Not a store I really patronize, and I'm not entirely comfortable awarding a 5-star rating based on…read moremy 1 transaction, but...realistically...I went in for something, came out with that something, still had money (well..some money...) in my pocket, and so...why not 5 stars?
I'm not entirely unfamiliar with this place. My birth mother has liked shopping at Home Goods (not this 1; she lives in Bergen County) and my old friend has occasionally shopped at Home Goods (this 1; he lives locally) with me tagging along as a vaguely interested spectator. The Valley Mall Shopping Center is one I come to rarely now, but I do have something of a history with it. Back in the day, I bought donuts at the Dunkin Donuts (open 24 hours), shopped nocturnally at Pathmark when that existed, then at Kings diurnally when that existed. There was also a book chain store (the name escapes me now, but it wasn't Borders and it wasn't Barnes & Noble) that I shopped in occasionally. Now they're gone (except for the Dunkin), and the parking lot seemed very empty to me when I pulled in. Empty stores, largely empty parking lot. Maybe it was the time of day. Thankfully, the Home Goods seemed to be thriving.
What brought me here by myself? Well, I haven't had a lot of luck with tea kettles. One I bought at Wal Mart lasted for a few years. The most recent one I bought on Amazon crapped out after a year or 2 of use. Given my coffee addiction and my Luddite-like insistence on not buying a Keurig, a functioning, old-fashioned, whistling tea kettle is indispensable to me. I didn't feel like venturing out to Wal Mart, or ordering again from Amazon, so Home Goods came to mind. Close to where I live, and I've always liked the vibe when I walked around it occasionally with my old friend (in Gillette) or with my birth mother (in north Jersey).
So... here I came a few days ago. I hadn't previously realized just how crammed with stuff Home Goods actually is. I asked a salesclerk where tea kettles were, and she pointed me in the right direction. Still, I couldn't find one and asked another salesclerk, busy stocking shelves, where they were. She pointed out 2 on a nearby shelf. I found a Chantal-brand aqua-green colored one (enamel on steel) and asked her how much it cost. A little less friendly this time, she pointed to the bottom of the tea kettle. I half imagined her saying to herself, "I'm busy shocking shelves for not much money, and now I have to answer this dope's questions? What next? How to brew his tea? Should he drink green tea or Chai? How many cups of coffee a day are too many? Does he want me to hold his hand and walk him with it up to the check-out counter?"
(Such ruminations led me to remember an incident from decades ago when I was working in Piscataway. There was a crotchety middle-aged janitor there with sparse red hair and even fewer teeth. The boss walked past him and absently asked, "What's going on, Mike?" When he had passed, Mike turned to me with an angry look on his ugly, grizzled mug, and remarked, "Y'know, pal, that really pisses me off! I push a bucket around for a living; what do I know about what's going on? He's either mocking me when he asks me that, or he's even dumber than I am!" It was a rare memory that actually made me laugh instead of depressing me...Anyway, back on topic...)
Actually, I'm pretty sure the salesclerk was thinking to herself more along the lines of, "OK, I get off in 5 hours...what am I having for dinner? Frozen fish sticks and peas? Yeah...washed down with a bottle or 2...or a few...of beer. Another exciting night, after another exciting day! What a life!" Or maybe she was thinking of something completely different. Or thinking of nothing at all beyond doing her job.
I took the tea kettle to the check-out counter, where you line up and then approach the cashier after your number is flashed onto a screen above whichever cash register has opened. The line wasn't at all long, and service was prompt and friendly. When I started to walk out with the tea kettle in my hand, the cashier gave me a paper bag to carry it out in without my asking. It was a small paper bag, but it served its purpose.
They also had a Halloween display out, something I always pay attention to (not that I'm immature, necessarily; it just means my "inner child" still exists down there somewhere in the detritus of the passing years and decades). I briefly considered buying a snow globe that had 1 skeleton proposing marriage to another skeleton, then realized I still had to fill my car's tank with gas and purchase some groceries. I guess that signifies...maturity?
Plentiful parking, and... given that the store is located towards the end of the shopping center by the exit...easy egress.
I don't necessarily see myself as a regular patron (hopefully my tea kettle will continue to function beyond a year or 2), but for your basic household needs...based on my admittedly limited experience...Home Goods is highly recommended.
