Mallrats

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G00WZ

Senior Member
May 16, 2014
1,318
453
83
38
#21
Does anybody ever go to the mall these days. what is there for you to do there besides spend all your money.
I just wanna know.
Do you like them, or do you wish they had better shops, or other things there?
Do they do events or anything?

One church I know does a coffee group, but I never went as it was only retired people during a work day and they divided themselves off into men and women. One of the church members said when she went there it was just church ladies gossiping. lol
I thought maybe they would be reading the Bible or giving out free coffee or something.
Sometimes it's just fun to go and spend some money and be in the environment. It's also not a bad place to go especially
if im with friends because there's always that one dude who has to run into a random store to pick something up for his gf.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
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#22
I was working there at the mall last night and had a lady come in talk to my boss, complain about the robbery at the jewellery store the other day. What is the world coming to I heard her moan. Well lady thing is you can be robbed anywhere, and yes theft happens in malls all the time. Doesnt matter what area you are in. what do you expect... its one of those random things that no matter the amount of security you have, cameras, people, gates, locks, if you happen to have something someone else wants, theres a risk that someone will want to steal it.

I was thinking of this the other day when I constantly come across novels with this theme,,,perfect life, perfect house, perfect family. Then something goes HORRIBLY wrong. why do bad things happen to good people. UM HELLO?? Everyone is going to have their bad days. it rains on the righteous and unrighteous alike. Do some people think that life is always going to be perfect and never ever need to suffer?
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
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#23
The mall I work in has shiny paved floors and plants around the food court area, it had a movie theatre that had to drop its prices cos it was way too expensive, it has four hour free parking which is not bad.

But probably the most fun thing there is the escalators, which you step on so you dont need to move a muscle or climb stairs. It used to have this ramp that went around and around like a spiral, but they took it out when it got renovated for a more boring one and less of an incline for trolleys.

I reckon if they just had a slide from the mezzanine to the ground floor the children would be occupied going up and down while their mums shop.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#24
I saw Dorothy and the sacrecorw and the tin man in the mall yesterday. Dorothy was singing 'over the rainbow' though the acoustics in the mall arent very good.
They also had, for some strange reason, a DJ playing 80s dance tunes in the evenings near the food court. I dont see anyone dancing.

I had always reckoned if they want people to enjoy being at the mall, they could hold a trivia nite or play 'its in the bag' and have shoppers win prizes or money.

Of course, I will tell the mall website my brilliant suggestions but I have yet to hear anything back from them. Apparently in the mornings they have storytimes with libarians in one of the empy shops and there an art center where kids and teens can draw and colour in. Which I suppose is a good thing rather than getting involved in shoplifting. You always wonder about people who wander in the mall and then dont buy anything.
 

MatthewWestfieldUK

Well-known member
May 13, 2021
871
500
63
#25
Does anybody ever go to the mall these days. what is there for you to do there besides spend all your money.
I just wanna know.
Do you like them, or do you wish they had better shops, or other things there?
Do they do events or anything?

One church I know does a coffee group, but I never went as it was only retired people during a work day and they divided themselves off into men and women. One of the church members said when she went there it was just church ladies gossiping. lol
I thought maybe they would be reading the Bible or giving out free coffee or something.
I generally find malls are very dull, full of corporations, and focused on spending rather than community.

On the other hand, if it's a cold rainy day they could be safe places for a person who's older and frail to walk around and potentially bump into friends.

Given the choice, I would rather have tea or coffee in a community place, and maybe take a walk in the wilderness in a small group.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#26
I generally find malls are very dull, full of corporations, and focused on spending rather than community.

On the other hand, if it's a cold rainy day they could be safe places for a person who's older and frail to walk around and potentially bump into friends.

Given the choice, I would rather have tea or coffee in a community place, and maybe take a walk in the wilderness in a small group.
I just find malls are places without soul
wouldnt you rather have tea or coffee at church?
but then churches are turning into corporations now too.

I had a friend who used to always want to go to the mall. All she wanted to do was look at shops and spend money, (for herself) it wasnt as if she wanted to spend anything on me, it was more she wanted me to spend MY money, so I stopped hanging out with her. She would go look at this and that and then tell me (or nag me) to buy it, even when I didnt really want to, so I found I ended up with more clothes than I really needed.

Not to say I dont like clothes, its much better than walking round naked, but I dont really enjoy shopping for them THAT much. You could trawl through 200 shops in a mall and still not find anything decent or in your size or affordable to wear.
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,683
9,614
113
#27
I saw Dorothy and the sacrecorw and the tin man in the mall yesterday. Dorothy was singing 'over the rainbow' though the acoustics in the mall arent very good.
They also had, for some strange reason, a DJ playing 80s dance tunes in the evenings near the food court. I dont see anyone dancing.

I had always reckoned if they want people to enjoy being at the mall, they could hold a trivia nite or play 'its in the bag' and have shoppers win prizes or money.

Of course, I will tell the mall website my brilliant suggestions but I have yet to hear anything back from them. Apparently in the mornings they have storytimes with libarians in one of the empy shops and there an art center where kids and teens can draw and colour in. Which I suppose is a good thing rather than getting involved in shoplifting. You always wonder about people who wander in the mall and then dont buy anything.
If you would ask "why are they so wrong?" less and ask "why have they decided to do this in this particular way" more, you might learn a lot.

Stop trying to find ways to correct people and start learning why they made the decisions they made.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#28
mum and I were out shopping at the warehouse, Its not in mall. but the big box stores are situated all together surrounding a carpark (more like an inverse mall) and we DID bump into an old neighbour who was out shopping in a wheelchair with her children.

she said she hardly ever went out. I dont think shops are generally places you 'hang out' if you are not intending to to spend money or look for things to buy. Besides, the business owners dont really like loiterers who dont buy things, even though they have to be nice to them. They are always thinking of their profit margins as Ive found with my boss, but sometimes they cave and talk to people who arent there to spend because the people that want to spend their money just want to get in and out with the goods, they arent really there to muck around and chat for hours.

my boss then found the lady who was always hanging round to chat and not spend any money to be super annoying and putting off the other customers, as well as other staff when she tried to use the staff fridge and room to store her stuff.
 

MatthewWestfieldUK

Well-known member
May 13, 2021
871
500
63
#29
I just find malls are places without soul
wouldnt you rather have tea or coffee at church?
but then churches are turning into corporations now too.

I had a friend who used to always want to go to the mall. All she wanted to do was look at shops and spend money, (for herself) it wasnt as if she wanted to spend anything on me, it was more she wanted me to spend MY money, so I stopped hanging out with her. She would go look at this and that and then tell me (or nag me) to buy it, even when I didnt really want to, so I found I ended up with more clothes than I really needed.

Not to say I dont like clothes, its much better than walking round naked, but I dont really enjoy shopping for them THAT much. You could trawl through 200 shops in a mall and still not find anything decent or in your size or affordable to wear.
It's better to be around nature and have a drink in a small independent shop.
Folks seem to have less hobbies these days
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#30
well, the mall got back to me about my feedback and suggestions!
I had quite a few ideas, though I didnt put in the slide idea. I dont think they'd go for that one.

Watch this space...
 

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
Aug 13, 2014
27,683
9,614
113
#31
The slide idea seems cool but you have to keep it clean, and for legal reasons they would probably have to put an employee to monitor it.

If you want amusement park stuff in your mall, go to the Mall of America.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#32
ok these are my ideas

trivia quiz nite late nites
shopping treasure hunt...shoppers get given vouchers to buy ten items in the mall, when they complete their shop within a time frame, fastest time wins, the goods bought go to charity and they get vouchers for massage, meal or movies.
Its in the bag game...shoppers have to guess whats in the bag or take the money (could be great prize or booby prize)
wheel of fortune game with prizes

dj with disco party dance floor in mall area.
giant chess set or snakes and ladders on floor area

free food tastings or samples outside supermarket.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#33
I went out op shopping the other day with a friend and we actually did go to a mall that had an op shop although it was outside near the carpark rather than inside the mall itself.

Then got invited to this publishers evening in the bookshop, so there are things happening there after hours.

the thing is though she knew which shops to go to and we didnt just go to the mall just to hang out there, or look at every shop we were on a school mission to buy books.

I think if there is no reason to go to the mall people wont go. If there is no shop that you need to go to people wont just go for the sake of hanging out there, I try to get this through to my boss who seems under the impression that just because theres foot traffic in a mall he will have customers.

its kind of like if a church doesnt invite you to anything you wont really go just cos its there. I mean I walk pass all these houses in my neighbourhood and most i have never been invited to their homes, and there are some shops I go past that I have never set foot in.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#34
my boss said hes going to let me go and the other part-timers cos there just isnt enough trade to keep us on. Am a bit bummed.

He tried to talk to the mall owners to drop the late nights as it was dead, but they didnt get back to him. I think they should just have one late night not two, and close the mall on sundays.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#35
I am eerily drawn to google 'dead malls'.

In this post-modern post-consumer world

I think whats wrong with malls is there are too many of them. too many shops to trawl through and nobody wants to visit that many when they have not much money.

Also people prefer to park right outside a shop and get their shopping done than crawl around a ten story carpark looking for a park.

the fast food courts are so generic and not tasty.
Also many shops selling stuff you have no earthly use for.

If it were me I would repurpose the mall totally and turn it into a school.
each shop would be a different classroom, workshop or studio where you would learn things and have activities.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
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#36
If Jesus were around today he would have said of the temple you have turned my house of prayer into a mall!

And then he would have ripped out the atm machines.
 

Mii

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2019
2,082
1,330
113
#37
I mean there are some areas in the mall that are kind of like a kiddy casino, they have slot machines to play games and win useless trinkets. I think I missed the thrill of losing my money in my childhood and couldnt see the appeal. I would have spent it on food or the latest comic.
That reminds me of when I was about 6 or 7 at a singles retreat with my dad down in Destin Florida we went to a mall and it was like a smorgasbord of stuff like that. Tickets. TICKETS. tickets....

That sort of stuff was quite alluring to me for a long time. With tickets you feel rich as a child lol.


I haven't been to a mall in ages other than to eat in one of the nicer restaurants with someone I was meeting about a year ago. I parked in an out of the way place in a parking garage but all the entrances were closed (due to the virus). I asked a security guard how to get in and he said you either have to walk all the way around or park at the food court. I drive to the food court (which is packed) and there are no spots. So I park across the way in a strip mall that says "shoppes at (insert mall name)" and think nothing of it. I eat. have a conversation. Leave. My car is booted.

OH you thought this was the mall just because the shoppes at the mall meant that it was the mall? Ha ha!

The person (family) that I was meeting with paid the fine. I probably would have had my car impounded with the frustration (and I had no credit card with me just cash).

That was my last experience at a mall LOL.


The last time I was actually "in" a mall that I can recall my brother wanted to get a few things and I just wandered around...they had this child's train that went around the mall and I paid to ride in it. It was funny because I was like "hey brother...see you laterrrrrrrr..." as he stares at me bemused when I passed him. Like something out of a films really :p


They have their moments but other than taking my toddler nephews, or if someone wants to grab lunch there, I can't see much of a reason to go there. This year might be different though, it was always impressive to see the crowds around Xmas. I'd usually go on the 23rd or 24th just to see the parking lot full and all the people ha.

You gotta admit they have some pizzaz in the right mindset though right? It's like texting. I don't like texting. I find it inefficient and I'd prefer a quick phone call...but some people prefer it and are set in that. Fine. I'll operate within it up to a point. Same thing with malls sort of...thoughts?
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#38
they should just call malls Santa's storage rooms. You write or email your wishlist there. A team of mall workers would lock the goods up up until december 24th then wrap and deliver them all overnight.

No you cant just wander in. Its a restricted operation.
For those that dont celebrate christmas, you'd only be allowed in once a year on your birthday.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#39
I recall at once point the supermarket at the mall actually did have rats.

Thats another reason why I dont like to go there.
 

Lanolin

Well-known member
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
7,188
113
#40
I went to the mall last week to pick out some gifts for my dads bithday, it was abut weird because it looked like a ghost town with everything under covid restrictions.

The shops were shuttered and you had to sign in, but otherwise it was kind of nice to have the book shop all to myself and no other customers, with no loud music blaring at you from every shop..and plenty of carparks.