Liverpool Store in Merida Yucatan

Liverpool Opens in Merida!

Store inaugurates with small selection of brands, Sanborn's-style sweet shop, and an attractive array of just what Merida needed... More Speed Bumps!

By Yours Truly

The much awaited opening of Merida's newest department store has finally happened! Those intrepid waches, looking down from their superior Mexico City pedestal on the wild untamed lands around them, fixed their commercial gaze on this newly appointed Cultural Capital of the Americas and decided that the time was right for Liverpool to open a fancy store in this apparent backwater that had no previous outlet for all that discretionary income.
Location, location, location
Located on the same stretch of road as Cordemex (the former sisal manufacturing plant), Cordemex (the popular residential area), Carrefour the giant supermarket and the Siglo XXI Convention Center, this newest commercial monster threatens to further strain the already haphazard traffic flow along the 4 lane artery littered with useless pedestrian speed bumps. Speaking of traffic flow, here's a big fat razzberry to those who decided in their infinite wisdom to install not one, not two but THREE (Yes THREE!!!) new speed bumps where there were already TWO before. The topes, as they are known here, were installed before any kind of signs warning of their existence were placed alongside them, resulting in much tire screeching and suspension battering. Even if you lost your spinal column, Mexican law is such that you would be unable to sue anyone, although the 'engineers' who planned this particular assault on our vehicles certainly deserve a lawsuit and then some.
Even before I visited the store, Liverpool already had several points against them thanks to their topes.
As you approach Liverpool in your car, you will notice about fifteen (OK I'm exaggerating somewhat) signs in blue telling you, stupid driver and potential visitor to the store, that Liverpool is on your left if you're coming from Merida, and the same number of signs on the other side telling you that Liverpool is on your right if you're coming in from Progreso or Dzitya. Do they really think that we are so ignorant and/or blind that we will not find their huge store? Are they afraid that the Cordemex building will confuse us? Are they afraid we'll buzz by so fast that we'll actually MISS IT? We WON'T miss it, thanks very much to the 5 damn topes we now have to slowly crawl over, thus ensuring we won't miss a thing.
The Store
The store itself, in case you are not familiar with the Liverpool concept, is a nicely appointed newer version of Sears, which we already know as severely customer-service challenged and priced through the roof. It is kind of a poor mans Burdines, since it lacks the selection and variety of brands, or the now-bankrupt Eaton's in Canada.
You have your clothing sections, your toys, your framed pictures, lamps, furniture (finally something a little better looking than those 1971 plasticky throwbacks that Sears still offers at the turn of the century. I know, my friend La X'tabay will argue that the turn of the century is not till 2001, but the furniture is still right out of That 70's Show. It's the kind of furniture you could imagine being announced on TV by that horrendous actress Christian Bach, bastion of blond beauty for many Mexicans but in reality about as sensual with her tiny lips as a slice of Venezuelan beaver cheese.
Prices are through the roof, so be prepared to leave a limb or two in exchange for your purchase. You've got to pay through the nose to get your paws on that coveted Liverpool bag. If you thought Sears was expensive, and it definitely is, then don't even consider buying anything at Liverpool. But if you are worried about how much you pay for things, perhaps Liverpool is not for you anyway. Liverpool is a status symbol, shopping "en el Liver" indicates to the world and your own ego that you are indeed someone special and important.
The Customers
The first people there, were, surprisingly or not, depending on your knowledge of Yucatecan culture regarding newly-opened business establishments, were not the expected waches, who should be breathing signs of relief that their beloved Liverpool is now here to satisfy their longings for things the way they were back in el D.F.. No, the first people in the door and waiting one hour (lining up for god's sake, how embarrassing) prior to the initial opening were curious Yucatecans. To admire the store and the merchandise, satisfy their curiosity, to criticize; all are valid reasons for Yucatecans to be the first in line at any store's opening and Liverpool was no exception.
The waches, meanwhile, when you ask them if they've been to Liverpool, reply disdainfully, "I've been to the one in Cancun and Mexico City already, I KNOW what Liverpool looks like". And they say it as if anyone who has gone to the Liverpool before the trendiness has passed is a complete naco, completely UN-cosmopolitan and so tacky (although secretly they're dying to go and breath a little wach culture themselves).
A few notes on the name itself
Liverpool, the name, probably refers to the once bustling port of Liverpool in England where a certain group of somewhat influential rock stars first made their debut. But I'm guessing. I tried to research it but a search on the internet using Webcrawler turned up nothing remotely related to the store so we can assume they have no catchy tags in their HTML documents to warn search bots that their site exists. Sorry for the technobabble, I got carried away.
Locally, the name should not be pronounced Liver POOL like "piscina en ingles", but rather, following the Mayan pronunciation of Pool (which is an actual Mayan surname) in two parts Po and then Ol, with the O sounding like the O in "old". It's kind of hard to put in writing, but ask a local and he or she can fill you in.
And what about that Plaza Civica?
Merida's municipality had given itself a visual pat on the back by making a cute little public plaza featuring a huge Mexican flag and about 3 small palm trees and a handful of park benches. This was/is located on land between the Rainbow trailer park and the Liverpool property. What does it look like now? It's surrounded by Liverpool access roads, has no benches, no trees and is the most pitiful plaza civica ever. Even the flag is RIPPED, giving the entire thing a truly abandoned feel. Shame on the municipality. Boo, hiss.
My very own personal and completely biased opinion
Personally, Liverpool is nice, but nothing spectacular really. It's a combination of Gran Chapur, Sears and Sanborns all rolled into one with a mini-VIPS thrown in to cover all the bases. The view from the cafeteria is nice by the way, and, although it overlooks the popular Cordemex barrio, it's still nice to have some kind of view while enjoying a cup of coffee, which this writer has yet to try.
Perhaps I will send an email to the Casual Restaurant Critic and she will give the Liverpool cafeteria the once-over with a little more detail.
Go and visit the store, walk around and talk to some of the salespeople. They are, for the most part, friendly and much less piranha-like than those mafiosos working at Sears that follow you around like street dogs in search of a scrap of something to eat. Like the street dogs, they won't go away until you threaten to kick them. The only truly clue less salesperson we found at Liverpool was apparently the last employee to be hired, the result of the proverbial scraping of the barrel - a real Sears refugee - who was working in the sheets and bedspreads department. The actual dialogue went like this:
"Could you tell us the price of that bedspread that's up there?" pointing to a packaged bundle on the top shelf of the display.
"No lo se... como está muy alto..." was her less-than-enthusiastic reply.
Other than that, service was for the most part, quite good. We'll have to give them a month, when the supervisors are back in Mexico City and visit them again to see how much the service has declined.
Liverpool obviously feels that Merida has potential as a market for their upscale, expensive store, since they wouldn't have made the investment in time or money to open this giant thing. NotTheNews humbly wonders what this opening will do for the planned Chapur, another superstore along exactly the same lines, coming soon to a Hong Kong kind of neighborhood near you!