3AM MAGAZINE

If you could get enough people to do it, it could be extended to everything. If everyone in London took it upon themselves to map the price, availability, storage conditions of a different consumer product, and if each person then spent £200 on developing an app, no one would ever be able to rip anyone else off.

I was interviewed for 3am Magazine.

NEW YORK CITY BOY: PART FOUR

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Like most people who go to New York, I took the opportunity to go shopping. Before I went, I looked online and found out all about the very best shops. I wrote down the addresses in my notebook. I marked the locations on my map. I planned my route. There was something specific I wanted to buy. Cadbury’s Twirls.

I found three shops I thought were likely to sell Twirls, but was only successful in two of them. You can insert your own Meat Loaf joke here if you wish.

CARRY ON TEA & SYMPATHY

Carry On Tea & Sympathy
108 Greenwich Avenue
New York, NY 10011

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: $1.75
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This small store is next to a small cafe/restaurant which sells traditional English food. The store itself is in the style of those old fashioned grocery stores which probably don’t actually exist in England any more:

Quite expensive ($1.75 is about £1.15, which is the most I have ever spent on a Twirl) although it is the first time I have ever bought a Twirl overseas, so that’s quite exciting.

MYERS OF KESWICK

Myers of Keswick
634 Hudson Street
(between Horatio and Jane St.)
New York, NY 10014

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Don’t sell
TWIRL STORAGE: N/A
TWIRL PRICE: N/A
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I had high hopes for this store. As I walked in I saw a big display of Walkers crisps and then on top of the counter, a row of glass jars containing Cadbury’s Buttons and Aeros. On another counter, they had Time Outs and Twixes.

I looked around, hopeful. I couldn’t see any Twirls. I asked the woman behind the counter if they sold Cadbury’s Twirls. She shook her head. I managed to hold back the tears until I was out of the shop and at least a block away.

ECONOMY CANDY

Economy Candy
108 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: $1.49
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: A fantastic little shop selling all kinds of candy and sweets and chocolate and god knows what else. Long queues as it’s such a popular store. The woman in front of me complained to her friend that she wasn’t feeling well, although I don’t think this was anything to do with the shop itself.

109 PC SEWING KIT

Most mornings, on my way into work, I pop into Crispins Food & Wine (where Twirls used to cost 65p but now cost 69p) to buy a croissant (49p). I eat this at my desk with a cup of tea (or, if the weather is hot as it has been for the last few days, a glass of cold water).

As well as croissants and Cadbury’s Twirls, Crispins stocks the same sort of stuff you’d expect to find in any convenience store – soft drinks, crisps, bread, milk, and 109 piece sewing kits.

I could imagine someone in central London finding a button has come loose on a jacket or something and deciding to pop into a shop to buy a needle and thread to reattach it. I can imagine realising the button has come off entirely and needing not only a needle and thread, but also a replacement button. A one hundred and nine piece sewing kit seems a bit excessive though.

It looks like it’s been there quite a long time without anyone buying it. Maybe one day someone will see it and decide it’s exactly what they need.

The sewing kit is £3.99, which works out at a reasonable 3.66p per piece.

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