Shops Shops and Shopping

Shops

Shops and Shopping When we want to buy something, we must go to the shop where it is sold. In the shop window we see what is sold in the shop. Sugar, tea, coffee, salt, pepper, ham, bacon, and so on are sold at the grocer’s. Bread is sold at the baker’s, meat at the butcher’s. We go to the greengrocer’s for vegetables and fruit. We buy boots and shoes at the shoeshop. We buy books at the bookseller’s and jewelleryand watches at the jeweller’s.

The salesman or salesgirl stands behind the counter. We ask the salesman: “How much is this?” or “What is the price of that?” He tells us the price. He gives us the bill. At the cashdesk we give the money and the bill to the cashier, who gives us a check and our change.

Some shops have many departments. We can buy nearly everything we need there. They are called department stores. In some shops there are no salesmen, but only cashiers. The customers choose the goods they want and pay at the cashdesk. These are called self-service shops. If someone tries to take things from a shop without paying they are almost certain to be caught. Most shops have store detectives who have the job catching shoplifters. Shoplifting is considered a serious crime by the police.

Many people do their shopping at the market. There, farmers sell vegetables and fruit which they’ve grown themselves. They sell meat, milk and other things too.

The face of the towns and villages in Uzbekistan is changing. We see new houses, schools, cinemas and shops in every town. Shops are very important in our life. There are different kinds of shops. Some of them sell bread. Others have tea, sugar, coffee, butter, cheese, sausages, meat or fruit. When we want to buy something, we take our shopping bag and go to a shop. There we talk with shopkeepers who sell things.

I am a regular customer at one of the big Tashkent stores. My friend and I decided to do some shopping on Sunday morning. There are always many people at the department store. We enjoyed wandering from one department to another, looking at various articles on the counters. We spent a lot of time at ready-made clothes and bought a nice dress for me. My friend chose a pair of shoes and a blue scarf for herself.

Going shopping is a part of our everyday life. For some people it's a pleasant pastime while for others it's an everyday routine. Some people like doing shopping and they are happy if they can pick up a bargain in the sales, for others yawn while walking along the shelves in a shop. But whether you like shopping or not you have to do it because it's a necessity. I'd like to say that at present shopping has become more exciting than it used to be several decades ago. Today people do a lot of shopping or at least window-shopping every day, because all necessary facilities are provided for them. In large cities and even in small towns there are all kinds of shops and stores as well as supermarkets.

 Supermarkets are big self-service food shops (and not only food nowadays) where one can buy a lot of goods cheaper than at local grocer's. When people go to supermarkets or other large food stores they are often looking for bargains. By the way these shops are brightly lit and usually well laid out; pleasant music is always playing while you are walking along the shop. The goods are tidily arranged on trays and long endless shelves on which various prices are clearly marked. The shelves are well stocked with a wide selection of attractively packed goods. Everything from quick-frozen food to washing powder, from shoe-polish to new-laid eggs, from tinned fish to tooth paste can be bought there. All these things are displayed in such a way that people are often tempted to purchase things they don't need.