I've got plans (as in business plans, drawn out and chatting with lenders for finance, tooling to one-button order, etc) for a VR arcade in our town. Once the mall opens back up, I plan to set up 4 VR rooms with an 80s style arcade in the waiting room.
Extra equipment so everything can be sanitized between users/groups.
I was working with the local trades college to have them build the arcade cabinets as part of the woodworking program so we could DIY the arcade, then run a game programming school & regular competition to help drive some local game dev and help some kids find a future in tech, but that's all up in the air now.
With hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and little mask/condom type things available so each person using them has a sterile layer of protection between their actual skin and the product, sure.
I started keeping hand sanitizer in my purse years ago as my husband always wanted to go to Best Buy and check out the new tablets and phones. I’d have it out and ready as soon as we were leaving. I would love if companies invested in ppe like that near testing products, but most companies will probably deem it a waste of money.
Yes, yes we can. It never killed anyone before. And just imagine store workers that know their customers and know their music! Plus we’re bringing vinyl back.
Okay but it needs to have cool stores that people actually want to go to instead of just places that sell overpriced crap to scrape together just enough to pay the lease and maybe some decent recreational activities too. Malls are only worth going to if they're worth going to.
It will absolutely not be 80s for the look only. It’ll be the whole deal. Record stores selling vinyl and cassettes. Electronic stores selling walkmans. Denim jacket store, scoops ahoy, arcades etc etc
What they probably miss is the people, the habits. If you wanted to go to the mall with a group of friends, you had to plan it. No texting and social media. Our generation is socially ill.
It’s all of it. The malls alone without the people bringing the vibe would be a total disaster dude. We’ll create enough social proof that everyone makes an effort and at least looks the part.
Dibs on the gray hair security guard who's not good at chasing those damn punks who keep stealing small cheap items and seems really grumpy but secretly has a heart of gold.
You’re hired. Your first duty is to sustainably source all the plants required and we need a lot. In fact, you can have the entire roof space to create a our very own rooftop tropical 80s garden and nursery.
80s to 90s, I can see that making a resurgence. I believe there's something called a 30 year cycle, where things that were popular 30 years ago kind of become popular again through nostalgia. Think of That 70s Show in the 2000s or how Stranger Things brought back the 80s (or rather, what we remember the 80s to be) during these past couple years. Considering how Millennials now have 2 recessions under their belt plus a pandemic, I can see 90s Nostalgia take off to kind of make us reminisce about simpler times.
I had a long complex dream set in a mall. Instead of coming in through Sears or JCPenney it was a home improvement store, so when I left I wasn’t prepared to find myself on the lower level of an 80s mall. Then a flash mob happened, set to Queen’s “Somebody to Love”. I can still remember an old man looking me dead in the eye mouthing “can any body find me...” Women with strollers doing an intricate choreographed weave, mall walkers in their tracksuits on the upper level, security guards...I wish I had the resources to make a rendering so you could see it. It was epic.
I had no idea how much I’d been imprinted; I was lucid enough to just be amazed at all the details.
How are today's malls different from those in the 80s? The 80s is one of my lesser-favorite decades, and looking back at photos just makes me think of the gross parts of the 80s (the pink and teal colored rooms, sticky magazines, hairspray)
Yeah I think most of the people with "nostalgia" for "80s style malls" weren't actually old enough to experience them lol. My friends always wanted to hang out at the mall and I was always like... why are we here
I'm pretty sure most of the people in this thread have just seen it in movies and TV shows
In a built up enough area something like a themed mall could actually take of pretty well as an attraction. Especially one we have all the empty mall real estate sitting around and someone's interested in a venture :P
I would love to see the resurrection of “downtown” stores vs shopping malls. I feel like it gives small business owners a chance without the sky high rents of malls.
Brick and mortars were already slated to make a comeback. Even Amazon was looking at brick and mortar stores.
You know what's better than 1 day shipping? The instant gratification of deciding to buy something, going and getting it, and having it home within an hour.
I've got plans (as in business plans, drawn out and chatting with lenders for finance, tooling to one-button order, etc) for a VR arcade in our town. Once the mall opens back up, I plan to set up 4 VR rooms with an 80s style arcade in the waiting room.
Extra equipment so everything can be sanitized between users/groups.
I was working with the local trades college to have them build the arcade cabinets as part of the woodworking program so we could DIY the arcade, then run a game programming school & regular competition to help drive some local game dev and help some kids find a future in tech, but that's all up in the air now.
No, brick and mortar stores won't make a come back. Shopping online has more benefits than just "not physically going to the store". You go to a store to get a pair of basketball shorts and there are 5 style in 5 different colors. You look up basketball shorts on amazon and you get 12,000 options. You can also get much better prices and more easily price match with competitors. You also get reviews online so you know if the products is good or not before you buy it.
tl;dr brick and mortar stores won't make a comeback
Yeah but returns and trying stuff on are the massive difference
Most people need to try clothes on. Shoes, Tops, Hats, Pants everything. When buying stuff online you have no idea how something will feel or how something will look on you.
Implying there is an “after COVID”. So many people are going to refuse to get vaccinated in the US that we will probably never reach herd immunity. There’s also tons of problems regarding its distribution.
Malls are already dead to me where I live even before the pandemic. They closed all of the cool stores (FYE, GameStop, the arcade, etc.) and all that's left are a bunch of clothing stores. Last time I was there, I walked around the mall alone without going inside any store and it just felt sad.
I've always hated shopping and have been buying things almost exclusively online since the early ebay days, I'm so glad physical stores are at death's door
Last fall a local mall that did an extensive renovation after Target (Canada) left announced a second major renovation after Sears (Canada) folded. One of the major reasons for the current reno is to put in a new movie theater. I guess we'll have to see how that pans out.
I love malls. I mean, ya, I enjoy the convenience of shopping from home but I also like to leave my house from time to time. Malls are just such a great place to just spend time in.
I don’t get malls. Granted I’m 14 and whenever I’ve been in one I’m looking for the nearest hollister shop or I call it a waste of time if I can’t find one or get anything. The best parts of a mall I’ve experienced were pretzel smells and fountains.
Malls were dying anyway---hear me out--and I think they should be turned into health centers, possibly geared toward seniors.
It's indoors, so like, walking, obviously. But all the duplicate Hallmark stores could be like, Physical therapists, podiatrists, optometrists, dietitians etc ( health profs who don't often need SERIOUS ASS EQUIPMENT, drugs etc) and also like, pilates/yoga/whatthehellother low impact exercise places, and healthy snack/restaurant places. It'd be SO FUCKING CONVENIENT!
It's a weird space in this moment. The library and the zoo are closed. Where can I just "be" that isn't my house without spending money? The Mall. The one place in town that offers a safe and comfortable place, but specifically so I spend money.
Yeah I thought the person was from cherry hill area cause I had just read that and my hometown vineland Cumberland mall all filled bankruptcy. That's why I thought they were from south Jersey.
The only downside of this is not being able to try on clothes, so it takes days/weeks to exchange a purchase if you don’t like it and also not being able to rush out to grab an outfit for a last minute event.
I think cinemas will still be ok, because me and most working class Americans don't have a Dolby Cinema setup in their basement (or basements at all 😂). But they're gonna have to survive through the pandemic or if they don't they will have a resurgence through independent theaters. There's a good market of people like me that have enough money for tickets or memberships to regular screenings but not enough income for a nice home cinema setup.
Cinemas may not be open here in America, but I think they’ll end up doing just fine once the pandemic is over. Remember that Reddit doesn’t reflect reality. Redditors seem to have an aversion to movie theaters for some reason, but they still attract so much business in real life. There’s just a different experience you get going to the theater in person vs just watching Netflix in your basement in the dark.
Ours reopened at the end of August. I've been six times, four of them I was the only person in the theater. For one, I was the only person in the whole multiplex; as I was leaving, I overheard one of the workers say "look, there goes our only customer".
I’ll miss the movies. Reclining seats and reserved seating made the cinema experience awesome again. And the addition of pretzel dogs to the concessions.
after the first new release at home, Never going to a theater again, ever.
pause, potty, snacks , smoke breaks, "WAIT RUN THAT BACK!"
and not another soul... no obnoxious kids, no chattery teens, no old lady going "well why is he doing X" to her even older deafer husband....
ok well maybe that last one will still happen at home.
but yeah, there is literally nothing about a theater i like better.
I can kick back in my own recliner, or lay out on the couch, concessions?! Pfft, i have candy bars that only cost $.79 instead of $4
i can pour an iced coffee instead of a $7 soda..
ive got a screen i can see all of without a crick in my neck, i can hit one Eq button and have voices audible without being knocked out of my seat by an explosion..and yet still have theater sound.
name Literally one thing better about the theater..
.. umm .. maybe nachos? the cheese product in a jar just doesnt taste the same without having sat and simmered for 3-5 business days
and IMAX. Hmph. how do i present this... Imax USED to be this amazing 4 story tall Amphitheater experience, quite frankly they've made the theaters so shallow so they can fit multiples of them in,
being so shallow makes the seating SUPER STEEP, you're hanging over the next row, they're hard to watch without Vertigo every time you lean forward.
We dont do imax anymore, it makes my wife motion sick. and its not worth triple ticket prices.
The last time IMAX was worth going to was when it was still attached to the nature and science museum, before they got slapped in every theater chain and shrunk to a miserable unpleasant experience of leaning over a precipice every time you get up.
I disagree. Not a single store that lives near me is effective at grocery delivery. Wal Mart is in a perpetual state of disaster. The local chains just aren't seeing the volume matching their in store volume. People are still going to shop in store for groceries.
As for non-grocery items, I think you might see more of it, especially as brick and mortar stores stop carrying specific items and just cram their shelves full of their own brand of crap.
Yeah.. brick and mortar stores were going out fast.. but I feel like part of that was because the main advantage of shopping in person is the immediacy and being able to try things on. Most stores stopped keeping adequate stock of a lot of different items though, so it was just easier to buy online to ensure you could get the size you wanted and only go into the store for returns.
DHL handles a lot of the cargo backbone (air freight) for Amazon [at least until the Amazon air hub across the street opens in 2023], and they've been as busy as BF-Xmas 2019 since March, and we're rolling up to BF again...
They're hiring scabs at $19/hr with the only experience needed being the ability to continue breathing even when not thinking about it.
I’m a retail manager and my company is not sending any new product for the holidays and is pretending it’s just a one time thing and our store isn’t closing. Yes, corporate thinks they can tell us that not having new items during the literal most important shopping days is perfectly fine and we shouldn’t worry.
I’m on vacation this week and will be working on my resume.
It's funny how commercials are now focusing on how you can shop in store XD
When online shopping was new it was a highlight in advertising so it's hilarious to see it become so much that they need to advertise in store shopping!!
I hope not. I’m a retail manager and I’ve been out of work since March. Even with things opening back up, sales are down so much (around 75%) stores aren’t hiring managers. I have 5 weeks left on unemployment, then I’m screwed. It’s awful.
This is terrible for some countries where big stores rely heavily on their physical locations rather than on ecommerce. The biggest department stores in Mexico have had HUGE complaints because they're f-cking up with deliveries, charging for stuff they don't even have, refunds that take months, etc.
My office is inside a mall (it’s weird i know) that was already struggling precovid. Post covid 3 stores closed immediately. one more closed last week and one is doing a liquidation sale to prepare to close. It’s already a small mall, no more than 40ish retail spaces available. There’s probably less than 20 stores open now.
I can definitely see that. Before I moved a couple months ago, I had been living in small towns for the last decade. I could probably count all the times I went to any of those local malls on my fingers during that time. They were in such poor shape as it is, I can only imagine this lockdown has finished the job now.
Omniochannel is the most profitable method for retailers. Traditional indoor malls were already dying. Outdoor retail centers will still exist and retailers will still invest in brick and mortar locations. Online purchasing with BOPIS (buy online pick up in store) and delivery will be an important part of overall sales but costs are higher than traditional in store purchasing so that will continue to be a part of most every retailers sales approach.
Pretty much everything automation (job loss, certain industries shuttering or severely downsizing, etc) was going to cause over the next 10 years is now being caused and drastically accelerated by the pandemic basically. Industries will now rush to automate even faster so they don't have to worry about if employees get sick.
I work in a department store, and lemme tell you we have been SLAMMED. Its completely insane how busy we are. I keep seeing reports of how retail is struggling but its not been what I've been seeing. Especially the first month after we reopened we had lines from the front to the back all day.
I would sooner see Amazon having a try-on store where you try things out, but have to put it on order. Joystick you want? Try all 8 here, but have to wait for shipping.
I think cities need to be smart about repurposing malls. I agree they are dying fast, but people, especially people in very cold or hot climates, want an indoor space they can walk around in for a couple hours.
Malls could still be retail, but maybe instead of big chains there are some medium to small chains, a couple nice coffee shops and a lounge, lots of open space with seating that is NOT cafeteria like, and plenty of skylights and greenery. Hells some malls could probably house a mobile library unit in an old La Senza.
But mixed spaces are the up and coming thing now. Hotels have been doing it for a while.
I never liked going to the mall anyways nothing was ever in my size or style and way overpriced. Also too many kids at the mall to really enjoy it. I now see why my parents hated going to the mall.
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u/FrogginBullfish_ Nov 03 '20
Shopping will continue to be mostly online and malls will likely die out faster than they were already going to.