USA - The consumer party is over - Shoppers find much to dislike about malls
Close your eyes and you could be in any mall, anywhere. At each end is an overstuffed department store with roving fragrance spritzers and makeup artists. In between are children's stores showing pink clothes on the left, blue on the right, interspersed with teen clothing stores where the lighting is dim and the salespeople are rail-thin. Throw in numerous shoe stores. Hungry? Don't fret -- somewhere in this mall are warm cinnamon buns.Today's mall shoppers are underwhelmed by the nation's 1,200 enclosed and open-air lifestyle centers, filled with chain stores designed specifically for success in the mall environment. "People go to the mall and nothing stands out or makes the experience fun or exciting," Hoch adds. "There is no sense of discovery. Nothing catches the eye. It's the same restaurants and the same stores in every mall." Hoch predicts as much as 10 percent of the nation's retail infrastructure could disappear by the time the current recession ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment