Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
All this is very stereotypical. I agree, malls seem to be similar from place to place, but guess what? So are downtowns! They all have a Main Street (not necessarily by that name of course) and they all have a big dept store or two, these days usually Macy's coast to coast. They have the same stores as the malls (Zales, Walgreen's, Penney's, etc). I'm sure I'll catch a lot of flak for this, but so what? I don't particularly like to shop at expensive little boutiques and the like. It is true that strip malls usually have more local stores than enclosed malls, due to lower rent.
All the malls I've been to are just rather generic and bland, with no character in any way. Same goes for the stores, most of the time (but not always). And the last time I was in a mall I was constantly being hounded by salesmen trying to get me to try this or that. Not to mention I buy almost anything I can get at a mall online for considerably cheaper. The whole experience just isn't pleasant to me. Actually, shopping in general isn't very pleasant to me, unless the store is just especially unusual and QUIET.
No connection to the out of doors. I hate that when I'm in a mall it could be January or July and I would never know, because it's entirely closed in and temperature controlled, except for some skylights, which really don't let the outdoors in, they just let a little more light in. I also hate the materialistic atmosphere in a mall, as if buying a certain brand is imperative, even though the clothing in every store looks exactly the same and is woefully overpriced for the quality. Last but definitely not least, since I am the mother of a teenaged girl (who also hates malls, guess I raised her right, lol), if we go into a store geared towards young people, they always have obnoxious rock or hip-hop music blasting to the point where we can't even hear each other talk. They think it's hip or something, I guess, but honestly, I just feel sorry for the young people who work in those stores. Their brains are being fried and their hearing will be shot by the time they're my age!
Malls are better IMO, for the main reason some people hate them: indoors, music, food, and more recognizable stores. I don't care about character, its the last thing on my mind when I'm shopping.
I go to a mall if I absolutely have to, but I don't care for shopping, and malls are centered around shopping (brilliant deduction there, eh?), so I don't get what the attraction is. I don't understand shopping for entertainment.
If I can order something online, I'd rather do that.
Personally, I like enclosed malls because I hate to dodge in and out of rain when I do major shopping ~ something hard to avoid where I live. And that's probably why I never seem to do any real shopping outside of the Christmas holiday. I seem to buy most of my clothes when I'm on vacations.
I don't see why a mall is any more obnoxious than a downtown strip of over-priced boutiques.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
