America's Shopping Malls Are Dying A Slow, Ugly Death

[Rey C.]

...and I have to be reminded of how many dumb people exist in this world.

Well, there's still Walmart.

 

[Rey C.]

We have the odd mall over here. I hate them. Nothing to do with shopping, shopping is fine, having all the shops together is great, having cinema and fast food places/cheap restaurants in the vicinity is convenient. It's the environment they host over here that I can't stand. Fat wrecks in trackies towing their seventeen bastard children around with them spending their fraudulent benefit payments on big screen TVs and PlayStations. Uncontrolled feral kids running around colliding with the innocent, dripping the contents of their Greggs bags all over the place and leaving their sticky fingerprints on things you might have wanted to buy. Zombies trundling down the corridors five-abreast forming a slow-moving human chain preventing me from getting past and actually making it to the shop I want to before the mall shuts. Scummy mouth-breathers, mindless drones and the young offenders of the future running amok.

Might not necessarily be malls. Maybe I just don't like people.

If (or when ) you stop being a mod and get your rep back, I have to make a note to give you massive rep for this post. You were in my head on that one. It's like you wrote what I was thinking. :hatsoff:

 

[squallumz]

I am not one of these people. I'm hardly ever on my phone, not even when I'm at home. I text maybe a whopping 4 people, very rarely. When my boyfriend is in CA for months at a time, I text him. Every few months, I text my mom. Every week or so, I text my webmaster. And every once in a while, I text an old friend to see if they'd like to meet up for a drink. Matter of fact, I haven't texted anyone in 4 days.

I can't wrap my head around how so many people constantly have their faces shoved into phones, tablets, laptops, nooks, or whatever other device they have. You go out to see a movie to watch a movie, not text. You go out to the park to enjoy a nice walk and pretty scenery, not to sit there and text. You meet up with friends for lunch to socialize, yet you're sitting there on your phone, not even talking to the people sitting right there in front of you. Why bother going out at all?

I don't go out much for a number of reasons, but when I do, I'm actually present in whatever it is I'm doing.

Anyway, yeah, I agree. Too many people with their faces stuck in their devices. I'm such a technology scrooge. I remember when I went to Game Stop about a month ago, and I had recently joined their power up rewards program, for which I had a buy 2 get 1 free coupon that was with my membership. When I got to the store, they told me that I had to download an app and have them scan something on my phone in order to use the coupon. Freaking kidding me? What if I didn't have a smart phone? I didn't used to. Up until August of 2013, I was still using a go-phone. Ridiculous that you'd need to use an app in order to use your membership, seeing as you're given a card for said membership, so should that coupon and all of your membership information not be stored on the card? I don't get it. Everything is going technology.

the big issue with the so-called smart phones is the permissions on these "free" apps.

developers don't make things just for fun. the permissions are astronomical. and guess what? you number, picture, location and whatever else that's on your friends/families phone is up for grabs. most of these apps require you to allow them access to your contacts, location, and more. and if they accept them (and they do) you're up for grabs.

long story short, you can have a phone like that, refuse all the permissions you want, and all that. but if one person with you on their contact list goes for it, you might as well have anyway.

face it, no one sits and reads the entire TOS or takes permissions serious.


ps. i like your robert smith hair. fap fap fap.

 

[TanyaTate]

I very rarely go to a mall. Unless I need some clothes, I just order everything online. Love Amazon Prime, LOL.

 

[Harley Spencer]

the big issue with the so-called smart phones is the permissions on these "free" apps.

developers don't make things just for fun. the permissions are astronomical. and guess what? you number, picture, location and whatever else that's on your friends/families phone is up for grabs. most of these apps require you to allow them access to your contacts, location, and more. and if they accept them (and they do) you're up for grabs.

long story short, you can have a phone like that, refuse all the permissions you want, and all that. but if one person with you on their contact list goes for it, you might as well have anyway.

face it, no one sits and reads the entire TOS or takes permissions serious.


ps. i like your robert smith hair. fap fap fap.

I don't have any apps on my phone. The only things I use it for are the maps, texting every once in while, and to call my family from time to time back home. I never ended up getting the Game Stop app since my phone for some reason won't let me install any apps, it's something about not being signed up for an apple user account. Oh well. Don't want the apps anyway, so no big loss.

Robert Smith hair? So you're saying my hair is really frizzy and wild?

 

[bobjustbob]

The article points out that these mall closures are because of anchors pulling out. That can only be attributed to only one thing, rent. When a chain makes cost cuts it's cheaper to maintain a stand alone then renew a 5 or 10 year lease. Mall operators aren't willing to negotiate deals to keep them there.

My shopping habits are if I want something, I'll go find it and take it home. If I have any problem then I hand it back. No packing it up and tracking my refund. No postage to pay. I'll look items up online and compare prices, but in the end I can find it on sale someplace for just about the same price. Specialty items are different. I'll buy them online because they can't be found locally. And while I'm out shopping I'll grab a bite to eat. Walk around at look at other things. I'm out doing something and not just sitting on my ass at home.

 

[squallumz]

I don't have any apps on my phone. The only things I use it for are the maps, texting every once in while, and to call my family from time to time back home. I never ended up getting the Game Stop app since my phone for some reason won't let me install any apps, it's something about not being signed up for an apple user account. Oh well. Don't want the apps anyway, so no big loss.

Robert Smith hair? So you're saying my hair is really frizzy and wild?

i use a flip phone still.

also, no. im saying you have great hair.

 

[Harley Spencer]

i use a flip phone still.

also, no. im saying you have great hair.

Nice. Nothing wrong with flip phones. I was still using one up until last August, and only switched because my boyfriend decided to add me to his plan and get me a new phone. Otherwise, I'd still be using my go-phone. It was cheap and functional, which is really all that matters to me.

 

[ApolloBalboa]

Robert Smith hair? So you're saying my hair is really frizzy and wild?

Actually, he's saying however far away, he will always love you.

 

[HappyHapyJoyJoy]

In a competition of who has the worst phone, I win. I always win. My phone is a flip, and is over 15 years old. No camera. Monochrome screen. No apps. No real features of any kind. It's lasted so long I've decided to keep it until it dies, you know, out of respect.

 

[squallumz]

Actually, he's saying however far away, he will always love you.

i shall also consider a fap now and again as well.

 

[Rey C.]

cheap and functional

I think that's how my ex-girlfriend described me.

 

[Harley Spencer]

I think that's how my ex-girlfriend described me.

Aww, oh no. Well, there's nothing wrong with being cheap and functional

 

[lurkingdirk]

At least functional. Is that with pills, or without?

 

[Rey C.]

At least functional. Is that with pills, or without?

Well, she suggested that I should be on medication... but I don't think she was talking about Viagra.

And I'm not cheap! I'm just uh... frugal (except when it comes to cars and car parts).

 

[lurkingdirk]

Well, she suggested that I should be on medication... but I don't think she was talking about Viagra.

Ah, yes. The crazy pills.

 

[Armanaeus]

If all malls with their stores will die, where will the poor people work now to prove that their lives have gone nowhere? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

 

[Luxman]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/03/are-malls-over.html

 

[gmase]

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/619860/

After trying its best to kill off malls, Amazon is now planning to expand its footprint of physical locations. With high vacancy rates, lease prices should be cheap.

 

[D-rock]

It's not that malls have died off that bothers me. It's more that places like Amazon and Walmart have replaced them.

If it was a bunch of local shops that popped up instead the death of malls wouldn't have been as bad a thing.