We were talking about this the other day: are malls still even a thing anymore? Nobody could remember the last time anyone actually went to one. We went through the things we all used to buy at the mall and where we buy them now and here is what we came up with:
Food: some of us use fresh direct or other services to have it delivered to our doors, others are too picky and prefer the local supermarket, or not even so much the supermarket, the real picky ones would go to a farmer’s market or something.
Clothes: this is the one area where nobody bought them online, or at least admitted it. People seemed to prefer going to little boutiques for this, where you are more likely to get something unique and special, and frankly often even cheaper than in other places, especially if they get to know you there.
Electronics: this is a no-brainer, get them online. Plus, anything in a store is likely to have been played with by someone else first. Not to mention, wow, those prices.
Eating Out: there is no worse food than that which can be found in a mall food court. There are lots of options here. We even think that cooking at home may be getting more popular these days. Eating is the new drinking!
Movies: big screen and stream it. Nuff said!
Shoes: a couple people who are into Nikies buy them online (and fight over them). Most of the rest of us would go to a dedicated shoe store, but not one in a mall. Too expensive.
It should be worth noting that some of the (ahem) secondary reasons for folks going to malls (and indeed, bars and clubs included in this) have also been superceded by apps like (ahem) Tinder. So this is a thing too. Even just hanging out with friends is often a virtual thing these days.
It should also be worth noting that there are new options springing up every day. Someone pointed out this new site Look what’s cool, which is kind of a new online experience, allowing you to “window-shop” the same way you used to do at the mall. So even that has moved online now.
What do you think? Are we on point here? Or are we just too far ahead of ourselves? Does the mall have a future? What kind of future may it have? Drop us a line below and let us know your thoughts.
