Posted on 10/16/2023 6:58:40 PM PDT by DallasBiff
I liked malls. Super efficient.
I haven’t been to the hall for, like...2 days.
Sounds like I’m having mall withdrawal tee-hee.
Went to an Apple store the other day to inquire about getting a new battery in the Mac and was told they don’t have a service department... don’t do any service like that any more.
Last time I was in a mall I could see why they are dying. The selection in the stores was terrible and uninteresting. Only one store with anything unique and interesting, a Asian trade store with a range of stuff from swords to anime and DnD decorations. Other than that it was clothes stores catering to women, jewelry stores and other less memorable places.
Two of the 4 anchor stores were closed for good (Sears and JC Pennies) and only Dillards was open while I was there. The fourth was some kind of furniture store but, while it looked full of product, was closed.
The closest thing to a toy store was Build-A-Bear, which was disappointing because I had my 9y/o daughter with me. Neither of us were interested and apparently neither was anyone else as the clerk sat there looking bored.
The food court and arcade was always a big deal when I was young. Malls usually has 10 or more restaurants to pick from but this place had 5 and only 2 of them served food that might function as lunch. The arcade was composed of 10 games cost $2 minimum to play. There was a cooling climbing area but it was closed, again in the middle of the day.
Before malls, in the 60s, there were “shopping centers,” a pedestrian strip of retail stores away from the basic roadside. You parked and walked from one store to the next. Soon these grew and began to develop enclosed attractions, like miniature golf courses and such. Then, food outlets. And that’s how malls began. Once fully enclosed, as malls are usually defined, they began to attract idle kids who had no real reason to be there except social grouping. And that was the beginning of the end — probably around 1980. Now, back to outdoor shopping centers. Retail has come full cycle.
Scottsdale Fashion Square might be getting too high end for its market. People in Scottsdale have money, but they tend to come from the Midwest and don’t spend as much on luxury goods as the coastal elites. The store lineup is pure Beverly Hills - but Scottsdale is full of multi-millionaires who buy their clothes at Costco. On weekends Fashion Square is full of young Hispanics from other parts of the Valley who also don’t seem to buy much besides food.
It used to be such a wonderful mall! Especially fun memories of spending a day, before Christmas, shopping/lunching.
Yes....very sad, what has become of it, and, all of the Houston area malls. Well, the ones that I know of.
We visit family, in other cities/states, and, their malls are still thriving, and, safe to visit.
What do you mean? My visit to Pittsburgh wasn’t complete without visiting the Monroeville Mall where it was filmed. I went maybe 15 years or so after it was made and it had changed a bit but it was still eerily familiar. :)
The DFW area has several malls.
The Hulen Mall is on its way out.
The Parks Mall in Arlington is usually packed. The open air mall a few blocks away is thriving.
Grapevine Mills is humming along (having children’s attractions brings in the families).
Northpark and the Galleria in Dallas are always packed.
Two open air malls in Grand Prairie are seeing plenty of traffic.
The Colony Mall is still growing.
The big box anchor stores don’t see as much business as they did in the past. You can tell by the stock fluctuation of lower-end luxury handbags (we’re not talking Hermes here, folks). Brahmin is up, Kors is down. Also, several big box stores are opening up “discount” outlets to sell the leftover stock. Saks, Macy’s, and others are are just not seeing the volume.
Another interesting tell is how high-end garments are no longer showing up at thrift stores.
During the Trump era, there were deals and steals (not literally) to be had. Now, the pickings are slim, indicating that people are limiting their clothing purchases and not spending as much on new clothes. That’s the Biden effect.
ours was built in 1970 and is like a ghost town except for the theaters and a couple chain eateries at night
soon to be in the daytime...
Baybrook Mall, a little further south from there, is still very busy. Even to the point of often being hard to find a parking place. I've heard that it's one of the busiest malls in the country.
I had to go to a mall one Saturday evening…..
…teeming with teens just hanging out……I now avoid them except weekday mornings if needed .
……
That’s nice to hear.
Remember when the local news would give the parking lot status, of Houston area malls, for Christmas shoppers?
Good times. 😂
Good to know a few TX malls are still thriving/hanging in there.
Regardless of the Briben Economic features....that are on display, across the good old USA.
You make a good point. I for one hate shopping so the more I can get on line the better.
The one exception was clothes - I thought I had to try them on. After a while my wife showed me how easy it is to return or exchange something I don’t like.
I haven’t been to a mail in many years.
“Houston area malls are no-go zones, for the most part.”
You know it’s bad when Greenspoint mall gets renamed Gunspoint mall!
YES.
LOL...yep.
For DECADES, now!
Stop n Go’s had to close, as they became Stop n Go for Cover.
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