"How The Net Is Remaking The Mall'"
To lure Web-savvy shoppers, retailers are turning to "lifestyle centers"
To lure Web-savvy shoppers, retailers are turning to "lifestyle centers"
(Excerpt) The landscape of America is the store. Drive anywhere, and you will see mile after mile of mammoth malls, big-box retailers, and local supermarkets. There are more than 1.1 million retail establishments across the country, an average of one every three square miles.Now this sprawling tapestry of retail space is being rapidly rewoven. In 2004 developers poured $18 billion into new and renovated enclosed malls, open-air shopping centers, and warehouse stores, up 17% from the previous year. So far, 2005 is ahead of that pace, in part as a response to the continued strength of consumer demand.
But there's something new going on as well: Bricks-and-mortar retailing is furiously recasting itself to compete in the world of the Internet.
Read the full article here.
Oh, so now it's the internet's fault that the US is being overrun by these lifestyle centers. Now this is just stupid. Online shopping is good for books, CDs, DVDs, but awful for mall mainstays such as clothing. Plus, the lifestyle centers are just malls with a few restaurants thrown in and no roof.
ReplyDeleteI've always thought the internet should share some of the blame, too.
ReplyDeleteInternet shopping to me is like catalog shopping. The clothes or items look pretty but how do you really know what they are unless you see them up close and personal? The only thing I buy on the internet is stuff I can't find in the stores, used books, cds, dvds, etc. I have never bought one item of clothing or jewelry or even some other object or gizmo on the net.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the internet is really to blame for the decrease in shopping malls. It can be partially to blame especially since I am seeing less and less CD stores and book stores in malls maybe because it is cheaper to download or buy those items online.
What is funny is that I never see an article that I think can be the true blame of why traffic is increasing in indoor malls. Lots of these places don't offer diverse selections. Most clothing stores cater to the teen generation and those malls that do have good clothing stores for women are the upscale stuff like Ann Taylor and Colwater Creek. Love those clothes but I and others can't neccessarily afford that stuff unless they are on severe markdown. When my mother was my age (I am only 26) she had choices to pick from that offered great looking clothes for great prices. For me I can either go to the Thrift Store or Kmart or watch like a hawk when a store like New York & Co, Express, The Limited, etc go on sale and even then they have to have a good at least fifty percent off sale for me to get in the door. And the clothes isn't the only factor. Malls used to be a place where you could get a lot done, grocery shopping, drug stores, good sit down restaurants instead of crappy selection food courts, grand department stores, toy shops, hobby shops, music shops, pet stores, etc. Most malls that I see nowadays have the focus on clothes and most don't have a good sit down restuarant or anything else to offer really. Not many malls have CD stores anymore. The lack of diversity is pretty sad.
The Internet won't replace the brick-and-mortar malls because online shopping could hardly become a cult. Malls are pieces of retailing art.
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