In Taiwan department stores are much different than in the states. In Taiwan a department store is more like a shopping mall in that it's a large building and it just rents out space to retailers. So the third floor might be athletic wear, but there are tiny areas for a small Nike store, and a small Addidas store, etc.
Since department store companies are basically just landlords, and don't have to worry so much about selling products, there is much less risk. Which means that there are many department stores. In fact the rule of thumb is that where there is one department store, there are three. Meaning one department store might be next to another one and across the street from another one.
To combat this competition, department store companies have become their own competition. Instead of having one building and letting competitors build other department stores around there, the original department store will just have three buildings next to each other. This stops other department stores from opening as apparently three department store buildings in an area is fine, but four would just be ludicrous.
This is where today's picture comes it. It is of the best, and maybe only, true Cinnamon bun in the city. it is found in a bakery chain that is only in department stores, and hospitals (more on that another day). A few weeks ago I was craving this bun so i went to one department store to get it. To my shock, the bakery was gone. I went to both buildings of the department store, and I couldn't find it. I went home in tears only to look it up on the internet and see that I was quite dumb. There wasn't two buildings, there were three, and of course the bakery was in the third building.
As for the title, my nose is really sensitive when it comes to perfume. In fact perfume can give me a bad headache. And the first floor of all department stores is makeup and perfume and with three buildings in an area, the smell of perfume coming out into the street is quite powerful. Which means for the most part I avoid areas which have department stores, even if it means I have to go the long way to get to where I need to go. It's a small price to pay to keep my nose happy.
