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.
Tag Archives: london twirls
NEW YORK CITY BOY: PART FOUR
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.
LONDON TWIRLS
Video of a talk I gave at Ignite London last week about the London Twirls Project:
