3 ms·
The UAE is similar in that malls are very organized and controlled. A typical mall would have a food court, a large arcade for kids, a daycare (or two), pharma
by Cyph0n 9y ago
The UAE is similar in that malls are very organized and controlled.
A typical mall would have a food court, a large arcade for kids, a daycare (or two), pharmacies, coffee shops, a book store, a furniture store, and so on. Also, unlike from what I've seen here in the US, any decent mall must contain a large supermarket (usually Carrefour). Malls in the UAE are therefore a "one stop shop" that people go to every week to buy groceries and household supplies.
Given how hot it can get over there, it makes absolute sense to have everything in one, air conditioned building.
- jsight 9y agoIn the US, that market has been taken over by Walmart. It is effectively the "one stop shop" that people visit weekly for everything from groceries to small furniture. Now that I think about it, I wonder if Walmart has had almost as much of a negative impact on malls as Amazon and its ilk have.
- nihonde 9y agoA compare/contrast between Aeon and Walmart would be fascinating. I've literally never seen the inside of a Walmart, so I'm not qualified.
- woolvalley 9y agoIf you have been in a Target, then it's that but more run down. In Canada Walmart is equivalent to USA's Target quality wise. There is also zellers & kmart.
- Cyph0n 9y agoAn average Walmart is nothing like the malls I'm talking about. Heck, Carrefour itself already provides everything Walmart does, minus maybe the Walmart money and vision centers. Imagine putting a Walmart inside of an average US mall. Now crank up the number of stores and activities to 11. That's how major malls in the UAE are like.
- jsight 9y agoI wasn't meaning to imply that Walmart is "good", just that it would tend to suck the life out of similar ventures in the US. Its sort of like how Lowes and Home Depot effectively put Sears onto its last legs. It isn't exactly that one is a substitute for the other, but one managed to effectively destroy the highest grossing businesses of the other. Also, I've been in a mall in the US that effectively had a Walmart as an anchor. It was "interesting" and strangely it probably contributed to that mall's competitiveness in the area.