Em terra de cegos quem tem um olho é rei!

Vale mesmo a pena ler na íntegra "Where is Retail Headed?". Tive de me conter para não copiar tudo para aqui:

"“Forbes” tells us that shopping malls are being killed by online shopping and Nordstrom’s CFO says it’s only going to get worse.
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Do we want to shop in the real world, or not?
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The answer can be found in an old-fashioned notion: community.
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to create places where we want to explore, hubs to which we want to belong. This goes beyond being hobbled by our location.
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No, these intrepid A, A+ and A++ venues are creating a “shopping destination,” one that is ripe with excellent restaurants, clean and exciting movie theatres and chock-a-block with confident retailers staffed with professionals who encourage my odyssey of discovery. I enter to embark on an enchanted experience that leaves me feeling informed, indeed educated, and joyously lucky to have found what I was looking for, even when I didn’t quite know what I was looking for. It isn’t easy to deliver this experience, but hey, there is serious money to be made. Why is that? Because the experience transcends price. We’re no longer in the world of commoditized branded retail with its scripted sales pitches, bored staff and cluttered floors.[Moi ici: É horrível entrar numa loja e a funcionária simpática vir ter connosco para nos anunciar que a loja está com uma promoção de 20% até 26 de Dezembro... só confiam no preço para nos seduzir e convencer a comprar]
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What we’re talking about is what we’ve probably experienced most often in a good wine shop, when the fellow behind the counter is actually obsessed by the varietals and producers. He’s the guy who cares about what you’re having for dinner and thinks there’s a beautiful marriage to be made. Remember that guy? He didn’t try to sell you an over-priced bottle, but rather gave you three choices at various price points with the knowledge that seemed informed by actual experience. He wanted you to have a great meal, a great experience. He wanted you to thrill your host, or celebrate your friend’s promotion. When was the last time you experienced that in any other setting? At a bike shop? At an art gallery? It happens in places where the people selling the goods love the goods."[Moi ici: Depois o autor lembra-nos que a maior parte dos vendedores é "just a warm body" sem paixão e sem formação sobre o que vendem e sobre como vendem]

Há anos que falo disto. O exemplo que dou não é de uma garrafeira nem de uma loja gourmet mas o de um funcionário da loja Valentim de Carvalho em Aveiro no Forum quando este abriu há mais de uma década e meia.