What was that about the recession? I made the mistake of venturing into the Eaton Centre yesterday only to be confronted by holiday shopping madness. The Apple Store was completely jammed but it was nothing compared to the line-ups at Indigo. For the privilege of buying a book at full price (they'll be discounted next week plus they're always 30% off online), shoppers had formed a line snaking through the store that staffers were re-assuring would only take about 15 minutes.

Seriously, this line was something like 120 people deep. I counted. To buy books. Toronto is not exactly devoid of bookstore options. I happened to go by Type on the Danforth later in the day and I was the only customer.

Elsewhere, Blacks on the floor below was promising no quicker than 2 hours for their 1 hour photo development service. I guess that was at least better than West Camera who told me they were too busy to even offer the service on the day I called.

Do you have a crazy retail experience of your own to share? If so, please add it to the comments below.