My first dealing with The Container Store was in San Antonio Texas in 1982. They were new to the market and there were billboards everywhere proclaiming, "CONTAIN YOURSELF". That's all they said. Speculation was wild in the city as to what exactly what the billboards meant. The Container Store was brand new at the time. Maybe they use the same tactic to this day - I don't know. "CONTAIN YOURSELF". What on Earth could it mean? This billboard onslaught went on for weeks. No one had any real idea what they could be advertising. Then one day, it was revealed at the bottom of the billboards in small letters. "The Container Store coming soon." What was a "Container Store?" The whole population of 1.5 million HAD to find out. We streamed mindlessly into the stores to discover it was simply a store featuring nothing but CONTAINERS. I felt ripped off. How was I to be excited about containers? Sure, I have things that need to be contained - who doesn't? But, there are plenty of places to get containers. Boxes, tubes, plastic, paper, things with drawers, things with lids. ZZZZZZZ. I am an idiot.
Every woman I've spoken with in the 20 plus years since, LOVES THE CONTAINER STORE. Women can shop for hours in these places. There is something deeply psychological about how women react to containers. Is it a woman's need to control things? Is it a quest to keep their things from losing control? That's what containers do - they contain things. In a woman's mind these containers contain "situations". They control out of control objects. WOMEN DIG THIS. The minds behind The Container Store are genius'. The stores are packed with women everyday - putting their lives in place with containers. Whitney Houston coined the term, "Exhale". That's what women do when their possessions are "contained." Containers are a girl-drug - plain & simple - and now my daughter is being dragged into the "container lifestyle." But, she wasn't dragged - she skipped in, probably whistling a happy tune - unaware of the narcotic effect of containers.
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3 comments:
Just so you know: The tune I was whistling was "Sweet Caroline".
And two: I can't believe I fell right into the hole of Container Store obsession...
I was trying to explain to Nick my fascination with the Container Store. He just didn't get it. I told him, "It's just nice not to have to worry about the things I put into these containers flying around during a tornado. All you have to worry about is the container flying around the tornado. And more than likely, when the winds finally settle, the container will land upside down in a field and my possessions will be tucked safely inside. That's all I need to here. Oh - look at this one over here - I'm also impressed that they make containers of every size. Like this - I don't have anything that I actually NEED this for, but I have the urge to throw it in my cart simply because I like how small it is."
P.S. I ended up buying the cute little box.
You described me to a tee. I feel violated. I'm heading to the CS right now.
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