Christmas at the Mall 2016

by | Dec 30, 2015 | attractions, Bay Area, BK, Burger King, business, Christmas, Great Mall, mall, malls, merry-go-round, Walmart

Christmas at the Mall 2016

They say that the shopping mall has come on hard times.  Once proud malls like the Mall of America in Minneapolis are even having to shut their doors for the first time since they became THE centers of shopping  decades ago. Now, with the internet taking on upwards of 50% of sales mall traffic is way down. You would hardly know it’s Christmas  at malls like this one in the San Francisco Bay Area; nary a Christmas tree or ornament to be found other than at #holiYAYs!
THE FOLLOWING IS A ‘TOUNGUE-IN-CHEEK’ ASSESSMENT OFFERING COMIC RELIEF TO A TOUGH SITUATION WE HOPE CAN TURN AROUND

 

Malls Now Depend on Attractions

 

       Here, even a  small Merry-Go-Round, rides and video games brought in to boost  mall business can hardly find users, this  only a week before Christmas.

 

You Can Almost Shoot A Canon And Not Hit Anyone   

 

  We don’t recommend shooting a canon, either.  Speaking of that, perhaps the terrorist threats are one more reason people are staying away from normally crowded MALLs in 2016. Perhaps it’s time to come back now with so few people to compete with and some serious sales

 

 

 Even ‘BK’ Can’t Bring Them In
It didn’t help that they put this small sized Burger King off to one corner of the Mall. Only half full at lunch time, yet it is the busiest store in the mall – and not far away from  a mini-Walmart.  Scramble the letters and you almost come up with ‘mall’ in  ‘Walmart.’
 
 Great Idea (on Paper) Massage Chairs Go Empty, Too  

 

You’d think the perfect rest stop for  busy mall shoppers would be these massage chairs. Problem is there are no (or very few) shoppers. In better times there’d probably be a line to use these, though, personally, I’m not sure I’d  want to share the germs of a few dozen others who came before me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the Few Stores Exhibiting Anything Christmas  

 

Perhaps a name change is due  for  ‘#holiYAYS!,’  especially once Christmas is over. Easter is just a little too far off -wouldn’t you say?- to start promoting  in December at  #holiYAYs!


 

 

 

 Even Wireless Accessories Aren’t Drawing Traffic at 50% Off

Poor #holiYAYS! – It’s Christmas but you wouldn’t know it judging by customers and  sales at this empty mall shop with the strange name

 

Life Not Very Abundant at Abundant Life       
Even religion didn’t bring the fervent believers here  to the Mall as not-so Abundant Life appears  to have shuttered its doors


 

Advertising Kiosks May Be Turning Away Potential Clients
with Wrong Message
We saw several of these new advertising kiosks but  only sporting their own in-house mall advertising., along with the message at top  to ‘Sanitize Here’.    Perhaps a poor choice of words; I think they were trying to offer free hand sanitizers, another promotion perhaps lacking.  If the mall is that bad people need to sanitize themselves while shopping one has to wonder… Plus, I wonder how many people have actually scanned these ‘QR codes, ‘which have been out of fashion for some time. Perhaps the graphic of the woman shopper could be updated , too.
 
 
  How Do They Expect People to Buy When One Can’t Even Read   the Name of the Store                                  
It looks like a  shoe store of some kind but with a name appearing more like a condom company one has to wonder what kind of shoes they’re selling – and who wants to
buy them.
 
 
Perhaps  A Spelling Center is Needed to Figure This One

 

So much for the cute names.  Don’t try Googling it and who knows what porno sites you’ll  come up with.  I’ll take my therapy elsewhere , thank you. As for balance, well, I thought I was pretty well balanced until this.



 

 

 

Goes To Show Mall Priorities – So Much for Storefront Dentists

 

Was the original idea here for people  to hurt their teeth at Wetzel’s Pretzels and then go next door to Rubio’s Dental Care to get them fixed? Not surprisingly, the food part seems to be working o.k. but  poor  Dr. Rubio appears to have closed up shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MALL as Recruiting Station
They’ll try anything these days.  Yet, looks as though there are more recruiters than recruitees in  this Army  recruiting  storefront.

 

 

                          Get Your Eyebrows Threaded                            
Even at $5 an eyebrow I don’t think I’m ready to have my eyebrows threaded. I’m not even sure what that means, but just outside the mall we have this interesting take on ‘haircuts’ at BG Haircuts

 

Of course, There Are Always HAIRCUTS – And Much More
If you’re like me and not ready for eyebrow threading, you can still get a good , old fashioned  haircut. Or, even a perm, or hair color, or waxing, or nails or facial or massage.  Or  even Men, Women and Children. Just call this your ONE STOP PERSONAL CARE CENTER

 

 

HOPEFULLY NO SUN SETTING ON MALLS

After an enlightening hour or two of ‘malling’ or whatever they currently call ‘hanging out’ at the malls, I picked up my  car after getting repaired nearby and headed home via  Emeryville and this  real honest , more positive sunset on the Bay – an upbeat change from the poor state of the Mall. Hopefully, with continued effort, the once dominant MALLS will make a comeback among holiday and everday shoppers.
 
Until next time on the Bay Area Backroads. For more backroads adventures do check out http://BayAreaBackroads.Blogspot.com