Friday, June 24, 2011

More ways to save money...A new shopping complex

We usually wander to the "Big" city every week or so.

I think I can even recall that once we made it as far as two weeks before making the all day excursion to civilization and traffic congested streets.

There are benefits of going to the big city.

Window squeegee engineers at every major intersection. In all my years in Patzcuaro I have never had the experience of one of these folks accosting my window or my privacy behind my windshield.

In Morelia there are several main intersections that you will either be held hostage to either a squeegee guy or a Telcel airtime card professional. If not, then you will be entertained by a guy painted in silver spray paint, blowing flames out of his mouth....I guess it's better than blowing smoke.......

Another benefit of going to the big durazno is the variety of shops, stores and places to wander, look, listen and spend your pesos.

When we first landed in Morelia, there was only a Price Club which is now Costco, Fabricas De Francia, Sears and a few other national superstores. The "big" mall was not big, it was the proud owner of a Sears, Fabricas de Francia and of course a Sanborns.

Now the mall has a Liverpool store that by itself would have held the whole mall before in its footprint. The new mall is still kind of a work in progress and now boasts a McDonalds, Apple store, Globo Bakery and even a handful of expensive Italian boutique women's and men's clothing stores.

Now there is some even more upscale competition.
I have been seeing some construction going on for awhile up on the top of the hill above the hoyty-toyty district. Above the country club, above the large fancy houses percehed up on the side of the hill.
So, we checked out the "new" side of town.

Wow..........There almost overnight appeared a new 3 level shopping mall. A very large Liverpool store, at least 50% larger than the one down in the low lands. A larger Sears along with spaces for hundreds of stores and shops including a Starbucks and of course a Sanborns.......

Down the road from the center they are starting to build a new Walmart. There are wide open spaces abound to cram hundreds more parking lots and stores on the plateau over looking Morelia.

The design of the mall is rather modern, lots of canvas type sails covering the walkways and promenades along the way.
Great views of Morelia.

Only about 10% of the stores are presently open. It will be interesting to see who survives and who perishes.
One disappointing thing is the outdoor parking lots. In order to park you will have extracted from you 5 to 10 pesos an hour. Presently the one armed machines are allowing you to come and go without depositing any money. That will change.

The lot also is not covered anywhere, unlike the mall in the low lands below, which have covered spaces which allow you to return to a reasonably cool vehicles. This one will be a warm and cozy oven experience when you return to your car.

The only hassle I see is that getting there on the one lane road is going to be a hassle, especially when the place is going at full occupancy.

We'll see how the traffic department will handle that in the coming years. If it's anything like how they handle traffic in the low lands......good luck.
The place is called, Altozano, and it is close to Tres Marias which is another devolpment.
Lots of devolopment.
Lots of money for speculation.
Seems the economy is a little better here than NOB.
Now if we could only get the tourists. back.

9 comments:

Steve Cotton said...

All that and a mountain home. Who could ask for anything more?

Don Cuevas said...

We haven't been to Altozano. I doubt that we ever get to it. Overall, we dislike shopping, except where it pertains to food. This one is too far out, up and away. Probably pricey, too.

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

PS: Thanks for mentioning the name of the mall at the end.

Calypso said...

Intersections in Xalapa resemble your ciadad description to a tee ;-)

Big cities are a nice place to visit - but wouldn't want to live there.

Michael Dickson said...

Man, oh, man, where have you been? That place was under construction for years, and now it's open. Still has a good way to go before filling with stores, however.

As for windshield washers not being in Pátzcuaro, give it some more time. It has only been possible since they installed stoplights on the Libramiento. Without stoplights, that type of activity is impossible. The locals do seem a little slow to recognize the new opportunity provided by our stoplights.

Tancho said...

Steve, With a mountain home , it leaves very little money for shopping.

Sr. Cuevas, A few weeks ago while the wife had a hair appointment in Morelia, I wandered around looking at Tres Marias, then Altozano, and the housing subdivision and golf course. I knew that there was another world out there, now I am certain. We then returned together to explore the rest of the place.

Calypso, that's exactly why we visit the big city.....

Felipe, I noticed construction on the peak of the hill for several years. I was told that it was the University, (that was one story) then again that the project had stopped. Seeing more activity, I decided to put on my explorer's shoes and check it out for myself.
We only traverse the same old route to the same old places. I wonder how long it is going to take to fill up, the day we were there the Starbucks store was just opening. Both the Sears and Liverpool are much nicer and larger stores than below.

1st Mate said...

A couple of days ago I was treated to a flame juggler wandering the intersection. Very entertaining, well worth the five pesos I handed him. He did nothing for my windshield but brightened my day considerably. Wish I'd gotten his card, in case I need to hire talent sometime. Naah, probably isn't a local anyway.

I'm trying to keep my big-store shopping down to once a week maximum, having found that I spend far too much when I go.

Tancho said...

Bliss...Pray tell where the big city is in your neck of the woods? Hermosillio? Or Ciudad Obregon?
We enjoy looking at stuff more than buying much, we let me preface that, I don't buy much clothes anymore, the wife will get a few white blouses each time, I have never figured out what she does with all of those?
The silver painted guy is in the flame eaters union, he is not allowed to squeegee your windshield, The other guys would certainly strike!

JerryL said...

Pretty Modern looking, kind of reminds me of places in Florida. Wait until you are under the sail in a downpour.
Here in Florida the malls are closing up merchants left and right. Glad your economy is better.

Michael Dickson said...

Ah! So the Sears has opened. That must be fairly recent. Have to go take a look.

Don Cuevas: Too far out, up and away? Nah. You can get there in nothing flat. It's easy.