America's Shopping Malls Are Dying A Slow, Ugly Death

[gmase]

It's not that malls have died off that bothers me. It's more that places like Amazon and Walmart have replaced them.

If it was a bunch of local shops that popped up instead the death of malls wouldn't have been as bad a thing.

Agree.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

I buy from Amazon because I can order something at 4AM in my underwear then pick it up outside six hours later at 10AM in my underwear. You try any of those things at Best Buy and they'll call security. If a store wants my business they should make an attempt to earn my business. I drive a GMC, buy Smith & Wesson, and strictly hire American-based Illegal Aliens only so I still support the USA.

 

[Tyrion Lannister]

Not to mention that the food courts in most malls have gone to shit. That food tasted great in the 80s and 90s. Some of the dessert places are still good but that is it.

 

[tvstrip]

I do like the festive mood at the malls during the holidays though. The rest of the year, meh.

 

[VillellaMcMeans]

Not to mention that the food courts in most malls have gone to shit. That food tasted great in the 80s and 90s. Some of the dessert places are still good but that is it.

Um...I wouldn't ever day the food was ever great even in the 80s, hahaha - to me it hasn't changed much, it still fast food but way more expensive now 👎

 

[VillellaMcMeans]

I do like the festive mood at the malls during the holidays though. The rest of the year, meh.

I'm opposite haha, I hate the holiday stuff it feels was too forced 🙄

 

[VillellaMcMeans]

What I miss most are the arcades, not the childrens arcades with dancing and prizes etc, just plain old regular arcades🕹️🎮

 

[gmase]

I do like the festive mood at the malls during the holidays though. The rest of the year, meh.

Personally, I find the downtown shopping districts are more appealing. As a kid I loved going into Pittsburgh to check out the department store windows. Not quite as extravagant as Macy’s in NY obviously.

The mall had the advantage of being much warmer though.

 

[djbeef]

What I miss most are the arcades, not the childrens arcades with dancing and prizes etc, just plain old regular arcades🕹️🎮

Yeah. There was one that all the kids went to where I live, $2 at the door, and all the games were a nickel a play. Bulging pockets of nickel rolls 😅

 

[VillellaMcMeans]

Yeah. There was one that all the kids went to where I live, $2 at the door, and all the games were a nickel a play. Bulging pockets of nickel rolls 😅

Holy, that good deal! Lowest I ever seen was a quarter per game👍

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

When I was a kid we had Westworld in Westwood Village and Captain Video on Pico/Overland. I remember when the games were a quarter too. When I saw the first one that was fifty cents I though, "Whoa! That must be some state of the art game!" The innocence of a gullible child. A fat one too.

I love arcade games. I own one of those bartops with a 60 game Jamma board. I have other kinda arcade stuffs that I bought. I still suck at arcade games and don't think I've seen a sign of improvement since 1983. My wife, who just learned Donkey Kong existed 4 months ago, is better at Donkey Kong than I am.

 

[VillellaMcMeans]

When I was a kid we had Westworld in Westwood Village and Captain Video on Pico/Overland. I remember when the games were a quarter too. When I saw the first one that was fifty cents I though, "Whoa! That must be some state of the art game!" The innocence of a gullible child. A fat one too.

I love arcade games. I own one of those bartops with a 60 game Jamma board. I have other kinda arcade stuffs that I bought. I still suck at arcade games and don't think I've seen a sign of improvement since 1983. My wife, who just learned Donkey Kong existed 4 months ago, is better at Donkey Kong than I am.

Hahaha, yeah me too thought what the fuck 50 cents? I'll just go corner store or laundry mat where games are still a quarter.

 

[xfire]

There was something magical about running the mall in the late 80's and early 90's but they really started going downhill by the mid-90's. I kind of pity kids these days that didn't have the mall experience; arcades, music stores, cinema, food court, meeting up with friends just to hang out... where do people hang out these days? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

meeting up with friends just to hang out... where do people hang out these days? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think social media and internet video games are the new playground for kids. When I was in high school all I thought about was playing baseball and football. I don't see kids play ball with each other as much as I used to.

 

[mikexmoran]

I'm definitely not kid anymore, but have seen videos where people watch PubG players online. Interesting in the fact that people are interested in doing that. The unscientific sampling of players I've seen n the 2 videos I watched seemed like sharp kids. I don't know if they smoke pot, but they definitely didn't seem like basement stoners that I would imagine they might me (a prejudice dispelled).

I bring this up because Amazon is having a problem with obtaining drivers. The number of driver applicant who fail drug testes for marijuana use is fairly high. When screening for marijuana, the company's driver applicant pool reported drops by 30% - the opposite of what you'd want during a labor crunch.
Amazon is instructing delivery partners to explicitly advertise that they do not screen for marijuana, which Amazon says could light up the applicant pool by 400%.

.... dude where's my van?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...er-shortage-recruit-pot-smokers?sref=3Ac2yX40

 

[gmase]

Ignoring the problem is one way to make it go away. This seems like Trump’s “if there are no tests, there are no COVID cases’ remarks. Imagine the backlash when one of these drivers causes an accident? Since these are independent contractors, my first thought goes to risk management and insurance liability. Most commercial insurers will want a robust program to ensure only qualified drivers are on there road.


Of course Amazon has the lawyers to minimize their exposure. The mom-and-pop contractors do not.

(I do understand not all pot users will consume while working. Just like not all alcohol users consume on the job. Marijuana is legal in Colorado and I have driven behind plenty of cars emitting a very strange odor.)

It is not relevant here, but look up Nestle v Doe to see how large multinational corps utilize ‘contractors’. The case was rightly decided 8-1, but the underlying facts to the case are fairly disturbing. MNC: ‘not our problem if my contractor uses forced-labor in a developing country’.