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Just some thoughts about...malls

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    Just some thoughts about...malls

    Hi All,

    Took a little drive around yesterday after work and was struck by a few things. I simply can't believe how much Covid has changed the landscape of things. As an example, our town has a dying mall. I guess most malls in the U.S. are pretty much dying, but Covid has effectively pushed ours over the edge. Still, there was a large movie theatre sitting behind the mall. This place pretty much stayed busy; always had in the 20+ years I've lived in this town. Of course, during 2020 they closed down, reopened briefly, and now they appear to be pretty much closed for good. The Sears is now a storage place. The J.C. Penney is closed. The only thing hanging on is a Dillard's that looks to be on it's last legs. The entire mall is basically a shadow of its former self. And when I say shadow, well it's kind of ironic - the mall is now overshadowed by a huge new apartment complex. It's got to be the biggest one in this town. It looks to be only a matter of time before most of the mall itself is scraped away. They'll probably leave the storage place.

    Younger people might not know, but people my age probably think fondly of shopping malls. They were the place to see and be seen when I was a teenager. They were often the place you got your first job. They were the go-to place on hot summer days, and cold winter weekends. They were the social scene. They just were.

    #2
    Re: Just some thoughts about...malls

    It may depend on the town itself. Some of my family went to the mall today for something and I'm told that it was actually really busy. Of course, this mall always has been for as long as I've lived here. However, that said, I've noticed some of the other shopping areas that used to be pretty bustling pre-covid are fairly ghost-town ish these days. It's an interesting phenomenon. Not sure if they can recover, or if the buildings/landscape will be repurposed for something else.
    �Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.�
    ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
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    Avatar picture by the wonderful and talented TJSGrimm.

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      #3
      Re: Just some thoughts about...malls

      It's evolution. Mall stores are going the way of the T. Rex (i.e.: evolving into turkeys).

      The ease, accessibility, and variety offered by internet shopping is doing to malls what plate tectonics did to Gondwanaland.
      Last edited by B. de Corbin; 11 Apr 2021, 04:19.
      Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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        #4
        Re: Just some thoughts about...malls

        When we moved to NJ in 1968, there was a lot of farmland. One large tract was soon sold, and a store went up, which then had a mall added on by 1970/71. I clearly remember asking "What's a mall?" Haha! That tells you I'm old! It was THE place to be. Remember - no cell phones or computers - so this was how you saw and engaged with other people. Most of us worked in the mall at one time or another. Every big store had some kind of restaurant in it, and people would spend hours shopping and socializing. I even dated a mall security guard for a while and would hang out after hours and have adventures I'm not going to put on the internet. But now, between online shopping and the virus, that mall (and, I guess most others) are relics. It's kinda sad. The last time I went back home to visit, 2 years ago, I stopped in to that mall. It'll always be an important part of my youth.
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        Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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          #5
          Re: Just some thoughts about...malls

          Those malls were one of the greatest crimes against humanity ever perpetrated, lol. It's going to take thousands of years to reproduce the soils either destroyed by or locked under all that cement. They may have accelerated our going the way of the dodo.

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            #6
            Re: Just some thoughts about...malls

            The mall in my hometown brought in an aquarium, arcade, and bowling alley which seems to have kept the mall as a whole afloat. The significantly larger mall in my current much larger city has a lot of these types of entertainment places. I doubt it's viable to operate a mall exclusively as a place with shops selling goods these days. It's these services and entertainment options that can keep malls around. We can buy items online but experiences still need to be physical. Things like escape rooms, theaters, or climbing rooms can be put in one location as a form of advertising for one another when people want to have a fun weekend without much travel. For the few actual stores that remain it can keep them afloat because window shopping is fun. Personally I also like to buy clothes and shoes in person because my measurements are a bit weird, but that's been getting better through online vendors that allow no cost returns and replacements.
            Circe

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