The American shopping mall has started to change over time as new technology rounds the corner. Shopping malls have had a change in demographic over the past few years that has also affected security. The comparison between shopping malls/centers from the 1950’s today is a large difference. Today, each mall is very different from each other, Bay Park Square Mall in Green Bay is certainly different than Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Has the average mall today changed from the average mall sixty years ago? Are malls in the United States different from each mall to the next?
In pre-1950’s or ‘post-war’, many “malls” were located downtown in a very urban area and the strip was outdoors. At this time, shops were more convenient downtown because of transportation issues, it was easier to use city transportation to get to shopping areas in the city. Also, window shopping played a huge role for consumers. People would walk by and see the huge display in the window and some would go in and shop because of these extravagant window displays. Shopping was also a very social thing for women to do as well as men but it was not a family activity. After the 1950’s shopping started to progress. Instead of having shops on the streets they started building shopping malls/centers built in the suburban areas as more and more families were moving to suburbia and also invested in automobiles. Malls became a private place where protest was hard to have in front of stores since this was private property technically it did not interfere with the freedom of speech amendment. Shopping centers were now becoming a place for families and teens to hang out for the day at. This created the downfall of more and more downtown shopping strips.
Today, at a small to mid-size mall like Bay Park Square, you will likely see most of the same people and type of stores, you have your mainstream name brand stores like Bath and Body Works and DEB along with department stores such as Younkers. Also at that size mall are families that come and go and sometimes you will see a group of teenagers or pre-teens pass by. The culture at a small to mid-size is very straight forward and “people watching” is somewhat minimal. Since Mall of America is very large there is a large demographic of people and a wide arrangement of stores, restaurant, and entertainment. When someone walks into Mall of America you will quickly see a wide arrange of people who would encompass a variety of target audiences. Families of many different cultural backgrounds such as a Somali family, Hmong family to a Hispanic family all in a small bench area. The wide arrange of stores makes a difference as to who is in the mall as well. High-end stores like Burberry, Juicy Couture and Michael Kors aiming at the upper/upper middle class to stores like Dollar Tree and Rainbow where the products sold there are not particularly high-end and would be considered as a place that sells normal goods.
Today the popularity of malls has taken a decrease, technology, and convenience being the main reason. Strict security policies also affect teen traffic unparticular. “Atlantic Station is strict with teenagers. After 8 p.m., no one younger than 17 can buy a movie ticket or walk around without an adult. And after 11 p.m., people between 17 and 21 years old aren't allowed on the property. These rules make it pretty hard for teens to have much fun at Atlantic Station, especially since none of us are ready to head home by 8 o'clock.” (NPR) These security procedures restrict the freedom of teens. Some malls have different policies but most have at least somewhat of a restriction on teenagers. "I would definitely say that technology is the No. 1 factor affecting the mall culture today. More so than the danger of going to the mall and the waste of time," (Alison NPR) Technology makes online shopping incredibly easy at the touch of a button and it gets delivered straight to your doorstep. The convenience of online shopping has made staying at home relaxing a more convenient thing as well. "I definitely will sit in the house watching TV or Netflix for several hours straight and just be like, 'I feel fat and like I need to go move.' But then again, Netflix is so wonderful," (Alison NPR). Many teens would rather stay in at home than go out. Also, most malls are located in the suburbs today, or far from the downtown area of the city.
With today’s technology and security breaches, shopping at malls have become considered “inconvenient” to the average person. Yes, many families and friends go to malls to shop and hang out but not as many as before and it has forced many American malls to close their doors. Attacks and large fights have also taken place in malls creating a sense that some shoppers fell they are unsafe, therefore security has been greatly increased in malls across the nation. For example, at Mall of America in Bloomington, MN has put in place strict rules for kids. “We welcome all youth to Mall of America®, however on Friday and Saturday evenings youth under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older from 4 p.m. until close,” (mallofamerica.com) These rules are enforced by security officers throughout the mall and any person can be stopped and asked to show identification after 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and it does happen quite frequently. A shopper that an officer may think could be under the age requirement may be stopped six to seven times from 4 p.m. to close (9:30 p.m.) and that is normal.
Shopping has made a big change in the last one hundred years, where shops are located, who and with are people shopping, what kinds of items are shoppers purchasing. Security and picketing has changed and also who is actually spending time at these malls. Now malls are seen as an ever person hang out where as 90 years ago that wasn’t the case shoppers were separated more by class in each store and the stores were not exactly ‘together’ as they are in malls. Yes malls are set up a certain way to make it more convenient for each shopper to get to their selected store but when the food court comes around everyone from every store is there and every class and ethical background are put into a big melting pot.
