An Ikea in New Zealand: Thoughts on shopping and convenience
Recently, I've been thinking about how I'll miss Amazon when I move back to New Zealand. We don't have Amazon, and New Zealand is kind of in the middle of nowhere when it comes to the world as a larger scheme. Things I want like clothes, or really niche items can be difficult to source in store in NZ, or just really expensive when bought in store or ordered online, but here in Japan, everything is available on Amazon at the click of a button. In the larger scheme, there's so many stores here that New Zealand doesn't have. Ikea, Costco, Uniqlo (of course). Everything is so available. Is this a good thing? I mean my heart says yes, but my head says... maybe not?
So we don't have Amazon in New Zealand, nor do we have a similar alternative (unless you count Mighty Ape but that's mostly games... And a large selection of La Croix water? I miss La Croix...) Amazon is so easy and I can get anything I want sitting at my desk at work. Living out in the countryside in Japan, sometimes the pharmacy or supermarket doesn't have a specific allergy product or type of non-perishable food (OATS). So instead of taking a really long trek all the way down to Kyoto, I can order what I want online! For cheap! In English! And get it delivered the next day AND I CHOOSE WHEN IT GETS DELIVERED. For someone who's never had that kind of convenience and ease of use before, it's amazing! I understand why Amazon has become such an international behemoth of a company. The concept is simple, you can shop from anywhere, and you have so much choice.
The lack of choice in the physical stores out here in the countryside of Japan is pretty similar to New Zealand; it can be really difficult to get something very specific in a store. Though it's not quite the same as Japan; most food items are very easy to source in the local supermarket or Asian supermarket (though, I did live in a city, but even then supermarkets in Japanese cities still seem to have less selection and foreign supermarkets are a lot less frequent). Isolation is frustrating. In New Zealand, my main online shopping was for clothes. I love clothes, but sometimes an idea of what I want can be hard to produce; I can sew but not that well. But even though I did buy online fairly frequently, buying it can be expensive or just impossible when you're so far away from every other landmass. Which is why I will miss Amazon, and the choice of stores in Japan; it bridges that isolation, and there's just so much more than I ever could get in New Zealand. It's easy.
But don't worry, this isn't just me singing my praises for Amazon. I hate it; think of the environment, capitalism. I am creating pollution and waste, and feeding into creating wealth for the upper echelons of society whilst income inequality increases. I am such a hypocrite. This modern world we live in, where we are simultaneously becoming more aware of the environment, of climate change, doing more to try slow it down, but also consuming more and more. Every Amazon order I make has so much pollution and packaging and energy consumption attached to it. Both by its existence, and then by me ordering it. I say I will miss Amazon, but the likelihood is that we'll get it soon enough. The isolation of New Zealand is becoming less in a commercial sense. We've been constantly getting new brands recently and we herald their appearance. Not going to lie, I am usually excited along with the rest of the country; H&M, Mecca Maxima, Zara, now maybe even an Ikea and Costco. That's more consumerism, more new things. Fast fashion, cheap furniture. Feeding international corporations that pay little tax in New Zealand, for less than quality products. All this stuff shipped from overseas.
But I want it. I love how I can buy Too Faced and Urban Decay in person. I want to go to Ikea and buy some nice new stylish furniture when it comes to New Zealand. I love not paying ridiculous shipping fees to get something to the bottom of the world. I have bought some of my favourite clothing pieces from Zara. I just went to Costco in Japan and it was amazing how little money I spent for how much I got and I want it to come to New Zealand. Did I mention how I am going to miss Amazon so much when I move back? But I feel so bad, so guilty, about my desire to consume.
How do I hold these things inside me? The love and distaste for the globalisation of goods. I don't know. I feel like everything I buy, I use well; I actually need it. Yes, I have way more clothes than I actually need, but that's me, my identity. I fuckin' love clothes. It's going to be difficult going back to having everything being expensive or unavailable, but it's also made me reflect on my attitudes towards consumerism. The New Zealand retail landscape is changing, in the face of growing environmental concerns and income inequality. And I don't think it's a good thing.
So we don't have Amazon in New Zealand, nor do we have a similar alternative (unless you count Mighty Ape but that's mostly games... And a large selection of La Croix water? I miss La Croix...) Amazon is so easy and I can get anything I want sitting at my desk at work. Living out in the countryside in Japan, sometimes the pharmacy or supermarket doesn't have a specific allergy product or type of non-perishable food (OATS). So instead of taking a really long trek all the way down to Kyoto, I can order what I want online! For cheap! In English! And get it delivered the next day AND I CHOOSE WHEN IT GETS DELIVERED. For someone who's never had that kind of convenience and ease of use before, it's amazing! I understand why Amazon has become such an international behemoth of a company. The concept is simple, you can shop from anywhere, and you have so much choice.
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| Out here in the middle of nowhere... |
The lack of choice in the physical stores out here in the countryside of Japan is pretty similar to New Zealand; it can be really difficult to get something very specific in a store. Though it's not quite the same as Japan; most food items are very easy to source in the local supermarket or Asian supermarket (though, I did live in a city, but even then supermarkets in Japanese cities still seem to have less selection and foreign supermarkets are a lot less frequent). Isolation is frustrating. In New Zealand, my main online shopping was for clothes. I love clothes, but sometimes an idea of what I want can be hard to produce; I can sew but not that well. But even though I did buy online fairly frequently, buying it can be expensive or just impossible when you're so far away from every other landmass. Which is why I will miss Amazon, and the choice of stores in Japan; it bridges that isolation, and there's just so much more than I ever could get in New Zealand. It's easy.
But don't worry, this isn't just me singing my praises for Amazon. I hate it; think of the environment, capitalism. I am creating pollution and waste, and feeding into creating wealth for the upper echelons of society whilst income inequality increases. I am such a hypocrite. This modern world we live in, where we are simultaneously becoming more aware of the environment, of climate change, doing more to try slow it down, but also consuming more and more. Every Amazon order I make has so much pollution and packaging and energy consumption attached to it. Both by its existence, and then by me ordering it. I say I will miss Amazon, but the likelihood is that we'll get it soon enough. The isolation of New Zealand is becoming less in a commercial sense. We've been constantly getting new brands recently and we herald their appearance. Not going to lie, I am usually excited along with the rest of the country; H&M, Mecca Maxima, Zara, now maybe even an Ikea and Costco. That's more consumerism, more new things. Fast fashion, cheap furniture. Feeding international corporations that pay little tax in New Zealand, for less than quality products. All this stuff shipped from overseas.
 |
| Me in the biggest Uniqlo in the world. I want Uniqlo in NZ so bad. |
But I want it. I love how I can buy Too Faced and Urban Decay in person. I want to go to Ikea and buy some nice new stylish furniture when it comes to New Zealand. I love not paying ridiculous shipping fees to get something to the bottom of the world. I have bought some of my favourite clothing pieces from Zara. I just went to Costco in Japan and it was amazing how little money I spent for how much I got and I want it to come to New Zealand. Did I mention how I am going to miss Amazon so much when I move back? But I feel so bad, so guilty, about my desire to consume.
How do I hold these things inside me? The love and distaste for the globalisation of goods. I don't know. I feel like everything I buy, I use well; I actually need it. Yes, I have way more clothes than I actually need, but that's me, my identity. I fuckin' love clothes. It's going to be difficult going back to having everything being expensive or unavailable, but it's also made me reflect on my attitudes towards consumerism. The New Zealand retail landscape is changing, in the face of growing environmental concerns and income inequality. And I don't think it's a good thing.
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