Albanian Report: The Albanian Consumer

One of the interesting things about Tirana is the number of high-end fashion and housewares shops. There are dozens in my neighborhood, and they all have tasteful and ever-changing window displays. I'm not much of a fashionista, but even I recognize many of the designers' names. There are also many perfume and fancy make-up shops filled with expensive potions imported from Italy, France and beyond. Truthfully, the shopping here is orders of magnitude more cosmopolitan than in Anchorage. But as I follow my daily route from home to the park (for my run), from home to office, then office to store, and to gym, and home again I wonder - who buys this stuff? I seldom see anyone go inside these places. To me, they seem so chic and sterile.

But there's another kind of retail here that I find much more interesting. I don't know how to describe it - it's kind of like copyright infringement but with a twist. I think these pictures will give you the idea.