(Excerpt) HINGHAM, Mass. — Carolyn Kennedy wants to add a bocce court to the "lifestyle" shopping center she runs in this Boston suburb. The guys who sit smiling on the benches at the outdoor mall could use something else to do.It's a problem a lot of malls would like to have. Women outnumber male shoppers by about 2-to-1, and men spend an average of 10 minutes less per mall visit. Because browsers spend 15% more than so-called destination shoppers, stores do everything they can to keep shoppers around.
Town centers such as the Derby Street Shoppes here are the latest answer. Because all stores can be entered from the parking lots, these topless malls satisfy busy shoppers' desire to run in and out.
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Still don't personally care for the town center crap personally. Especially in the wintertime where I see them to be too unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteIs it me, or do the people mentioned in the article have really odd names?
ReplyDeleteBesides, with the weather extremes found in many parts of the US, I don't think outdoor centers are a good idea. And US downtowns are dead, killed off by suburban shopping malls. Building fake downtowns without all the warts is just pretentious.
Finally, I don't see the need to attract male customers. The majority of shopping, even for male clothing, is done by women, so why all those attempts to attract men?
Besides, with the weather extremes found in many parts of the US, I don't think outdoor centers are a good idea. And US downtowns are dead, killed off by suburban shopping malls. Building fake downtowns without all the warts is just pretentious.
ReplyDeleteI think so as well. It's more the piss-poor excuse for not trying to revitalize their own downtowns when they would rather do so far in the outskirts.
Finally, I don't see the need to attract male customers. The majority of shopping, even for male clothing, is done by women, so why all those attempts to attract men?
I wish I knew, shopping has been a woman's speciality for eons.
The most ironic thing about this "lifestyle center" thing is that this design centered around (artificial) town centers in not new. In the 50's 60s 70s there were outdoor pedestrian malls were already being built and many early malls in the 60's and 70s looked like indoor town centers abit exaggerated. One good example of this was the now-leveled Naugatuck Valley Mall built in 1969 in Waterbury,Ct it's interior was filled with shingled roofs,large water fountains,brick walkways,and exposed timber walls (the old bavarain type with the brown planks on white walls,think of an old midieval german/bavarian/european house and you get what I mean) So this lifestyle center stuff isn't new and I agree it's hypocracy to build fake downtowns when real downtowns are deteriorating.
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