8 ms·
"Has become a mall society" - And the US has spent the last 30 years abandoning or malls. When I was a teenager it was definitely the place to hang out on week
by smoyer 5y ago
"Has become a mall society" - And the US has spent the last 30 years abandoning or malls. When I was a teenager it was definitely the place to hang out on weekends!
- kizer 5y agoThe mall in my town is 75% empty, and frequented mostly by older "mall walkers" such as my father, who does four laps a day. Was still cool when I was in high school (circa 2012). I have no idea how they're still open even after COVID. Dave & Buster's was supposed to open a location there but that fell through.
- smoyer 5y agoOurs seems to be staying open because of a planet fitness that took over a large section. Macys, Penney's, Seats and BonTon were the anchor stores. It's likely a casino will take over half the building.
- kizer 5y agoYou know... I think our's has a planet fitness as well! But same; Macy's, JC Penney, Old Navy, MC Sports, GameStop, Sears -- all gone. Only Kohl's remains.
- smoyer 5y agoWe have a standalone Kohls and Target at the other end of town. The Wal-Mart and Sam's club across the street from the mall are the only thriving businesses.
- tartoran 5y agoYikes, a casino? That sounds like a really bad thing for the community. I thought casinos need special permissions to operate and should not be too easily accessible by the “vulnerable”.
- zer0-c00l 5y agoNo, casinos are not necessarily bad for a community, you’re mistaken. Ohio legalized casinos in major cities and they aren’t bad (whether they’re successful or not is another matter). And idk what you’re referring to regarding “vulnerable”? Vulnerable to addiction? Alcohol is addictive and bars are legal. Casinos are still heavily regulated, but beyond that people are allowed to make their own decisions and gamble if they wish.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y agoThe people who are the primary denizens of hole in the wall casinos are all gambling addicts. The same people who were illegal gambling in the "internet cafes".
- mschuster91 5y ago> And idk what you’re referring to regarding “vulnerable”? Not OP but worked in the industry and enjoying a casino visit once in a while: People left so far behind by society that they see their only hope of escaping poverty in gambling. Or people with issues (poverty, domestic violence, PTSD, ...) who don't have access to other outlets for their frustrations. Lotteries and gambling are called "taxes on the poor and stupid" for a reason! > Vulnerable to addiction? Alcohol is addictive and bars are legal. Yes, but you usually can't drink away your life savings in one night out (expensive whisky, wine and strip club champagne aside). You'll pass out before being able to spend more than 200$ in most bars. With gambling, it's scary how fast you can win and especially lose a lot of money - I watched someone at a roulette wheel winning 35k $ in one round (bet a grand on a single number), and lose that and more the next ten minutes.
- bigbluedots 5y agoThey are certainly bad for the part of the community who have issues with addiction. As is alcohol and bars. I am not convinced that the misery that these people experience is offset by anything positive provided by casinos or bars.
- nradov 5y ago
- pkaye 5y agoOur local mall (in SF bay area) will be shrunk down in size maybe 50% and the additional space and bulk of the parking will be converted into housing with some commercial stores in the bottom. Costco will take over a portion of the mall and some restaurant/food court area will remain. Not sure what will happen to the rest.
- nostrademons 5y agoIt's been interesting to watch the decline and fall of some malls and the rise of others. Hillsdale in San Mateo, Santana Row / Valley Fair in San Jose, and Main Street Cupertino are hopping. Vallco in Cupertino and Tanforan in San Bruno are dead already, and Mercado in Sunnyvale is getting there. It feels like there's a certain style of "1980s mall", and another style of "2020s mall". The former is 2 stories of indoor corridors, primarily retail shops, with interspersed fully-enclosed restaurants and few areas to sit down. The latter is mixed-use, with condos, hotels, restaurants, and retail shops surrounding an open-air green space with lots of public seating and lawns. 1980s malls are dying fast, but 2020s malls are springing up in their place, and successfully drawing people to them.
- pkaye 5y agoYes I've noticed the open outdoor malls are more popular now. I live in Fremont so Newpark Mall is the one I was talking about. You can see the plans on the attached link. https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/7665/637588314596430000 https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/7665/63758...
- dghughes 5y agoSame for my small town mall: elderly mall walkers, multiple jewellery stores, food court, the remaining 99% of stores are devoted to teen girl clothing.
- throwawayboise 5y agoYeah our local mall used to have a pretty diverse assortment of stores. I haven't been inside it proper in probably 10 years, except some peripheral stores that have their own outside entrances (Target, and a couple of restaurants) but last time I was in it seemed to be all clothing or cosmetics. And the air smelled like farts.
- Taniwha 5y agoI stopped going when they stopped having real book stores
- adamrmcd 5y agoI was in Moscow in 2008 and one of my fondest memories was visiting GUM (pronounced "goom") right in Red Square. Three or four stories of shops ranging from perfume to electronics to butchers. I remember arguing with my mom loudly in English in its halls, and kids would come up to us to practice their english and try to help us :) At the Motorola store in GUM I bought an unlocked Motorola ROKR with Cyrillic T9 keys, for the equivalent of US$200. Our tour guide smiled on how much GUM was such a social hub for Russians since the 1920s. I couldn't comment on how the haves and have-nots viewed the location, or what it stood for over the years or today, but it was obvious to me its social status. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUM_(department_store)
- hyakosm 5y agoA mall across the Lenin mausolee in Soviet Union, pretty intriguing > Several times during the 1960s and 1970s, the Second Secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Suslov, who hated the idea of having a Department store across the Mausoleum of Lenin, tried to convert GUM into a Exhibition hall and Museum showcasing the achievements of the Soviet Union and Communism, without the knowledge of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Each time however, Brezhnev was tipped off and put a stop to such plans.[8]
- sevensor 5y agoLast time I was in the mall in my town, they'd opened a place where you could go _Office Space_ on old electronics in a former storefront. The anchor stores have gone, of course.
- monkeybutton 5y agoRage room?
- VWWHFSfQ 5y agoFrom my tangential experience, Russian society is about 20 years behind the West, and 30+ years behind USA. As an American, I absolutely _loved_ mall society. But that peaked in the 1980s and 1990s in USA. It's mostly over at this point. I envy that they are (were) still enjoying it.
- skhr0680 5y agoIt really depends on the country. Malls are huge and packed in Japan
- biztos 5y agoDitto Thailand, and in Bangkok a few of them are really beautiful.
- klipt 5y agoIsn't a mall just a private version of a public walkable space? Like what the town square used to be, except ironically with malls in order to reach the walkable space you have to drive there.
- VWWHFSfQ 5y agojust a private version of a public walkable space .... I guess you had to be there.
- fartcannon 5y agoThey were air-conditioned.
- forum_ghost 5y ago
- xeromal 5y agoIt's funny you say that because in Los Angeles, mall culture is MASSIVE. Malls aren't stagnant. They are high-end and a lot of fun. Kids go there to hang out and adults go there to shop. I love it and it's sad it didn't take in other areas.
- WalterGR 5y ago> I love it and it's sad it didn't take in other areas. It did take for a long time in other areas. (Long = approximately the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.) But visits to malls across the US have been declining for some time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_apocalypse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_apocalypse (Not mall-specific.)
- xeromal 5y agoYeah, I guess I meant why didn't it stay. Was it too much expansion or is the culture in Los Angeles just different?
- foepys 5y agoMaybe it's simply because among the millions and millions of LA residents there are enough people who still like malls. Other areas might not be able to compensate the general loss of interest.
- nevermindiguess 5y agoYou find it sad because you have never experienced the beauty of a society without malls. With small little local shops instead of the big corporations and high street brands that all look the same. Europeans have. But it is being destroyed by the malls.
- simplecto 5y agoWalk the Streets of Stockholm and you will find the same franchise/chain stores on every block. In fact, many are quite happy to visit the “Mall of Scandinavia” And many / most smaller towns only have chains. That Euro charm that so many romanticize is not evenly distributed.