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I'm an Aussie who's been living in the US for almost 3 years now and I'm amazed at how different the two cultures are, considering how similar they are :). I th
by MattF 17y ago
I'm an Aussie who's been living in the US for almost 3 years now and I'm amazed at how different the two cultures are, considering how similar they are :). I think the fashion chains have the name to survive, but it's the little things, like icecream and cookies, that will struggle. The preferred flavours and styles are just so different. For an intensely personal example, I haven't seen a Monte Carlo biscuit or anything like it for almost 3 years - I dream about the little buggers.
- weeksie 17y agoBingo, I can't believe that a US ice cream chain would have any chance of displacing any of the a-ma-zing local gelati shops. The Gap, Victoria's Secret, and Forever 21 will probably do just fine though. //edit: Oh yeah and how frickin' shocked was I to see Tim Tam's under the Pepperidge Farms label a while back. Or that they've started importing Darrel Leah licorice!
- MattF 17y agoI think my parents are keeping Australia Post in business with their Tim Tam "care" packages...
- froo 17y agoI do the same thing for a friend of mine in SF, I send him Tim Tams and Cherry Ripes quarterly! Chocolate smugglers ahoy!
- yosh 17y agoNot to impugn on your care packages, but if your friend wants such more often, there's a store in San Jose that sells them: http://www.aussieproducts.com/contactus.asp http://www.aussieproducts.com/contactus.asp (They do mostly mail order it seems, but they have a storefront in SJ)
- froo 17y agoOh, I know you can get timtams in the USA at several specialty stores, but its actually cheaper to just send them from Aus even when you factor in the high cost of shipping. To illustrate. A 200g block of Cadbury Dairy Milk costs $8.95 US from that store, or $10 Aus. The same chocolate costs $3 Aus from pretty much anywhere in Australia. When I ship a box of timtams at a time, the savings are considerable.
- weeksie 17y agoThat's fantastic. I'm still trying to get my books sent over after two years . . .
- dugmartin 17y agoI was in Sydney last April for a wedding and I got addicted to Fountain Sweet Chilli Sauce. I bought a bunch of bottles and I'm down to my last one. Import that.
- weeksie 17y agoYou can find sweet chili sauce at most Asian grocers in the states.
- Specstacular 17y agoThe fashion chains do face one pretty nasty issue - different seasons... do they offer Aussies 6 month old styles each spring/summer? ... or do they use Australia as the testing ground for the US. That issue is what has prevented H&M, Zara, Top Shop and many, many other European brands fast fashion chains from heading to Australia (one of very few Southern Hemisphere markets).
- weeksie 17y agoHasn't stopped American Apparel. Not to mention actual high fashion brands who arguably have more to worry about with seasonal differences in fashion. Then again, I'm no expert.
- detst 17y agoIs this really a concern for more than a very small fraction of the population? I can understand this concern for very high-end fashion but it just doesn't make any sense to me otherwise.