People used to be able to go to the mall and have an enjoyable day window shopping, buying some stuff, eating in the food court. Now, it’s hoodied thugs all over the place and, yes, teens have always been at the mall but today a certain percentage are armed and genuinely dangerous to the level of Clockwork Orange.
So, shopping becomes a “get in, get what you need, get out” experience. Once it is that, you might as well shop online.
And other, there is also the reality that real income after bills is still declining.
We’re seeing more “outdoor” malls popping up where we live. They’re beautifully decorated for every season and there are many upscale stores. You pull up to the store you’re interested in and out you go. It’s a really nice shopping experience but I still prefer Amazon when it comes to prices and speed of delivery.
I ordered a few things on Friday afternoon and they’re being delivered today.
Amazon also has a hassle free return policy.
“Now, it’s hoodied thugs all over the place...”
In the good old days, all you had to worry about was getting run down by a group of gray-haired, senior-citizen mall-walkers getting their daily exercise.
I doubt they still do that because of the new and more youthful threats in the malls.
I am that way about our local mall. I used to go to the mall quite frequently when I was younger with small children; but, no more. And, I never go there at night.
I have one more complaint which may explain the online trend. The manufacturers went, and maybe are still going, on a binge of taking a simple product and making multiple variations of it. What I noticed was at some point, items I used to be able to get at multiple stores, I could no longer find. The shelf space being taken up by multiple variations of the same product, squeezing what I used to buy off the shelves. It is now at the point where most of the stuff I want to buy (toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) is no longer available to me at a store. However, I can get most of it online --- so, I order these things online.