Contrasts.

This is Tiffany’s in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. It is at the very top of the retail food chain as regards location and inventory. Their heavy stainless steel gates leave you in no doubt as to the value of the contents within.

Tiffany’s. You will need a vault for anything you buy here.
Click the image for the map.

Second only in sales per square foot to Apple, Tiffany’s is an enduring success story, selling things no one needs to people who need nothing yet will pay a 100% premium for a duck egg blue box. The secure and established selling to the insecure and transient. It was around before Apple was created and will probably be around after Apple is done.

Contrast this image with that of Texi’s Joyeria in the poorest area of San Francisco’s Mission District, snapped the other day. There are also security precautions, the display windows have just as little to show and there is equal pride in the contents. The focus is at the other end of the demographic spectrum, however.

Tiffany’s has never shied away from raw arrogance in its window displays. The windows are small, very small, the glass is massive, and the display makes the point that small and expensive are good. The Tiffany’s window is maybe 14″ x 22″. Texi’s is 36″ x 48″.

If you cannot afford the box, you cannot afford the contents.