department stores are always awful spaces to be in, BUT, there IS something that changes a bit during the madness of the holiday rush, like the mania of our commodity/consumer culture reveals itself in a particularly fascinating way... the emphasis on the DISPLAY takes on new urgency and obsession during december. I had kind of a great time just people watching as i tagged along behind my brother who was looking for a necklace for his gf. Call it a sick fascination, but i actually like being in the thick of the spectacle for the holidays... so, even though i bought nothing, i did have kind of a fun 25 minutes skulking around the multi-level store.\n\nI will also add, that this particular Bay has the most enormous and endless perfume section I've even experienced... each of the aisles in the near-infinite procession of stocked smells is equally attended by some charming model-esque figure who is only too eager to spritz some Cher-endorsed stink in your face... hellish yet hypnotic!