What happened? (Chesapeake, Hampton, Harrisonburg: buying, high school, wages)

[the4pits]

I work right beside Military Circle, and have frequented the mall food court for years. I am a white male, and the majority of my co-workers are black. Most of them will NOT shop at Military Circle because it is too black, and wonder how I can stand to go there so often. I have never had an issue,problem, or otherwise ,but other than Sears or Pennys, not much there for me.
Try to go to movie there on a weekend night!

[7citiesVA]

Originally Posted by the4pits

I work right beside Military Circle, and have frequented the mall food court for years. I am a white male, and the majority of my co-workers are black. Most of them will NOT shop at Military Circle because it is too black, and wonder how I can stand to go there so often. I have never had an issue,problem, or otherwise ,but other than Sears or Pennys, not much there for me.
Try to go to movie there on a weekend night!

Yes that is true. As I said, not ALL black people will want to shop there. There are some that will say it is ghetto or to hood as well. I had a coworker who said the same things, but you better believe that was the first place she shopped when it came time to get her teenage boys the clothes and sneakers they wanted. But I am positive that the majority of black people living in southside Hampton Roads do shop there, and I can tell you that from experience, being raised up between norfolk and virginia beach with military circle always being the place to go to get certain clothes or sneakers when I was growing up. But that is not to say everything they ever buy or need they will ONLY get from military circle mall because there are other places that offer things that cant be found at military or janaf. But I do guarantee you that military will be the first place that people, and not just blacks, will look for certain fashionable items that are in style and can be categorize as "hip hop" or "urban" because lord knows you will have a greater chance of finding it there than anywhere else.

[LibertyCedar]

"Identify who buys (or who it's marketed to) the above listed cr*p, and you'll identify the root of the problem."

Yes - upscale stores only stay open if you have upscale people in them making expensive purchases! Consider what the median income is in Hampton Roads... Don't expect to see 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive shopping cropping up anytime soon when our salaries only support going to the Wal-mart!

[bbguy05]

Originally Posted by LibertyCedar

"Identify who buys (or who it's marketed to) the above listed cr*p, and you'll identify the root of the problem."

Yes - upscale stores only stay open if you have upscale people in them making expensive purchases! Consider what the median income is in Hampton Roads... Don't expect to see 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive shopping cropping up anytime soon when our salaries only support going to the Wal-mart!

Totally agree!

This area (especially Virginia Beach) is trying to make this area so upscale they forget the salaries here do not support that vision. If they would pay us more, then maybe we could shop there.

[janeannwho]

Virginia Beach upscale? where is that?

[sinkfloridasink]

military circle sucks, when i first moved here there was a shootout in the parking lot. that's not to say i'm afraid to go there (crime can happen anywhere) but there's not much draw to it and it is a little scuzzier than the others.

macarthur is a nice mall, has a lot of thug looking kids that just hang around. but they've never been a problem to me so how one dresses alone isn't an issue. i go to the norva a lot, and park in the macarthur parking garage - i have to walk through the mall to get to monticello. there's always somebody waiting outside the mall doors ready to ask me for change...

pembroke is boring, as someone mentioned, they're building up town center - i think everyone in the area is waiting for them to make that mall worthwhile.

lynnhaven is your average mall, more of a teen hangout than a shopping center.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by WhenIgoUgo

I been away from this area over 7 years. There have been some changes to the area. I visited 2 years ago but didn't get a chance to go out shopping. I went into Military Circle the other day and I noticed that the mall really went downhill. What happened? I noticed they tore down Coliseum Mall in Hampton and they rebuilding an outside mall. What happened with that mall? I even noticed that MacArthur changed and it isn't as upscale as it was 7 years ago. What happened to Rainforest Cafe, Jeepers, United Colors of Benetton, Enzo Agalioni (sp?) and a lot of other stores? I hope it doesn't turn into another Military Circle Mall. That mall is awful now. Alot of the national tenants left and it only has urban clothes, jewelry stores, and a lot of foreigners selling a bunch of junk. Its sad because I grew up in that mall. I haven't been to Greenbrier Mall or Lynnhaven yet so I don't know how they changed.

I've only been here for 2 years but Military Circle is pretty ghetto as far as malls go. If you're not wearing some $50 t-shirt with Cooji jeans and some clean BAPEs forget about it. MacArthur may have digressed a bit and I think some of what they were selling people couldn't realistically afford, not that Nordstroms is that much better but it has a stronger brand presence than some of the stores/labels you mentioned. I'm really shocked they haven't through a Sak's Fifth in there though; there are enough tourists that pour through that mall to support it even if the locals couldn't afford it. Like a smaller scaled down version of one I don't know. If VB had their head on straight they could have pulled that off downtown.

The short answer is that those strip malls are killing Military Circle. I still love Greenbrier; it's sort of pitiful in a way but it has a feel I really like, always find my way back into that mall. Greenbrier just has stores with really boring clothes particular the anchor stores but I still like it, has that early 80s feel to it.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by 7citiesVA

The stores here seem okay to me. What is considered upscale to yall?

7cities the stores are great if you're into urban wear, in fact you can find that stuff in most corner store boutiques in the ghetto but if you want the trendier stuff you'd find in NY, Philadelphia, Boston, even Pittsburgh you aren't going to find it here. A D&G, Hugo Boss or Marc Jacobs junkie would be completely lost here and start going through withdrawal.

But again as I've always said it's because of the wages in the area. When people around here start making huge wages and can take 50k, 70k for granted you'll start seeing those stores. So it's probably about right if you're making 25k because that's what you can honestly afford.

[Erma]

I go to Military Circle for Penneys and that's about it. Though the mall is frequented by the black community, Penney's fashions do not cater to them, they keep the same apparel. Value City in my opinion does cater to them and Stein Mart as well. I do find a deal or two in suits when I shop there. You have to understand that Norfolk in general is highly populated with the lower income end. VB has more military personnel in the higher ranks who spend money as well as those in the private sector. I like Greenbrier Mall and Lynnhaven, but Pembroke is my favorite with Sears, Bath & Body Works and Kohls. It's user friendly and the kids aren't hanging out there like they are at the bigger malls.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by Erma

I go to Military Circle for Penneys and that's about it. Though the mall is frequented by the black community, Penney's fashions do not cater to them, they keep the same apparel. Value City in my opinion does cater to them and Stein Mart as well. I do find a deal or two in suits when I shop there. You have to understand that Norfolk in general is highly populated with the lower income end. VB has more military personnel in the higher ranks who spend money as well as those in the private sector. I like Greenbrier Mall and Lynnhaven, but Pembroke is my favorite with Sears, Bath & Body Works and Kohls. It's user friendly and the kids aren't hanging out there like they are at the bigger malls.

Value City caters to everyone; all of the Value Citys I've been to seem to have something for everyone. That's just a discount store, albeit with some very deep discounts but a discount store nonetheless. Their other store, DSW, is the same way though a bit cleaner. Value City is a shoddy store a bit grimy I would admit that but all of the Value City stores are like that as are similar discount stores that offer deep discounts. They have some very high end merchandise though if you're willing to look. Sure the stuff out front hanging nice is ghetto but there are some real finds.

A lot of African-Americans are loyal to JC Pennys though, you would be surprised. My sister has to be drug out of that store kicking and screaming. A lot of it is a matter of style; stores in Norfolk tend to have those ghetto stores because that's who is going in there to shop, whereas if you do find an urban store in Virginia Beach the merchandise tends to be more high end, probably more conservative, though still "urban" per se as far as denimwear. I like Greenbrier a lot myself, though it feels more late 70s early 80s, which I'm nostalgic for. MacArthur is nice when people come to visit but to shop there all the time it's pretty expensive, a bad habit to get into.