According to Lizabeth Cohen, in the ideal world, suburban shopping malls served as hubs of modern-day civics for suburban communities, comparable to the market squares in history. However, the perfect world does not exist and the shopping malls have evolved away from being “civic centers”, replacing communitarian interaction with centers of consumerism and pop-culture instead. Without a doubt, the strong influence of consumerism and pop-culture rule over shopping malls, as market segmentation and class differentiation clearly manifest itself in these enterprises. Personally, I have witnessed market segmentation and class differentiation in the malls I visit. The Mall at Short Hills, more commonly known as Short Hills Mall is a prime example …show more content…
Unfortunately, the very same strategies used in the efficacy of suburban shopping centers, gave way to the rise of market segmentation and the shift away from communitarian cooperation. The developers, owners and centralized management were responsible for the idealization of the shopping centers (Cohen 265). Therefore, store proprietors arranged to eliminate distasteful urban factors, namely, prostitution, homelessness, truculent rebels, racial minorities, and the impoverished (Cohen 265). As a result, market segmentation, along with both commerce and civic community, became a model in the establishment of these shopping complexes (Cohen 265). Inconsistently, suburban shopping centers shaped the idea of community dominated by “exclusionary socioeconomic and racial terms” (Cohen 265). As shown, these aspects refining the marketplace contributed to the nonexistence of civic affairs in the malls today. Moreover, the notion of consumerism and popular-culture took a stronghold within the community, further stimulating the trends and fads certain individuals identify with. The influence of market segmentation, consumerism and popular culture are easily obtained due to modern technology, which shapes what one would experience in the present-day shopping mall. Certain buying patterns and marketing strategies govern …show more content…
With this in mind, truthfully, the traditional times of the year we celebrate and greatly value are constructed and “invented” observances. To illustrate, the annual celebration of the holiday, Thanksgiving and its historical background has been interpreted through Culture as Practice. As a matter of fact, the romanticized narrative of the Pilgrims and Native Americans convening peacefully over some turkey to give thanks for their prosperity became known as the undisputed truth of history. Nevertheless, the true historical account of the first Thanksgiving did not exactly occur as described in the romanticized version. Since the victors write history, the elites took it upon themselves to codify the historical narrative by omitting the demise of Native Americans in the Pequot War engaged with the colonists, along with the unsuccessful farming activities of the early colonists, which also led to the loss of many lives. Ultimately, Culture as Practice prevailed with the whole tradition of Thanksgiving, as other myths have become accepted as the “adopted reality”. Along with the narrative of the Pilgrims and Native Americans, the myth that turkey was served and eaten during the first celebration has been widespread. No one truly knows if they did consume
Nathaniel Philbrick opens his book by drawing a direct line from the early Pilgrim’s arrival on Plymouth rock to the building of America. He goes on to say, “Instead of the story we already know, it becomes the story we need to know.” Many of us growing up, myself included romanticize about the pilgrims in the light of the first Thanksgiving and we think about the Indians sitting down with the Pilgrims to take part of the Thanksgiving meal. Next, we believe the myth that everyone lived happily ever after.
Postrel develops her support of national retailers throughout the essay, offering the opinion that it isn’t the stores that give places their character, but instead, aspects like the terrain, weather and culture that do (Postrel 347). While terrain, weather and culture can set apart regions, such as New England from The Deep South, and Southern California from the Midwest, it’s the community that gives each town their own special character. A community consists of the residents, their restaurants, hardware stores, pharmacies, ice cream parlors, farmers markets, and so on. These places, and the interactions that occur daily at each establishment, are the fabric that differentiate them, and create the breeding ground for diverse characteristics to flourish. While Postrel argues that wildly different business establishments across America in the past is a myth , it’s actually not necessarily that the products that varied from store to store, but more the aforementioned factors that truly set ...
As children growing up, they are taught that Thanksgiving is this wonderful celebration of how the Indians and the colonists came together in peace and harmony to share a meal. This gives the impression that everything was all ease and simple. Educators teach that Columbus and those in the beginning were great people just seeking an adventure and new land. There is some truth to these stories, however they fail to teach young ones about the horrible ways that the Indians were treated. “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies” by Bartolome De Las Casas and “The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca” by Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca shine a whole new light on this subject. Las Casas and de Vaca used their writings
Over the years, the American department store has developed and evolved as not only a commercial business but also a cultural institution. While it has weathered many storms and changes since its inception and throughout history, its most predominant enemy has been a change in the lifestyle of the American people (Whitaker, 2013). As the customer’s needs and wants have shifted, department stores have struggled to keep up with demands. It has been argued that the decline of the department store has been ongoing for the last 50 years (Whitaker, 2013). This dissertation aims to understand how the department store has historically played a role in consumer culture and spending, and additionally, how this has evolved and changed in today’s retail market. Although department stores may not be able to take all the credit for inventing modern shopping, they certainly made its conventions and conveniences commonplace. They set a new standard for the way the consumer should expect to be treated, the type of services that should be provided, and the convenience that should attend the process of acquiring the necessities and niceties of life all in one place. They made shopping into a leisure pastime. This environment meant shopping was a means of freedom to look around, pick up objects with no obligations to buy. As one historian remarked, department stores: “encouraged a perception of the building as a public place, where consumption itself was almost incidental to the delights of a sheltered promenade in a densely crowded, middle-class urban space” (Whitaker, 2006). Although this perception and view of the department store has changed over the years, this paper aims to follow the trail of how and why that happened.
Shopping is an important part of American culture. Anne Norton outlines this in her essay “Signs of Shopping.” In a country in which people seek to be as unique as possible, Norton points out that people shop to find identities; she explains this by stating certain clothes carry an identity, women tend to be a bigger part of the American shopping culture, and that shopping from home still has the same effects as shopping at the mall.
Walmart is a big retail store which offers a number of items to customers. It offers place utility as it is opened at a number of locations in Vancouver. A handful of people think that due to the growth of Walmart in surrey, the community of surrey is losing its distinctive character. But I am strongly disagreeing with the statement. In this essay, I will discuss the pros and cons of the growth of Walmart and its impact on the
In a world ran by money, Paco Underhill has discovered a way for stores to generate a larger profit. In “The Science of Shopping”, Malcolm Gladwell reports on retail anthropologists to examine their theories they use. Gladwell does this to inform store managers on how to set up their stores to maximize their profits. Paco Underhill has shopping down to a science. Inside American Eagle, Meijer and Hollister his theories of the decompression zone, invariant right, and zoning can be found.
Many school children celebrate a cliché Thanksgiving tradition in class where they play Indians and Pilgrims, and some children engage in the play of Cowboys vs. Indians. It is known that some died when colonization occurred, that some fought the United States government, and that they can be boiled down to just another school mascot. This is what many people understand of the original inhabitants of America. Historical knowledge of these people has been shallow and stereotyped. The past 150 years has given birth to a literate people now able to record their past, present, and future. Native American literature, as it evolves, defines the Native American culture and its status in the world, as an evolving people, more so than any historical account can.
A sociological observation was conducted at York dale Toronto shopping center and food court at various time intervals. There were different spectres of ethnicity and different ways people acted. I chose this mall because it is one of the largest malls in Canada and the problem of reactivity could be avoided.
Whenever we go out shopping or relaxing at malls, we actually don’t see or recognize any effects of malls as we mostly go there for these two reasons. Malls are an integral part in the lives of America. They are shopping centers that have created a lot of buzz in many writers. This is because we have more malls in America than high schools. Malls have received praises from people like James J. Farrell, Jon Pahl and George Lewis who view malls as not only shopping centers but also as places that provide a reflection of the American culture and serve as centers of pleasure and entertainment. In contrast, William Kowinski and David Gutterson criticize malls for just being an artificial environment that creates disorientation among American shoppers. In my opinion, malls are just magnificent commercial buildings that create a sense of false dreams and imagination.
The suggestion regarding the shopping mall becoming its own liturgy is understandable. People are often fascinated by the mall’s environments. In addition, the mall may become a place of worship to an extent. Spending unhealthy amounts of time at mall may have attachment effect. Nevertheless, attending the mall,
Goss argues that developers and designers of the built environment, specifically shopping centers and malls, use the power of place and understanding the structural layout of the space to boost consumption of the retail profits. Shopping centers are separated from the downtown area of shopping, either by distance and/or design. These establishments emerge for many to be the new heart and location for public and social life. In his article The "Magic of the Mall": An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment, Goss also argues that the regulation of the spaces within the mall creates an atmosphere of "community" rather than one that is "public". This article’s main argument is that developers manufacture an illusion of doing more than just shopping when designing malls and shopping centers.
Consumer culture plays a key role in the economy. Today, the ways in which urban spaces are arranged facilitate the consumption of goods. One only needs to look to modern cities such as New York, London or Tokyo in order to recognise the countless forms of advertisement intended to lure the mass population into spending money on various merchandises, from novelty items to luxury products. The use of built structures to facilitate the display of retail products for the consumption of the masses is nothing new. After its renovation, Paris became a model innovative city planning and construction for a lot of modern cities that exist today. The wide boulevards and open spaces engaged the mass population and encouraged consumerism.
Shopping malls have become meeting places, similar to town halls in the old west. Malls are where people go to explore and experience everything retailers have to offer while indulging in their own personal sport of acquiring different products. The question of what malls bring to society has been questioned for years do they promote rapid consumerism or a life of luxury. Victor Gruen, the inventor of shopping malls, saw these centers as a source of community similar to his homeland in Europe. Most malls represent a safe and controlled nature of human development and leisure. In the following article, I will be discussing the security preventions that shopping malls of today provide. I will also be discussing the enhancements in structures
"There's No Place like the Mall: U.S. Shoppers Unplug." Newswire. Nielsen, 23 May 2013. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.