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I see Outlet Malls now in my woods. Basically, outlet shops were started as dumping grounds for overstock and irregular stock, but they've become so popular that all the name brands are making shitty knockoffs of their existing stuff and putting them in their own stores.
Theres a ton of those non mall strip malls in sac suburbs - i was just at one yesterday! I miss old malls so much. There wasn't anything like going to a crowded, decorated, well-stocked mall around christmastime circa 1998 or so. Stores have cut back on their stock so much because of online shopping, which is fine because it's far easier to shop online than what is in person nowadays. But...you know, I still miss the good old days.
The food, the arcade, looking at things in the nonclothes store. Reading books you had no plans of buying only to turn around and buy a magzine.
The mall in my hometown is worthless now if you're not interested in fashion. Besides a Gamestop and an Apple store, everything that wasn't overpriced clothes is gone. :\
Even clothes stores (usually niche ones like skater shops and hot topic) would have magazines and books to read, places to chill and browse, stuff like that. There was a place back in the late 90s/early 00s called Skin Market, which was a combination Sephora and Lounge .... Basically they encouraged you to sit and use testers to paint your nails, read the latest magazines, or just sit and talk. It was such a fantastic store....I miss the atmosphere a lot of a time when shopping was a leisurely, all day activity.
The local mall near me has about 33% of its suites unoccupied. That has more to do with the old lady who owns the place squeezing it dry than the economy, but it's a shadow of its former self. And the stores that remain aren't any I'd really go to. I used to go there for Gamestop, Play-n-Trade, Borders, Kay-Bee, and Sears Brand Central. Now, all but Sears are gone, and they don't sell games anymore. There's nothing in that mall for me. When I was a kid, you could hang out at the mall all day, even if you were broke. Now, there's no reason really to even go.
What do kids in high school do now?
Social media on their phones.Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh
Play with their cell phones. On the way to ComicCon yesterday, we had breakfast at Denny's. There were at least three tables where the people just looked at their phones and not each other. My daughter and her friends started doing the same thing until I told her to put it away or I would drop it in her orange juice. Her friends opened their eyes wide and put theirs away and their moms didn't say shit. Fucking phones...
Yeah, I remember when outlets were actual outlets. I remember going to the Converse Outlet with my moms once a year in middle school to get discounted Chucks. They were slightly fucked up, a little cheaper, and said "REJECTED" in big stamped letters on the inside of the tongues. Usually you could see a little glue where the canvas met the rubber on the outside.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunlap
They were just as responsive to having "Nirvana" and "Weezer" written on them with a Sharpie as the non-REJECTED ones.