If you’ve ever walked into the beautiful boutique called Francesca’s, you know it’s the most enticing store in the mall. You’re welcomed with a large assortment of jewelry — mostly gold, which makes it even harder to walk past. Quite frankly I’ve never seen so many pretty and shiny things on one single table. This store has a way of being overwhelming, so after passing the massive jewelry collection you start to look through the massive amounts of clothes hanging on the walls, all of which are pristinely arranged according to color. Next comes the best table in the store: the trinket table. This is where all the little things you never knew you needed are located. Ranging from sparkly water bottles to bejeweled jewelry trays, you’re bound to find something you can’t live without. This section takes the most time, just because every single thing is fun to look at. A jewelry tray shaped like Indiana? Fascinating. A cat-shaped wallet? Charming. A glitter candle holder? Useful. You really do find the most interesting things here, and it takes a minimum of ten minutes to look through all of it before you decide you really don’t need any of it.
The worst part about the jewelry section is when it’s “buy one get one half off,” because once you find a necklace you absolutely need, you automatically feel compelled to find another for half the price. Truth is, you aren’t taking full advantage of the store if you don’t find another necklace to buy at half-price. It’s wasting a great opportunity that you will probably regret your entire life. The problem is, instead of finding one more necklace you find two more that you can’t live without, so now you have three you are certain you need. Walking out of the store, you’re now around $60 in the hole. How does that happen so fast? The jewelry is just too alluring. There is no possible way to walk out of Francesca’s with only one necklace — it cannot be done.
Another thing about it is there’s so few of everything. If you’re lucky, there will be two of the same necklace. This makes it hard to tell yourself that you can come back later and buy it (which never really happens but helps you with the will power to walk out of the store empty-handed). The added pressure makes it impossible to leave without buying it. Think about it this way: it’s actually an investment. Jewelry, particularly necklaces, have the power to transform an outfit. This means you can wear the same clothes more times and just switch out the necklace to give it a different look. So, in theory, by buying more necklaces, you are buying more outfits. It’s a great investment, and who doesn’t like new jewelry?
There’s no way you can go wrong at Francesca’s, so next time you buy one too many necklaces (or three), think about the money you are really saving instead of the money you are spending — you’ll be glad you picked up the third necklace.
