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Basic summary and sentiment of the article: "Boo hoo, wah!" If super-sized shopping malls are disappearing, it's for a reason and probably because they're too
by electromagnetic 18y ago
Basic summary and sentiment of the article: "Boo hoo, wah!"
If super-sized shopping malls are disappearing, it's for a reason and probably because they're too big. The local mall here is currently doing a $60 million expansion, but then this is basically a middle-class only town and the malls target this. It's also getting a supermarket in the expansion, and the next mall over already has one.
Walmart recently opened a supercenter, not far from the older mall, but it definitely doesn't appear to have affected the amount of people going there. Walmart certainly gets a large amount of visitors, but it doesn't necessarily have all what people here want. They have a great selection of electronics, however their stocking practice sucks monkey butt. They've lost numerous sales from me because despite the website claiming they have something in stock I end up going to one of the malls to get it. I don't like walking into the store one week and seeing something I'd like to get, and the next week it's gone.
All in all, personally I'll shop at a mall over Walmart, just because I like being treated like a customer and not a broken ATM with legs.
- pchristensen 18y agoI still don't get why malls don't have supermarkets. Almost every shopping center in Sweden have them, and guess what? People shopping at the mall pick up food. People grocery shopping browse the mall.
- wallflower 18y agoMy guess is the grocery carts. Shopping for food can be a high volume experience. In a place where store owners can get reprimanded or penalized for closing before 9pm (it's usually in the mall lease), I think carts would detract from the shopping "experience".
- pchristensen 18y agoMakes sense. People in Sweden used baskets, not carts, so it fit with the other shop experience. But what grocery store closes before 9pm?
- wallflower 18y agoNot the grocery store, the mall. Most malls in the U.S. close at 9pm or 10pm. If a mall store closes its storefront before then, it looks bad (similar to a block with abandoned buildings, a couple not open storefronts break the RetailLand experience).
- Xichekolas 18y agoAmusingly, the opposite is happening. Most supermarkets (in the midwest anyway) are starting to sell non-food items. The one I went to when I was recently living in Texas sold flat screen TVs, DVD players, books, kids toys, and clothes, in addition to food. Many Wal-marts are adding grocery stores. From the consumer's viewpoint, they can still get everything in one place (just like a mall), but the economics for big box retailers are better than a bunch of small stores that happen to gather in one building.
- cmars232 18y agoI'd like to see malls in the US become more like those in Singapore. Supermarkets, fresh fruit stands, top-notch restaurants and amazing food courts. A reflexology clinic here & there would be nice too :) Of course, malls in Singapore (and probably elsewhere outside the US) benefit from being placed within walking distance or directly on top of/underneath mass transit hubs. When you have to drive to a concrete island, it won't be quite the same.