This week's lesson : NEVER EVER go to warehouse sales.

A view from Cineleisure @ Mutiara Damansara from not very far off.

The amount of heads I had to tip over just to see how long the line was ! No. There's more.

The queue started at 10-something, and it stretched all across the Ground Floor of Cineleisure.
It extended right up to the entrance.....

And behind us, there were even more people queuing up... just to get in.


And all that, for nothing.

This week's lesson : NEVER ever go to warehouse sales.

There was one - featuring Zara products - and it was advertised in the papers, so dad, Narin and I thought we'd pay a little visit. That "little visit" turned out to be a two-hour long ordeal. And the other thing about warehouse sales is that everything's just thrown in the racks, and we just have to jostle through the crowd to get what we want. More often than not, we don't. And if we do get what we want, we have to wait in a queue that extends through two corners of the shop - right until the entrance - simply because there's no legroom. And the shoes - there are no size 42 ones (British size 8 or 9, I'm not sure myself), and most of them have really high heels, and are not comfortable.

I happened to find myself a nice beige overcoat, a red sleeveless top and a belt - but I was pushed to the very beginning of the queue, which was at the entrance. And every now and then I had to yell out an exuberant "Excusez-moi !" to get my trunk through.

For branded clothes at knockdown prices, this just simply isn't worth my wait.

This is characteristic of a recession, or a company facing liquidation problems : a warehouse sale is also known as a stock clearance sale. There is too much cash tied up in the form of stocks, and they don't have any "rolling money" - and thus, they sell off their stocks (which might've depreciated by then, who knows ?) - at knockdown prices, yes, and they don't mind - as long as they get turnover in the form of cash, which is a liquid asset.

Is it common for companies to face liquidation problems during recession periods ? Either way, the knockdown prices drew throngs of people to the teeny little shop. And I just don't wanna be part of that madhouse. (Oh, and you wouldn't wanna ask what I saw in that shop, or else you'll be crying blue murder and you'll probably wanna throw me into ISA.)