comments:
Post a Comment