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In the 1980's people wrote about malls as cultural centers, as temples to shopping. Now, they're dying.
Many observers are speculating about the growing trend of so-called dead malls: once-flourishing, large retail spaces that now have a high vacancy rate, low numbers of pedestrian traffic, or the lack of an "anchor" store (typically a department chain). Is it because of economic recession, or stagnant middle-class wages and growing income inequality? Or has the death of these malls been hastened by the rapid growth of online shopping?
It's difficult to say, but the dead mall phenomenon is becoming a cultural item of interest -- for retail historians, urban explorers and documentarians alike. We may read about dead malls in The New York Times or The Atlantic, but film footage can say much more than words.
Is Amazon to blame?
(Score: 5, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday April 25 2017, @06:09PM (2 children)
Going to the mall requires wearing clothing and some minimum level of personal hygiene. Worse is having to experience being outdoors. But intolerable is sunlight. Why go to the mall when I can stay in the comfort of the basement, and experience the excitement of tracking my shipment. In a mall you have to get exercise walking.
The mall food court has too many choices. Online I can order a 50lb bag of Bachelor Chow delivered to my door.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Funny) by VLM on Tuesday April 25 2017, @07:22PM (1 child)
Online I can order a 50lb bag of Bachelor Chow delivered to my door.
Speaking of food, we're getting a bit off topic, and I usually don't eat junk food, but lets be realistic, I've been to Pizza Hut a couple times and I've ordered delivery by phone a couple times and I've used the app to order online a couple times and the app experience is awesome. First time ever there's no rush no hurry I can look thru the list as long as I want to select exactly what I want.
Retail is dead because it sucks compared to online. We're allowed to talk about money and convenience in polite company, but its too interpersonally rude to tell people that rushing thru the process with some part time college girl who has no idea what she's doing isn't as much fun as mulling it over online as whatever speed you enjoy. There's probably a pr0n analogy to the above, actually thats a pretty funny was to read the previous line.
Its funny that socially in public we can't talk about how the UI of a minimum wage kid in person is far worse than the UI of a moderately decent app.
I suppose if you think about it, for decades or centuries youngsters have been useful for performing arts, pr0n, not much else, and certainly the only culture thats tried to use youngsters to negotiate business deals is recent western hyperconsumerism.
Its interesting to think about, if we could try retail with clerks older and more intelligent than my belt or wallet, maybe that would work
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday April 26 2017, @12:36PM
In the 1960s, it wasn't a minimum wage kid in a commodity chain store, it was a value-add career salesman with actual experience and more knowledge than you'll ever hope to have about the products.
The crapification of the products, and the stores that sell them, is a big part of why retail is dying. If the products themselves continue on their trend toward toilet-paper build quality, online shopping may go down next. How much ephemeral bling do you really need to be happy in life. (Hint: 0.)
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