Articles like this blame the death of the American shopping mall on internet shopping. I personally believe that internet shopping is only a small part of the reason shopping malls died.
While yes, the internet solves many shopping needs but if you've ever tried shopping for clothes as a woman or with a woman then you understand the importance of trying it on before you buy it. It doesn't matter if it is labeled as your size, you might be a 14 for DKNY and a 12 for Levi's.
So if online shopping only did a dent, why are our shopping malls emptying? The end of the arcade.
What killed the arcade? Online gaming and arcade titles for download made it possible to play online with anyone at anytime rather than dump your quarters for hours of alone play. Why leave the house to play it when you can download it and stay in your Cheetos-covered underoos?
Some parts of the country still have active arcades. They also have more active shopping malls.
Can we restore arcades to restore our shopping malls? We'd have to backtrack in our online gaming to achieve that. Most successful "arcades" outside of the west coast gaming scene are Chuck-E-Cheese or Stevie B's and other such "activity centers."
What would mall life look like if these places were located in a mall?
0 comments:
Post a Comment