Posted on 01/01/2011 9:08:04 AM PST by DeaconBenjamin
The best definition of economic growth is this: “an increased number of choices.”
That’s a pretty sorry definition of economic growth.
..and they’re all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same....
I haven’t been to a mall in twenty years or more. Over 75% of what I buy is online. Some of the remaining 25% are firearms related items that you have to buy in person. Tack on Gas, Electricity, Water, Phone, etc. and groceries and viola.....seems to me the only people that go to malls nowdays are teenagers, women and guys trying to pick up same...
I love the fact that they exist and are a symbol of American plenty.
but I personally hate going to them, expecially during crowded times like right now during the holidays and a period of time before.
I like free standing stores...I buy much stuff on line...I buy my groceries from strip mall shoping centers(a world of difference between strip malls and enclosed malls) and a warehouse club.
Last June I had an occasion to go the the Mall of America. In Minneapolis.
I recommend it. Not that it is unlike anything you’ve seen before. Because you HAVE seen it. Any mall - any where. The same pattern of chain stores.
It’s just the MOA has 4 floors of these Gaps and Lerners and Foot Lockers. And the sheer ostentatiousness of it all is kinda cool.
http://www.mallofamerica.com/shopping/directory
BTW.
Speaking of Malls. If you’ve never been here...
Then click it. Worth a look.
And that mall the Blues Brothers trashed in 1980?
IT’S STILL THERE!!!
And what better definition would you offer?
The bus was the major source of transportation.
Things change. I love my suburban stores.
I’m in canada right now and this Boxing Day/Week sale nonsense is amazing. It’s an actual Federal holiday for people to SHOP, I kid you not. Makes Black Friday in the US look amateur.
Every shopping mall has been packed even on weekdays (dont these people have jobs? LOL) AND they just buy stuff. I’m not here to judge them, it just boggles the mind.
“When they entered the first store, the man stood in the middle of an aisle. He began to weep. Then he said: ‘They lied. They lied.’ His worldview came unglued in that aisle.”
I felt the same the first time I had an opportunity to come to America. I had been fed lies all my life about what life was like here. I realised that those in power and those who had taught me had lied. About every blessed thing. They told me that my country was clean and polite and that Americans were rough dirty and rude. That you were violent and that we were peaceful. The only area as dirty and scummy as my own country was downtown LA.
They lied. Goddamn them, they lied.
Now I live in a civilized country. Where I can go into walmart 24-7 and get what I need. Things don’t close up shop at 8pm. There’s more than one bookstore. There’s more than one movie theatre.
Thanks for this article.
Always had a shopping mall in my lifetime. We had “Big Town” It was considered to be amazing when I was a tot.
You buy your string instruments by mail order?
≤}B^)
But you make the good point that the www has taken the old concept of mail-order and transformed commerce (esp. retail commerce) to the point that it will impact the viability of such things as malls.
They claim MOA is one of the top 10 tourist attractions in the country. Which completely baffles me. Sometimes I feel like an alien from another planet.
Parenthetically, the very first enclosed mall in the world was also build in a S. Minneapolis Suburb - Southdale:
http://discovery.mnhs.org/MN150/index.php?title=Southdale_Center
I still vaguely remember going there when I was a child. I remember the giant bird cages and fountains really impressed me. And of course the escalators. I was obsessed with escalators.
The people vote with their dollars. Obviously the vast majority of Americans are very happy with malls.
It does seem to me that the interwebs are encroaching. Which is fine. We vote with our dollars.
2 days before Christmas.
And if you live in central Indiana, highly recommended:
http://www.moodymeats.com/
Those SOBs are allowed to overbuild by corrupt local governments for tax dollars....In many regions, the people that live in the area are left with absolute nightmarish gridlock....
When I was pursuing my graduate degree, the professor said the third most popular tourist attraction in the DC metropolitan area was Potomac Mills Mall.
“Shopping malls are said to be ugly. They all look alike, and they all clutter the landscape with mediocrity. They have replaced diversity with uniformity. They replace traditional architecture with cookie-cutter architecture.
This is a short-sighted criticism.”
Uh, no it isn’t.
It has turned America into a place of cheap sameness and has diluted local cultures and customs that have been one of the bedrocks of our national soul.
They have turned from a symbol of infinite abundance, to a symbol of easy fake prosperity and lowered standards.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.