But it's Christmas. Shopping at the mall is sort of a ritual at Christmas. I'm not not sure if I've been to a mall since last Christmas, but if so it wasn't a memorable trip. So even though we've done a lot of shopping online for Christmas gifts, last week we set off for the mall to pick up a few items, do some window shopping and a fair amount of people watching. We have a mall fairly close that has been totally redone in the last few years and recently reopened with a lot of high end stores that cater to all different tastes. There were a few things that struck me about the mall that I'd never thought of or observed before.
- How in the world does a store stay in business and make money when it caters to a very narrowly focused clientele? I saw 4 stores at the mall selling sunglasses. And these sunglasses aren't the $10 drug store specials. They were expensive. Very expensive. And in all the stores I saw very few people shopping. I also saw stores selling flipflops. How can you support a whole store on flipflops?
- Kiosks are rampant. When did they become a thing? There is a kiosk for everything. And no matter how high end the mall, the kiosks (at least to me) generally sell cheesy stuff. Who buys stuff from a kiosk? I saw no one browsing a kiosk. Wait. I take that back. I saw a kiosk selling 2019 calendars and there were several people browsing around. But I suspect it was to look at the photos.
- When did women and girls wearing ripped jeans become a thing? I didn't see just a few women with ripped jeans. I saw a ton of them. It caused me to scratch my head pretty hard. And while I'm on it, how do some of them fit in those jeans. I mean, they are skintight! I was tempted to ask a few women how they got into and out of them but that probably wouldn't have ended well.
- Where has Cinabon gone? That used to be a mall staple. No more Cinabon. I never bought any but the smells were sure nice.
- Why do women and girls put their cell phones in their rear pocket? Doesn't it break when you sit down? That seems to me the last place to put a phone.
- I couldn't believe all the places to eat in the mall. And not just foodcourt kinds of places. How do these places make money other than at lunch? Who goes to the mall for dinner? Is that a thing now? I wasn't there at dinner time, but I might go back just to check out the crowds.
- There was a store in the mall called "Untuck It". They sell shirts for guys that are regular shirts except apparently they are cut a little different so when they are worn outside pants they look good. Another strange niche store.
- You can buy a Tesla at the mall. A Tesla. As in a car. It's a storefront just like The Gap or Pottery Barn. I guess you go in with your checkbook and come out with a car or something. But I didn't see any back lot for checking out different colors.
- There is a huge furniture store right in the middle of the mall called "ARHOUS". Get it? Our House. A play on words. I hate clever plays on words. I was turned off before I even went in. But I have to admit the stuff was pretty cool. But very, very expensive.
- Nortstrom is still Nordstrom. Snooty and expensive. When I was working I used to buy clothes there once in a while. I was usually a Jos A Bank or Brooks Brothers guy. But Nordstrom has some good suits. The problem at Nordstrom is getting past the sales people. I mean, they are sales people. They act as if they own the store and are a little offended that you'd want to take some of their things out of the store. The other interesting phenomenon are the women who work the cosmetics department. They are scary. They have clearly taken trying their products to heart. They seem to have a permanent wide-eyed glare.
There were others but those are a few off the top of my head. It was a fun experience and we laughed about these and others. Now excuse me while I fire up the computer. I need to do some shopping in my jammies.
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