(My mall home: Garden State Plaza)
Shopping is my all-time favorite hobby. Even before reading, which is saying a lot (if anyone is keeping up with my book tally: I’m at 14 so far for the summer).
Regardless of where, I am always game for a shopping excursion.
I mean, growing up in New Jersey, the mall capital of the world, how could anyone blame me?
When I was little, my Nanny (which is what I call my mom’s mother) used to bring me to this little mall nearly every day, even if just to walk around. There I believe is where my love for a good mall grew. If it wasn’t that mall, it was some other mall, we were everywhere.
Now I live in one of the shopping capitals of the world: New York City. One would think I had struck gold, and am now in shopping heaven. Eh, not so much…
It’s not just the sales tax that turns me off of shopping in NYC. In actuality, NYC is just one big outdoor mall. And coming from a mall connoisseur, I happen to enjoy a fine indoor mall rather than an outdoor one. While I love to walk, having to walk possibly eight or nine blocks to get to the stores I want to doesn’t appeal to me. Neither do the lines, for the dressing room or to pay.
You would think this is just a NYC thing, but outdoor malls in general are not my cup of tea. There’s something about the overly air conditioned hallways and annoying sales kiosks that makes a mall feel like a shopping trip from my childhood. Plus, the food courts at open malls aren’t nearly as good.
I’m not saying I don’t occasionally love an outdoor mall on a gorgeous seventy degree day, but I just prefer indoor malls in general. Especially on rainy days.
Lovelies, do you prefer outdoor or indoor malls? Do you like shopping in cities?
Photo: Source
orchid / 106 posts
I have come to loathe malls in general! Indoors is fine except for the kiosks you mentioned. Outdoors are breezy except for the hidden rock speakers, buried in the landscape, blasting Barry Manilo to produce some weird ambiance. Rock speakers?!?!
guest
Indoor malls! Texas is too hot and everything is laid out pretty far apart. There is an outdoor shopping center located near a huge mall where I used to work. It has the potential to put the mall out of business, but since it is outdoors, I am pretty sure the ancient indoor mall will survive a bit longer.
guest
i don’t know of any outdoor malls near me.
guest
There are many malls nearby, I’d have to say I like both. When the weather is nice out, then “lifestyle centers,” and when the weather is too hot, cold or rainy, then regular indoor malls.
guest
Outdoor malls. Indoor malls make me feel all weird and.. I don’t know. I just prefer outdoor malls.
guest
I don’t like places where they don’t post prices and you have to haggle and argue with them to get a deal. I like my personal space when I’m shopping, so I’ll decide if I’ll buy the items with the already posted price, then pay for them. cut the small talk and leave me alone, customer service reps
I usually like indoor mall with employees, who can read body language and not bother customers, who don’t want to be bothered yet would still like to shop, but help when it is wanted or directly asked.
guest
Outdoor shopping centers. They have actual restaurants in them instead of food courts. Although I generally just choose by which store I want to go to. I guess I don’t really go “shopping” without something in mind that dictates where I go.
Plus the annoying high school kids seem to hang out more at traditional indoor malls, and I’d like to get away from that whenever possible.
daffodil / 1615 posts
I work at an indoor mall, which is pretty nice when the weather is bad, but at the same time I’m also stuck inside all day and don’t really get to see sunshine. That said, the city I live in is slated to demolish an old mall and revamp the area to make it an outdoor mall, so I’m curious to see how that will turn out once they actually start the project.
magnolia / 1054 posts
outdoor malls for the summer
guest
I’ve found that outdoor malls are much more popular in the US than they are here in Canada. We tried a new upscale outdoor mall with only high end stores that are normally in very high demand but the outdoor mall (with our Canadian winter) doesn’t seem to be meshing well. Who wants to run from store to store in the blazing heat/slush/snow/rain when you can park underground and shop in an indoor mall?