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Mall and sundry
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Malls have just about everything. If you are in America and you love being a mall rat, here’s where you can go
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SLEEK AND EXQUISITE Macy’s in North Park
Huge malls, sprawling malls, vertical malls, sky malls, malls of various sizes and dimensions, malls galore beckon one and all as the mall culture spreads far and wide around the world. The mall has amazingly become the mainstay of American life though some argue the mall is a contemporary version of the souks, bazaars, arcades, bourses and markets of yore.
Malls house retailers but they are not owned, developed or built by retailers. Malls are made by real estate development companies. Some ten years back aesthetic value was not present in mall architecture but present day malls are well designed. The modern day mall is an American innovation. The largest mall in North America is in Edmonton, Canada - over 5million square feet and in the U.S., the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is over 4 million square feet.
Whirlwind tour
I did a whirlwind tour of malls in three states of the U.S.- Wisconsin, Illinois and Texas. There could be about 144 stores in a mall. Befitting its middle class or upper middle class market there is a Versace and a Ralph Lauren (for clothes mainly), a Cartier and a Tiffany (for jewellery), a Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. There is also a Gap and Victoria’s Secret. The biggest single category is women’s apparel. There is a record store, a toy store, a video games store, Toys R’ Us, several stores selling sneakers. There must be at least 20 places to buy cosmetics if one were to include the department stores and boutiques that sell it as a sideline. There is a beauty parlour, a multi-screen cinema, an aqua massage and a couple of national chain sit-down restaurants. The food court, a vast high-ceilinged arena offers multifarious outlets mostly fast foods.
My first visit to a mall was to the Kenosha original outlet mall in Wisconsin. It has jewellery, furniture and plenty of discount retailers. I bought a stylish London Fog summer coat at a bargain price.
Gurnee mills outlet mall in Illinois, 45 miles north of Chicago has something for everyone.
The main attraction for children include Reptile Zoo, Rain forest café, Disney store, Rink side sports and Cineplex.
There are 200 outlet stores for the grownups including Nike, Borders for books and Corning ware crockery.
An interesting specialty outlet was Blackmarket Minerals selling all kinds of semiprecious stones and costume jewellery for the whole sale jewellery trade.
They also have anchor stores such as Circuit City, Marshals, J C Penney and Sears where I picked up a chic leather handbag.
The Rainforest Cafe
Next I decided to explore the vertical mini malls along the retail corridor of Chicago’s magnificent mile.
Chicago’s vertical malls
“The 900 shops” has a robust and dynamic retail environment. The anchor store is Bloomingdales which is in all 6 floors and includes apparels, house ware, home furnishings jewellery, leather and luggage toys and games.
Subsequently I fly down to Dallas to see the malls in Texas, truly a shopping enthusiast’s paradise. At Garden ridge a Plano town square mall I bought a bunch of gorgeous roses at a 90 per cent discount!
Stone Briar Mall is one of the malls in the suburbs of Dallas. It is a sleek and exquisite mall. It has over 160 stores some unique to the area. One can go ice skating, and ride the carousel. I watched “The Bourne Ultimatum” and dined at the gourmet restaurant - The California Pizza Kitchen. The Galleria is another mall with ice skating facilities besides the chain of designer stores. At one of the food outlets I had some Texmex food, and bit a jalapeno chilli and had to wash it down with glasses of water and ice-cream!
Finally my visit to the North Park Centre mall, an upscale shopping mall located in North Dallas with over 235 store and anchors was an exhilarating experience! Under its expansion plan 1.1million square feet were added as also100 new stores and restaurants, an international food plaza and a beautiful 1.4 acre landscaped garden Centre Park. The Park is designed around a series of lawns and 41 year old live oaks and red oaks. This park doubles as a peaceful area for all to enjoy and an exciting venue for private and community events.
Within the precincts of the typical American mall one merges with the hustle and bustle of high energy mall shoppers. For a break from the hectic window shopping I relished a hot cup of coffee and chocolate chip cookies at the ever popular Starbucks café.
MEERA RAJAGOPAL
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