Shop Talk: Without trinkets, how would we remember allthe good times?

So the big news last week was that the Yakima SunDome will host "Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular" in April.

To psych myself for the show, I logged on to the event's Web site and looked at all the different things they sold to market the event. How about dino slippers? Or a dino-tail belt? And, of course, the commemorative T-shirt.

I have a confession to make -- I am an event souvenir shopaholic.

In most cases, I would never even think about walking into any store and spending $20 bucks on a T-shirt. But the inhibitions I have when I buy clothes suddenly go away when I'm listening to my favorite band play live.

At that point I'm thinking, "I've got to mark this memory." Sure, I've taken a bunch of pictures. I have the ticket stub. I will likely get an autograph from the band members. I'm going to replay my favorite moments in my head.

But the only thing that means anything to me at that moment is getting the event T-shirt.

And I go and buy one. For $40.

But at least I can wear a T-shirt.

The poster from the awesome photography exhibit at the Vancouver Art Museum I visited nearly two years ago is still rolled up. I can't even remember the last time I've looked at that $10 program I bought in London when I went to see "Les Misérables" after my freshman year of college.

And those "vintage" Revolutionary War coins that I "had to buy" when I visited Valley Forge National Historical Park for a school trip in the fourth grade? Honestly, I just remembered I did that as I was writing this column.

I should know better. I know that that T-shirt I bought at the last rock concert I went to is pure profit for event organizers as it probably cost $3 to make.

But it's so easy to leave me all alone with the memory.

I think I just quoted from the musical "Cats." I better check my commemorative program.

Here are some other newsworthy items that happened last week -- and they have nothing to do with dinosaurs:

* Have you purchased your converter box or a new flat-screen television yet? If you haven't, you will have fewer shows to watch Tuesday. KNDO-TV, the local NBC affiliate, and KAPP-TV, the ABC affiliate, will convert to a digital signal Tuesday, despite the new June 12 deadline set by Congress. KCYU-TV, the Fox affiliate, made the switch in December. KIMA-TV, the CBS affiliate, and KYVE-TV, the PBS station, will keep the old analog signal until the new deadline.

* Retail sales increased 1 percent in January from the month before, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce. But it's unlikely to be a recovery -- the boost likely was caused by post-holiday discounts too low for consumers to resist. When compared to the same month in 2008, sales actually declined by 9.7 percent.

Can't wait until next week's column? Check out the Shop Talk blog (www.yakimaherald.com/shoptalk) for a daily dose of restaurant and retail news and trends.

Until next week, happy (memorabilia) shopping.

* Mai Hoang's Reporter's Notebook is published each Monday in the Business section. She can be reached at 577-7685 or mhoang@yakimaherald.com.