If you squint when you look at this photo, can you see that business called Skinnidip?
Until very recently that was a Swatch store.
Swatch? Remember? Those trendy watches that were huge about 100 years ago when I was in college? Yeah, they are still around. And they have actual stores. Or at least they had a store in Downtown Portland. If you put it in a search engine the Portland store will still come up.
Every single time I walked by that store I made some sort of mocking remark about “Seriously, Swatch?” “Can you believe there’s still a Swatch store?” and “Who has a Swatch?”
Then, seemingly overnight, it was replaced by some sort of trendy frozen yogurt place with long lines out the door.
I reacted as you might guess. “OMG! What happened to the Swatch store? Where will we get our Swatches now?”
I really miss that store.
I liked Swatch. I owned a transparent one when I was a kid. That was the only one, though. I resented that they were usually the same price, no matter how big or small they were. And $30 is a lot for a watch that you can buy for $10 anywhere else. Still, they were stylish.
Um, so, I am all for nostalgia, but I want to go to that yogurt place when I come visit….
Also, I have a limited-edition Swatch from the Olympics. It’s pink.
I had at least two or three Swatches in my life. I had the brightly colored rubber protector things across the face of it — to protect it, supposedly, but all it did was make it difficult to see what time it was. I’m sorry you’ve lost your Swatch store. Stupid yogurt.
I love your take on things.
Now you’ve got me all, “A Swatch store? There was actually still a Swatch store around?” Then: “Why did they close the Swatch store. That seems a little harsh.”
Don’t worry about Swatch. There are Swatch stores all over Switzerland and I saw them in London, too. Or at least I think I did. Saw a lot of things and they all tend to run together.