shopping: baby registries

I've mentioned that shopping on the island is an activity to be avoided. (You see why NS is so in love with this place.) The selection is limited, generally high-end, and quite pricey. Shopping, however, is something I can't (and won't) avoid all together. As you know, I had quite a positive flip flop shopping episode already. This week afforded a new experience: Shopping for a baby shower. The mother was registered at Baby Shoppe in Alissta Towers. I went over a lunch break this week to try to pick something up quickly. I've used this strategy in the States before with not-so-great results. When living in New Jersey, I went to a Babies-R-Us one day, hoping to get in and out in a flash. The store was almost empty, so I felt pretty confident as I printed out the registry. I quickly found out, though, that BRU had recently redesigned their floor plan, and the aisles associated with the registered items were completely different than those on the registry. I spent the entire hour trying to piece together a gift based on what I could actually locate which was also within my price range. I think my mom is right; stick with the gift card.

Anyway, back to Baby Shoppe. Once again, the store was fairly empty when I arrived. However, instead of leaving me to search for random registry items in a labyrinth of baby toys and clothes, Baby Shoppe had a small room dedicated to registries, where they had pulled each mother's entire registry off the shelf and placed it in a designated area for easy browsing. Brilliant! The prices were still eye-popping, but that's the cost of living in paradise, I suppose. Then, as an added bonus, they offered complimentary wrapping. No spending $5 extra on a stupid bag!  As it turns out, these practices are common on the island. NE, my Caymanian coworker, showed surprise when she heard my all-too-common experience at BRU.

I'm just glad that at least if they're going to gouge me on price, they will reward me with service.