Putting the cart before the horse

No shopping here
London, ON
March 2012
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I'm guessing this shopping cart, and the dozens just like it that were scattered haphazardly around the parking lot of the Masonville Place mall on this unseasonably warm March afternoon, is now somewhere very far away.

That's because the store that used to own these red wagons of retail destiny, Zellers, closed here a few months ago. The former anchor location has been completely emptied out and gutted, and now sits behind cladding as it undergoes extensive renovations in advance of its reopening next year under the Target banner. From the looks of the heavy equipment they've brought in for the job, I'm guessing they're bombing the tired structure back to the middle ages before they rebuild it as something more relevant to current-century buyers.

Further afield, the Zellers chain itself is well on its way toward oblivion, a victim of changing economic times, tough competition from the likes of Walmart and other big box chains, and, if we're being brutally honest, years of death-by-neglect at the hands of managers who had no business being in retail, and staff who couldn't care one way or the other whether you shopped there or not.

It was clear long before the press releases were issued that this entire brand was broken, and had no hope of recovery. That's what happens when you take your eye off the ball. That's what happens when the passion for what you're doing evaporates.

Your turn: What are you passionate about?