Shopping for a Waxed Jacket

A lot of things I buy these days I buy online. Usually from Amazon. My wife and I have a prime membership, so our purchases tend to arrive the next day, even at weekends. Prices are always competitive (apart from the people using Amazon to rip you off). It’s very easy to send things back to them.

Somethings are very easy to buy, like books, maps and kitchen tools. We even buy our coffee and chocolate online, it’s much cheaper than the supermarket.

Even expensive things can be easy to buy. Last year I bought a Microsoft Surface Pro and an expensive Panasonic camera. They were easy to research (through you need to take great care over which review websites you use); I was pretty certain I would get what I wanted; and I did.

Sometimes, online shopping just doesn’t work, you really need to see what you’re buying. This is getting increasingly difficult. Companies seem to be cutting down on the stock in their shops, expecting us to buy online more.

Earlier this year my wife was looking at a (I repeat a, as in just one) leather jacket in Marks & Spencer’s just off the M62 near Warrington. She fancied one and spoke to an assistant. Who said they could get a few delivered overnight for her to try on next day, but they only ever have one in store. Problem, the store is around 40 miles from where we live. If they had sufficient stock in store, there’s a fair chance she would have bought one. The store is massive, one of their biggest in the country.

This year I need a new winter coat, and I fancy a waxed jacked. I had one twenty or so years ago and I loved it (it lasted ages but eventually fell apart, it was not a Barbour). I could have bought one online from amazon, as it’s easy to send things back. But the big problem is that I might need to send several back before I get what I want.

I was not prepared to buy an expensive waxed jacket without seeing it first and trying it on. I needed a shop, a large one with a decent choice.

I was having trouble finding shops stocking them. Barbour have their own stores in Manchester and Leeds, so I thought I would have to go one of them. Until we decided to go to Newcastle. Their factory is in South Shields, where there is an outlet store. So, we went to it on the way home. It was full of jackets, with lots on offer. I secured a £299 jacket for £199, it’s photographed above.

Before we went to the shop, we went to Marks & Spencer and John Lewis in Newcastle city centre, not many coats stocked in these shops. Virtually none were suitable for me.

A Fleece

I also want a new fleece, I know what I want, and I’ve been looking for around a year now, unsuccessfully. I’m prepared to pay good money for one. Some time ago we were in Ilkley. There were three shops there selling outdoor clothing. None of them had one I fancied. One was a store for a big chain specialising in outdoor clothes. Their website had suitable fleeces, their shop just didn’t.

A Backpack

And I want one of these, I’ve been looking for around a year now! It needs to carry my surface pro, camera, a couple of maps, a paperback, possibly a flash gun for the camera and other odds and ends. It would be nice to be able to attach my tripod to it. I need to see what I am buying and check I can fit everything in. The John Lewis website has loads and loads of backpacks. Their shop in Newcastle had just eight!

A Fountain Pen

I wanted one of these for scribbling notes and I wanted to speak to a human to get proper advice about buying it. I asked my friend John about possible shops in Liverpool, he named four or five (I knew them all), all now gone. I guess very few people use fountain pens these days.

I wanted a fountain pen because I chew pencils and biros to death. Talking it over with my wife, I realised I needed a Staedtler propelling pencil (which have metal at the top to stop me chewing it). These are easy to buy online.