Community Chat

[roxxy1]

Times have changed......

and now.......

[jeanlake]

Love this. If I had $10 for every time I pushed strollers or walked with my family or friends in the mall, I'd use the money for a nice vacation! Definately a community gathering place. Sometimes we'd walk after church and run into so many people. When I was ready to delivery a child, I'd walk the mall the day before. Worked every time! Dad walked the mall when he retired. There was an army of retired folks who went to Hardees for breakfast after their walk. One mall has survived in our town and is getting a face lift. Looks good. It was time for the rest to go -- turned into blight and crime. New shopping areas look good, but no interior walking spaces.   

[ValuSkr]

Now we can do all that on the internet, in the comfort of our homes.  Well. except for sitting on Santa's lap. 

[Carol Diane]

Aw, loved record stores. I used to spend hours in there. In those days, I knew when a Beatles album or single would be released and made sure I was there before they sold out.  The mall at Christmas used to take my breath away.  Now I rarely go....no specific reason but I buy a lot online and tend to prefer stores in strip malls.

[wilma]

@roxxy1 

What memories! 

Could spend hours just in a record store! Going to the mall was an all day event. We went in almost every store! 

Now I go to more stand alone stores. When I do go to a mall, I go to one or two specific stores and leave. 

[Porcelain]

The main reasons to go to a store are A) because you need or want to try out the product before you buy it, or B) because the staff there are experts on the product and you need their advice.

A is less of a factor now because of 30 day return policies from buying online. And B is almost completely gone as a factor because staff are not hired, trained, or compensated to be experts on the products they sell. If you happen to find a wonderful salesperson who can give you great info, it's because you lucked out to find someone who applied him or herself on their own without any support from the store.

So hence, very little reason to go out shoping now that we can be our own experts. It's sad and probably fixable. I doubt there is the will within corporations to do what would need to be done to make physical shopping worthwhile again, however.

Additionally, it's depressing to go shopping in a wasteland and feel pressure to buy just to help out a failing store. I don't like that extra stress on an activity that is supposed to be fun.

[vsm]

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@Carol Diane wrote:

Aw, loved record stores. I used to spend hours in there. In those days, I knew when a Beatles album or single would be released and made sure I was there before they sold out.  The mall at Christmas used to take my breath away.  Now I rarely go....no specific reason but I buy a lot online and tend to prefer stores in strip malls.

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Ahhhh...so YOU were the one who beat me to those Beatles records!!!

[sgraham30]

The only reason I even go to a mall now is either to try on something that I want to order online,often the sales aren't in the store, return item(s) from an online order, or to get my hair done at Penneys. I don't have the stamina (or desire) to go from store to store any more. 

I used to love shopping when I was younger & didn't have much money to spend, I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. Now as I'm aging, I have the funds,but I don't have the ability or the patience for the hunt any more. 

[Ladylaughsalot]

The thing that stands out most to me is that all the girls and women are wearing dresses.  I remember when folks always dressed nicely before going out.  Sad to say that we have turned into a  society of slobs.

[haddon9]

I used to work not in the mall but in the record department of EJ Korvettes for 3 years.  We got a lot of freebies and even tickets once to see The Who's Quadrophenia tour!  Great memories!