6 ms·

The problem at least for me, is that malls these days don't seem to have any of the types of stores I like to shop at. They don't have bookstores anymore. They

The problem at least for me, is that malls these days don't seem to have any of the types of stores I like to shop at. They don't have bookstores anymore. They don't have music stores anymore. They don't have computer software stores anymore. It's just one clothing store after another.

Arizhel 9y ago
Yeah, malls really don't cater to teenage boys any more, and technology has changed greatly. So all the stores left are ones where online shopping has a much harder time competing, and that's clothing, because you can't try on clothes that you buy online (you can buy them and return them, but that means paying for return shipping costs, or if the retailer covers that for you, it still means having to wait a lot for replacement stuff, or having to shell out a lot up-front to buy everything you want to try on). And of course, since modern men's clothing is so horribly dull and men just wear a t-shirt and jeans usually, that means the large majority of square footage in the mall is dedicated to women's clothing. Back to those stores that aren't at the mall: 1. Bookstores are still at the mall, but only some malls. It's called "Barnes & Noble". Lots of malls have them. But you don't see the small ones like Waldenbooks any more; they're all gone. People aren't reading books as much any more, and a lot of people who do buy e-books. 2. Not many people buy physical music any more. If they do, they get it on Amazon. Otherwise, everything is either MP3/AAC downloads or streaming music services. 3. No one buys software in a box any more; you just get it online. And a lot of application software has gone by the wayside, to be replaced with SaaS, web apps, etc.
- jdavis703 9y ago
  The fall of reading books has probably not been as dramatic as many people think: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/19/slightly-fewer-americans-are-reading-print-books-new-survey-finds/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/19/slightly-few.... I know modern society gets a lot of grief because everyone on the train and bus has their nose buried in their phones, but from what I see is there are still a lot of people reading print books, and even flipping through broadsheets.
  - fdsfsafasfdas 9y ago
    According to your link, since 2011 1 in 20 people has stopped reading altogether. That seems fairly dramatic to me.
  - Arizhel 9y ago
    Yeah, that's why I said "not as many"... I think there's a reduction, but it's not anywhere near a collapse. But more importantly, between Amazon, other online sellers (like Powell's), and e-books, this has lead to a big consolidation in brick-and-mortar bookstores, so there's only one national chain left (Barnes & Noble), plus some notable ones in certain localities (such as Strand in NYC, Powell's in Portland, etc.). But it's not like music where no one buys music at a local record store any more, except perhaps for some secondhand CD shops that may have survived near colleges. Or worse, software, where they just don't sell it in boxes any more AFAICT and everything is sold online.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- Chaebixi 9y ago
  > Bookstores are still at the mall, but only some malls. It's called "Barnes & Noble". Lots of malls have them. But you don't see the small ones like Waldenbooks any more; they're all gone. I've noticed that Barnes & Noble is downsizing some of their mall stores. There used to be a nice 2-level one with tons of selection at an upscale mall near me. They closed it and replaced it with one with maybe 1/3 of the floor-space in a different location.
problems 9y ago
So maybe that's true of books, music and computer software - but those things are often best experienced digitally anyways, many people consume them solely as digital goods. But when I need clothes, car parts, electronic components, computer parts, any physical product with a non-zero chance of failure or an immediate desire really - knowing I can try something on or walk in 10 minutes later and return something and get it replaced on the spot is a killer feature - one that online shopping cannot replace. I'd go so far as to argue that real stores are always better than online stores - online stores can only win on price and selection. For every other metric around, delivery time, replacement effort, ability to compare and to try, there's just no replacement.
- deleted 9y ago
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- xyzzyz 9y ago
  For every other metric around, delivery time, replacement effort, ability to compare and to try, there's just no replacement. For me, very often the delivery time is less important than time spent shopping. If you want/need something, but not immediately, it is much less effort to click "Buy" on Amazon, and get the item in 2 days, than to spend an hour on driving to the store, walking around to find whatever item you want, waiting in line to make a purchase, and then driving back.
  - Unkechaug 9y ago
    Agreed! There are very few things I need immediately, and to be honest by the time I have enough time to make a trip over to a mall I could have ordered and it would have been delivered already.
- jamesrcole 9y ago
  > But when I need clothes, car parts, electronic components, computer parts, any physical product with a non-zero chance of failure or an immediate desire really - knowing I can try something on or walk in 10 minutes later and return something and get it replaced on the spot is a killer feature - one that online shopping cannot replace For most people, getting ready to go out, getting to the mall, parking, walking to the store, browsing, buying, then getting home - the total amount of time required for that is way more than ten or twenty minutes. Re "non-zero chance of failure", that doesnt mean that there's necessarily much of a chance of failure, so plenty of these are fine to get online
blacksmith_tb 9y ago
I don't buy a lot of clothes, but I can understand why people want to physically handle and try them on, as buying them sight unseen online often necessitates returning them.
throwaway32134 9y ago
The stores in malls have always struck me as too mainstream. I n contrast I like lurking in local book/cycle stores that stock old/used stuff. Goodwill is interesting too; you have no idea what you'll find :D

Arizhel 9y ago

Yeah, malls really don't cater to teenage boys any more, and technology has changed greatly. So all the stores left are ones where online shopping has a much harder time competing, and that's clothing, because you can't try on clothes that you buy online (you can buy them and return them, but that means paying for return shipping costs, or if the retailer covers that for you, it still means having to wait a lot for replacement stuff, or having to shell out a lot up-front to buy everything you want to try on). And of course, since modern men's clothing is so horribly dull and men just wear a t-shirt and jeans usually, that means the large majority of square footage in the mall is dedicated to women's clothing. Back to those stores that aren't at the mall: 1. Bookstores are still at the mall, but only some malls. It's called "Barnes & Noble". Lots of malls have them. But you don't see the small ones like Waldenbooks any more; they're all gone. People aren't reading books as much any more, and a lot of people who do buy e-books. 2. Not many people buy physical music any more. If they do, they get it on Amazon. Otherwise, everything is either MP3/AAC downloads or streaming music services. 3. No one buys software in a box any more; you just get it online. And a lot of application software has gone by the wayside, to be replaced with SaaS, web apps, etc.

jdavis703 9y ago
The fall of reading books has probably not been as dramatic as many people think: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/19/slightly-fewer-americans-are-reading-print-books-new-survey-finds/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/19/slightly-few.... I know modern society gets a lot of grief because everyone on the train and bus has their nose buried in their phones, but from what I see is there are still a lot of people reading print books, and even flipping through broadsheets.
- fdsfsafasfdas 9y ago
  According to your link, since 2011 1 in 20 people has stopped reading altogether. That seems fairly dramatic to me.
- Arizhel 9y ago
  Yeah, that's why I said "not as many"... I think there's a reduction, but it's not anywhere near a collapse. But more importantly, between Amazon, other online sellers (like Powell's), and e-books, this has lead to a big consolidation in brick-and-mortar bookstores, so there's only one national chain left (Barnes & Noble), plus some notable ones in certain localities (such as Strand in NYC, Powell's in Portland, etc.). But it's not like music where no one buys music at a local record store any more, except perhaps for some secondhand CD shops that may have survived near colleges. Or worse, software, where they just don't sell it in boxes any more AFAICT and everything is sold online.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Chaebixi 9y ago
> Bookstores are still at the mall, but only some malls. It's called "Barnes & Noble". Lots of malls have them. But you don't see the small ones like Waldenbooks any more; they're all gone. I've noticed that Barnes & Noble is downsizing some of their mall stores. There used to be a nice 2-level one with tons of selection at an upscale mall near me. They closed it and replaced it with one with maybe 1/3 of the floor-space in a different location.

problems 9y ago

So maybe that's true of books, music and computer software - but those things are often best experienced digitally anyways, many people consume them solely as digital goods. But when I need clothes, car parts, electronic components, computer parts, any physical product with a non-zero chance of failure or an immediate desire really - knowing I can try something on or walk in 10 minutes later and return something and get it replaced on the spot is a killer feature - one that online shopping cannot replace. I'd go so far as to argue that real stores are always better than online stores - online stores can only win on price and selection. For every other metric around, delivery time, replacement effort, ability to compare and to try, there's just no replacement.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
xyzzyz 9y ago
For every other metric around, delivery time, replacement effort, ability to compare and to try, there's just no replacement. For me, very often the delivery time is less important than time spent shopping. If you want/need something, but not immediately, it is much less effort to click "Buy" on Amazon, and get the item in 2 days, than to spend an hour on driving to the store, walking around to find whatever item you want, waiting in line to make a purchase, and then driving back.
- Unkechaug 9y ago
  Agreed! There are very few things I need immediately, and to be honest by the time I have enough time to make a trip over to a mall I could have ordered and it would have been delivered already.
jamesrcole 9y ago
> But when I need clothes, car parts, electronic components, computer parts, any physical product with a non-zero chance of failure or an immediate desire really - knowing I can try something on or walk in 10 minutes later and return something and get it replaced on the spot is a killer feature - one that online shopping cannot replace For most people, getting ready to go out, getting to the mall, parking, walking to the store, browsing, buying, then getting home - the total amount of time required for that is way more than ten or twenty minutes. Re "non-zero chance of failure", that doesnt mean that there's necessarily much of a chance of failure, so plenty of these are fine to get online

blacksmith_tb 9y ago

I don't buy a lot of clothes, but I can understand why people want to physically handle and try them on, as buying them sight unseen online often necessitates returning them.

throwaway32134 9y ago

The stores in malls have always struck me as too mainstream. I n contrast I like lurking in local book/cycle stores that stock old/used stuff. Goodwill is interesting too; you have no idea what you'll find :D