The modern day shopping mall represents security. It is a long thread that winds through each resident of this country, binding the public tightly together. No person is untouched by this fascinating structure. It provides commonality in such a diverse population, and with that commonality comes comfort. Recently, I spent time at the Southside Works Shopping Center located in the city of Pittsburgh. Southside Works fits the profile of the average 21st century mall, complete with a movie theater, various popular retail stores, and of course, The Cheesecake Factory. It is a place soaked in consumerism where unique individuals become customers. Massive globs of people shuffle across the perpendicular paths that join the shops together. Each group, whether it’s a congregation of giddy tweens or a rowdy family with small children, is complete with various bags from their favorite stores. However, they look happy. And happiness is good, right? The main function of the average mall is to satisfy one’s insatiable hunger for entertainment. The Southside Works Shopping Center, like most other malls, chose to provide this entertainment through food, movies, and shopping. My experience at the Cheesecake Factory reaffirmed many of the beliefs I already about the mall and indirectly represented a lot of ideas brought forth by the concept. It is a restaurant with an over-priced menu that is nearly thirty pages long. This monstrous menu even has advertisements in it. It’s the only restaurant that can get away with having both a hamburger and orange chicken as selections. This place not only represents the sheer abundance of malls, but also the indecisiveness of its inhabitants. People go to malls because they are pre-packaged containers that ... ... middle of paper ... ...laces like this and the mall nurtures a strong sense of nostalgia. Everyone remembers that first time they sat on Santa’s lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas, or their first kiss that happened at the movies within the mall multiplex. Good things happen at these places. Real things happen at these places. Just know this: As a former employee and regular customer of the average American mall, I have witnessed the overwhelming monotony and frivolity of these places, but it is hard to deny the faint virtues that exist within its walls. The mall is a place of security and comfort that can never truly satisfy one’s wants and needs; however, it is a place where family and friends laugh. Countless memories are being harvested in these strange constructs. Authenticity feverishly forces its way through the superficial. And that is indeed, a wonderful thing.
Beautiful scenery, delicious foods, and desirable accessories at your fingertips along with other enticements and wishes the mall offers as described by Carolyn Merchant as the modern Garden of Eden in her writing of “Eden Commodified.” Merchant is an award winning writer and professor at the University of California covering the subjects of environmental history and philosophy, making her an expert in the subject of human nature and our connection to the environment. She characterizes the combination of gardens, goods, and ornate architecture as heaven on earth a peaceful, clean, and orderly destination for rich and poor, old and young; however, is this really all she is saying?
Macy’s intended to deliver enhanced shopping experiences to its consumers through dynamic department stores and online sites. In this regard, the company developed a North Star strategy that allows it to improve its sales growth and to develop its existing core activities. The company’s consumer research monitors, analyze and anticipate their needs and wants based on the changing market trends. This allows it to strengthen its customer base and also helps it in identifying new markets and customers. Macy’s also identifies different styles and designs based on various occasions and events that allow it to capture the changing preferences of its customers. The company also celebrates various iconic events to interact with its customers which
“So what’s wrong if the country has 158 neighborhood California Pizza Kitchens instead of one or two?” Virginia Postrel inquires in her In Praise of Chain Stores essay (Postrel 348). In rebuttal, I plan to answer her question with more reasons than one. However, the responses I intend to offer apply not only to the CPKs of America, but for all the national retailers, big box stores, chain stores, and the like. National retailers destroy the local character of small towns. Chain stores should be limited to only run in a few highly populated urban areas. Furthermore, the costs saved in the convenience and familiarity of chain stores do not outweigh the negative economic impact and damaging effects that they can have on a community’s well-being.
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
Nordstrom retail stores have large hallways, and everything is presented in a very classy manner. The color scheme includes pale yellows, whites, and gold, to provide a more elegant appearance in the store in order to make the shopped feel special. The design is also seen through product organization. Compared to stores like Macy’s, which organize their products based on brand, Nordstrom organizes their products based on lifestyle. Because of this, it is easier for shoppers to find clothes similar to their style as opposed to by brand. In effect, shoppers will purchase more products. This also is a type of experiential retailing, where Nordstrom customers are able to experience the elements of their lifestyle within one section. More so, the product presentation will draw people’s eyes to products, even if they are not looking for it. This gives Nordstrom a competitive advantage in relation to other similar retail stores because it makes their store look more glamorous and high-end. While other stores may focus on value, Nordstrom utilizes the retail positioning strategy to make a customer feel more high-end and
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.
The ethnographic study took place at McDonalds’ shop, Leeds, local market in the afternoon of Monday, 17th January 2011. From away I could observe the huge logo of McDonalds. I stood at the entrance and stared at the shop for few seconds. The shop was far more elegant than the average McDonald’s. The interior has a minimal style with posh chairs, tables, black art deco fixtures, beautiful paintings and attractive lights and draperies. There were large windows so it was impossible for customers to see into the Harvey Nichols store. Also, outside were window boxed filled with flowers or greenery. I could hear some relaxing music. At first glance, I noticed that customers were people with different age groups, genders, ethnic classes, social classes and cultural backgrounds. The language which was more spoken was English. [Without thinking, I was moving towards the counter, I faced] the girl behind the counter [; she] was wearing a red t-shirt with a cap and a hut. She seemed to be in a rush to handle the orders. Despite that, she was friendly and with a smile on the face to welcome the customers. The most co...
My first observation exercise was at the shopping arena. The shoppers tended to move in groups and were more concerned with the needs of their groups. The children however socialized in between groups prompting uncomfortable apologies and new friendships. The workers' age seemed to be distributed from as low as 18 to the mid-60s. Races were diverse ranging from Hispanic to Caucasian to Africans and Asians. The mall was female dominant though there were males present. The staff at most of the stores had on casual clothing, seeming happy and patient with the children and impatient customers. They also knew each other without having to look at their name tags and I did not observe any tension amongst the workers.
Now these stores you won’t find at a mall and only downtown has them. I love exploring each and every one of the stores. On one store they may be selling colorful figurines and a collection of vivid detail blankets and the store next to it may be selling clothes or electronics from blenders to HD televisions. One of the many reasons I like to go into the stores is to glance at the way they’re decorated. It’s just amazing
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.
Tremendous shopping centers, malls, even those little corner shops became an icon of American culture and its society. We are constantly manipulated by these so called convenient public places where escaping from it would be almost impossible. There are probably a 50% of chances that we will start our day with a cup of coffee in one, buy our afternoon lunch in the other one, or end up just walking around one. Shopping centers are everywhere; we cannot escape from it. Moreover, we do not want to escape from it as we are constantly underestimating the power and the real impact these places have on our society. Thus these places play a huge role in the process of socialization and are largely influencing the development of our society as a whole. In order to understand the way these places are emphasizing the gender differences and inequalities between the sexes, I decided to visit the local store Walmart and through an observation of its environment and its settings try to record its power of gendering. I was looking for a proof that gender is not merely an element of individual identity, but a socially constructed institutional phenomenon which is even imposed in our shopping centers and local stores.
Who doesn’t like shopping? I can’t name one person. Phyllis rose states many positive qualities in her essay “Shopping and Other Spiritual Adventures in America Today”. One of the positives qualities she mentions about shopping is that it’s a form of therapy. Being that I love to shop. Rather it’s online or going to the stores it’s something I also find very therapeutic. You don't really need, let's say, another sweater. You need the feeling of power that comes with buying or not buying it. You need the feeling that someone wants something you have--even if it's just your money. To get the benefit of shopping, you needn't actually purchase the sweater. After a long stressful work or school day there’s nothing more relaxing than walking around
We decided that we would head out and explore what Dubai had to offer to us. We went to have breakfast and decided to go take a city bus tour. On our way there we decided to walk around and just take in the image we were seeing. The sun was shining in the sky, the wind was blowing its natural AC, no cars were honking, and it was just utterly peaceful. Continuing walking, we stumbled upon one of its famous malls. This mall was completely different than the one back home. One of the biggest malls that I have ever seen. This mall was three stories tall, with a movie theater with movies that haven’t come out yet in the U.S. An aquarium filled with different fish, crabs, sea horses, stingrays, and even sharks. This mall, even had a lower level as well with more stores and even a ski lounge right in the middle.
Malls are convenient places to shop. They provide shoppers with abundant and secure parking areas. Shoppers need not drive around for fifteen minutes looking for a parking place, nor need they be afraid to walk to their cars after they have completed their shopping. Malls are usually totally indoors so people are comfortable why they shop. They do not they do not have to be subject to the elements as they go from store to store. Finally, the most convenient aspect of the mall is its one stop shopping experience.