Christian Reformed Mall of America

The adventure to Woodland Mall, the center of the secular faith, was a very welcoming event. This institution knows its client through and through as you look at the variety of stores that the mall is made up of. There are the gaming stores for the guys and the clothing stores for all the ladies out there. Interestingly, on this visit to the mall, I noticed that all the very clothing stores were double or triple the size of all the regular stores. This only goes to prove that the mall knows its consumer; ie. The female audience. Just as “The Persuaders” so clearly showed in their movie, companies do research on their customer and all the other stores around the building site of the mall. In doing this they see what the customer is missing and needs, and finds and produces the product. It’s simply good business to know your audience.   In filling itself with a variety of products the mall works as a church. The church’s main goal is to draw people in from wherever they come from and sell them some truth or message that fits their world. The mall does this same thing. Malls understand that their main audience is girls and thus work hard on getting a variety of stores that would appeal to their female audience. Malls go even further in that they also have stores that appeal to males. Through the mall’s variety it appeals to multiple audiences just as a church tries to do. No business or church succeeds if its message is narrowed toward a single character type; well not for long anyway. Churches and malls need to understand the variety of their audience.

Also, as a side note, I agree with Pahl on his observation that malls get the customer's mind so jumbled that when they finally make their way out of the mall, they are unable to locate their vehicle. I noticed the reality of Pahl's comment when I had exited the mall and was at a lose to how close or how far my car had placed itself. Though, I mean, that's not saying all that much because I have an atrocious memory...