Good.

Guilded Age 2: Electric Boogaloo.

This time, it's global.

Rolls Royce had their best year ever. Not your everyday go to work car.

Go to Macy's or Harrods and stalk the Chinese nouveau riche. You can spot them by the Burberry pattern on their polo shirt collars, their ill-fitting jackets, the designer grab-bags for men, and the fact that they will be picking their teeth.

It's a fun sport.

/also: national monuments, other tourist sites, luxury auto dealerships

This is the future. The real money is in China.

Rich Chinese people are some of the stupidest consumers I have ever seen. I am not what one would call "cool" but compared to a crashed rolls-royce and Guchi slippers I am the coolest guy on the planet.

Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

Seth'n'Spectrum: Go to Macy's or Harrods and stalk the Chinese nouveau riche. You can spot them by the Burberry pattern on their polo shirt collars, their ill-fitting jackets, the designer grab-bags for men, and the fact that they will be picking their teeth.

It's a fun sport.

So they're just like regular people then? What's so fun about that, other than being able to pretend for a brief moment that you would know how to act if you were rich? Unlike these filthy Chinese.

Lunchlady: Rich Chinese people are some of the stupidest consumers I have ever seen. I am not what one would call "cool" but compared to a crashed rolls-royce and Guchi slippers I am the coolest guy on the planet.

Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

Yeah it seems both cultures are trying to out tacky each other.

Lunchlady: Rich Chinese people are some of the stupidest consumers I have ever seen. I am not what one would call "cool" but compared to a crashed rolls-royce and Guchi slippers I am the coolest guy on the planet.


Sigh, more jobs that Americans used to do outsourced to China.

when I was in Hong Kong there were at least 4 of each high end designer stores that had rope lines. they love labels that you can really see. Chanel and Louis purses were hugely popular. you can also go to the Ladies market and get a knock you need to love to haggle and really enjoy huge crushing crowds.

Well, naturally. An hour later, you want to shop again.

JudgeSmails: when I was in Hong Kong there were at least 4 of each high end designer stores that had rope lines. they love labels that you can really see. Chanel and Louis purses were hugely popular. you can also go to the Ladies market and get a knock you need to love to haggle and really enjoy huge crushing crowds.

We have a large Asian community in Northern California and it is the same story here. My favorite memorable event was when I heard some ladies shouting at a clerk because there was a limit on the number of Gucci bags they could purchase during that particular sale.

Why the hell did they spend a whole year buying banners?

Thanks Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart shoppers. Nice to know that everything our fathers and grandfathers fought for has been handed to our enemies so that the Walton snowflakes can be kings and queens.

Fark you all.

Nixon and Kissinger should have let them starve instead of giving them Haber-Bosch.

No ironic tag?

groppet: Lunchlady: Rich Chinese people are some of the stupidest consumers I have ever seen. I am not what one would call "cool" but compared to a crashed rolls-royce and Guchi slippers I am the coolest guy on the planet.

Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

Yeah it seems both cultures are trying to out tacky each other.

Indians would probably put their tacky together and gild it.

When I visited Paris, I discovered that they were less upset with the "Ugly American" so much as they were upset with "Ugly Chinese". All of the Parisians in the retail and hospitality industries I interacted with were fine, so long as I was polite and at least gave an attempt at butchering their language (before they would politely switch over to English themselves).

My trip coincided with the high tourist season for Asian travelers, so huge groups of them were visiting the city. The owner of the hotel I stayed at was not shy about his disdain for them. He considered them rude and oblivious. A sales clerk helping me choose a purse for my wife was commenting how they mob the stores, haggle over everything, and otherwise make it difficult for all of the other shoppers. They appreciated the business, but hated how the Chinese shoppers made the place feel like a discount outlet during a sale.

And those buses were stopping in front of Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel, Chloé, and every other French and Italian high fashion shop you could imagine, too. You'd see these women picking up €5K, even €10K worth of goods without even blinking. It was fairly surreal. This was right around the the time the financial crisis hit bottom.

Umm, yay capitalism?

Fano: groppet: Lunchlady: Rich Chinese people are some of the stupidest consumers I have ever seen. I am not what one would call "cool" but compared to a crashed rolls-royce and Guchi slippers I am the coolest guy on the planet.

Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

Yeah it seems both cultures are trying to out tacky each other.

Indians would probably put their tacky together and gild it.

And then expect westerners to be jealous of them. Jokes on them, we have functioning sewer systems and drinkable tap water.

MatrixOutsider: Do you know who else had a banner year?

[www.asicentral.com image 320x240]

came for this, leaving satisfied, so much so I need a smoke myself

Lunchlady: Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

This, so much this. And Persians.

When I went to Harrods, most of the people I saw walking out with bags were wearing burqas. Designer burqas.

For my fellow Americans who don't know what Harrods is, think Neiman Marcus x10. There was jewelry there (pretty stupid looking jewelry IMO) that was selling for dozens of thousands of pounds. It seemed like the stupider the higher the price. I'm talking a giant pair of ceramic (looked enameled) lips on a cocktail ring stupid. I saw one piece that was 100,000 pounds (1 pound = $1.98). The only stuff they have there that's affordable is in the gift shop. This is a department store that caters to the 1%. They had a pet store. They were selling 150 pound pet carriers and 100 pound dog pillows.

I had been looking forward to going there since I came to London. We came there pretty late, so we didn't have a chance to see the grocery store. But we just had to leave after an hour because it was so sickening and overpriced. You don't even wanna know what the clothes cost, but to give you an idea, the shoes there were no less than a thousand pounds.

I've read stories of Saudi royal family members closing stores in London, and new York to have privacy while spending millions on gifts for relatives back home.

colithian: Lunchlady: Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

This, so much this. And Persians.

When I went to Harrods, most of the people I saw walking out with bags were wearing burqas. Designer burqas.

For my fellow Americans who don't know what Harrods is, think Neiman Marcus x10. There was jewelry there (pretty stupid looking jewelry IMO) that was selling for dozens of thousands of pounds. It seemed like the stupider the higher the price. I'm talking a giant pair of ceramic (looked enameled) lips on a cocktail ring stupid. I saw one piece that was 100,000 pounds (1 pound = $1.98). The only stuff they have there that's affordable is in the gift shop. This is a department store that caters to the 1%. They had a pet store. They were selling 150 pound pet carriers and 100 pound dog pillows.

I had been looking forward to going there since I came to London. We came there pretty late, so we didn't have a chance to see the grocery store. But we just had to leave after an hour because it was so sickening and overpriced. You don't even wanna know what the clothes cost, but to give you an idea, the shoes there were no less than a thousand pounds.

The grocery/bakery/etc is the only good reason to go there, in my opinion.

Lollipop165: colithian: Lunchlady: Though you can't compete against Arabs for sheer purchasing idiocy.

This, so much this. And Persians.

When I went to Harrods, most of the people I saw walking out with bags were wearing burqas. Designer burqas.

For my fellow Americans who don't know what Harrods is, think Neiman Marcus x10. There was jewelry there (pretty stupid looking jewelry IMO) that was selling for dozens of thousands of pounds. It seemed like the stupider the higher the price. I'm talking a giant pair of ceramic (looked enameled) lips on a cocktail ring stupid. I saw one piece that was 100,000 pounds (1 pound = $1.98). The only stuff they have there that's affordable is in the gift shop. This is a department store that caters to the 1%. They had a pet store. They were selling 150 pound pet carriers and 100 pound dog pillows.

I had been looking forward to going there since I came to London. We came there pretty late, so we didn't have a chance to see the grocery store. But we just had to leave after an hour because it was so sickening and overpriced. You don't even wanna know what the clothes cost, but to give you an idea, the shoes there were no less than a thousand pounds.

The grocery/bakery/etc is the only good reason to go there, in my opinion.

Never got a chance to go there. I've heard they have spectacular sushi, but they were closing by the time we got to Brompton Road.