Re: I Went to a Mall and it Made Me Cry

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

@Puppy Lips wrote:
@haddon9Years ago my son and I went to that King of Prussia mall close to QVC. I remember there being a lot of really expensive stores in there. When QVC posts their comparisons prices of items, I swear they go to that mall and find the most expensive items to make the QVC prices look a better deal.

@Puppy Lips I woulnd't be surprised if they do! LOL!

qvcfreak · ‎03-10-2010

I loved going to the mall, catching a movie, shopping and eating at the food court.

But I haven't stepped in a mall in forever. I prefer shopping centers and preferably TJ Maxx.

FiddleDeeDee · ‎03-06-2020

Our local mall isn't anything great though we found out it's one of the top producing malls in the state; go figure. The one closer to DH's office is also near the airport and then there is Hyde Park if you really want to drive to shop (we don't). We found the mall near the airport, which has more high end stores, to be busy with walkers but not shoppers. The anchor stores didn't have much merchandise and there were very few people around. We were looking for something for MIL and gave up because we couldn't find an associate to pull the item we wanted and ring it up; their loss as we purchased the directly from the vendor and had it shipped to her.

I miss the fun of the mall and being able to find what I needed when I wanted it. Those days are gone.

"Coming to ya from Florida"

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

When I first got divorced in 1968, I had three children, ages,5 5,7.9. I had not worked in over 10 years, although being a homemaker was a job in itself with room and board as my pay. Ha, making a somewhat joke.

Well, I thought waitressing would be easy. WRONG, one of the hardest jobs. They did train you back then.

I never thought of going on welfare, because I was brought up, if you can work, that is what you do.

I made 1.75 an hour, and thank god my tips were great. I only had to work weekends and made enough to take care of my kids during the week and worked nights on weekends.

During the week, I sold Avon.

Never did go on welfare.

Some may have to do that, but how many can work and just collect?

ThinkingOutLoud · ‎05-01-2020

@qvcaddition wrote:
When I first got divorced in 1968, I had three children, ages,5 5,7.9. I had not worked in over 10 years, although being a homemaker was a job in itself with room and board as my pay. Ha, making a somewhat joke.
Well, I thought waitressing would be easy. WRONG, one of the hardest jobs. They did train you back then.
I never thought of going on welfare, because I was brought up, if you can work, that is what you do.
I made 1.75 an hour, and thank god my tips were great. I only had to work weekends and made enough to take care of my kids during the week and worked nights on weekends.
During the week, I sold Avon.
Never did go on welfare.
Some may have to do that, but how many can work and just collect?

Bravo to you!!

depglass · ‎03-10-2010

The problem is apparent in most of these posts. People just quit going. Then they invent all the reasons afterwards. The bottom line is WE are the reason.

Enufstuff · ‎03-12-2010

@Sooner I remember when I was first married and we had a baby, my husband worked two jobs to make ends meet. He learned the printing trade and later owned his own printing company.

When my youngest child was in school, I went back to college to finish my degree, and worked part time.

In the 80's I was divorced and had five children. I could not always depend on the child support and I worked two jobs, until I remarried. Then I just worked one job.

Today, it seems that quite a few people won't take a job that isn't their dream job or like you said, they can't afford to take a low paying job. In the past, people took a second job, got roomates to share expenses, got training for a better job.

It really takes two incomes to run a house today, in most cases.

Trailrun23 · ‎05-31-2022

We have only two malls now and they are a half-hour drive away.All the others have closed. The one that was very close when we moved here was demolished for high-end housing, tech offices and high-end, exclusive boutique shopping. The entire space sat empty for two years....where the Neiman Marcus once was is now a Walmart and tons of fast food stores. Our city council is full of crooks who continue to promise improvement/ development but are in cahoots with slick developers.

sktchy · ‎03-10-2010

@beach-mom wrote:
I went to a mall that used to be one of the nicest around. I haven't been in a while because it's not that close to us.

But I wanted some things from BBW, and the 3 stores around us were out of stock. It WAS in stock at this one, so late this afternoon I went to pick the items up.

I walked down one of the entrance halls and looked to my right. The flagship department store that was taken over by Macy's was boarded up. Even Macy's had left. I looked up and saw the balcony with hanging lights that used to be part of a nice restaurant. I remember eating there - it was always lucky if you got to sit and eat on the balcony - watching to make sure my children didn't get too close to the edge while we were eating. Below was the remnants of a once beautiful fountain. The statue in the middle was gone.

I walked down the one side to one of the other former flagship department stores. It is now a Barnes & Noble. There are maybe 5 stores along the way, mostly catering to teens. I saw one chain jewelry store. I saw the spot where Hollister used to be, next to what was Victoria's Secret.

I passed the once busy food court. The popular news/magazine stand was gone. There were two food places, one pizza, and another I'd never heard of. Interesting though, all of the tables they had in the sunny space and around the corner were still there.

The AMC theater is still there; the restaurant next to it, and the Subway next to that are gone. They are both boarded up.

I turned to go back down the third hallway. The one remaining small department store was straight ahead. I walked past a former popular cafeteria-style restaurant. Of course it was gone, boarded up with a design of a restaurant in Europe painted on it. But the ever-present Hallmark store is where it always was.

There were a few other small stores around the department store, but I wasn't familiar with most. I did see Spencer Gifts and Hot Topic.

I talked to one of the SA's in BBW. Her dad lives in one of the outdoor "malls" with stores and restaurants and apartments above them, and she told me he has problems parking because there are no specific parking spots for residents. She also said one of the mall's owners has told them he has had interest from stores and restaurants. But then she said they've been hearing that for a year.

As I explored I looked up at the skylights and down at the clean floors that were wider than some in other malls.

I thought, "What a waste," and although I know it won't happen, I thought why can't some of the current popular stores go in and give us options we used to have. Wouldn't it be nice to see things in person again?

I left feeling sad because I know what it used to be like to really enjoy shopping with friends, spending a Saturday together, and having lunch together.

Did your Mall have issues with theft and Kids ?

Our Mall is suffering. We just have Nordstrom's and Macy's. The high-end stores have left - Tiffany's, Michael Kors, Burberry, LV, ect.

We are holding our breath awaiting the next to evacuate. It's best to just get the shopping in during the week while people are at work and the Kids at school.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

It's not just the malls that need to reinvent themselves, but the local governments. Too often they see a mall as a cash cow they can milk. Taxes and fees go up and can become overly burdensome. The costs of malls gets absurd also. Huge volumes to heat, cool, and maintain. Acres of parking lots to build/maintain. Add in a big tax/fee bill and it just becomes unsustainable.

I think the cookie cutter approach to mall stores is not ideal. Encourage local residents interested in starting a business to locate in the mall. Who says every store in a mall must be a chain store? Nearly every chain store started out as a single store somewhere that found a niche and grew. Use your mall as an incubator for a possible future chain store. Offer loans, guidance, support for the little guys to move in and see if they've got what it takes. Give them priority over the chain stores when space becomes available. Most small businesses fail, but give them the best opportunity possible.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!