From my observations, Woodland Mall fits many of the
descriptions that Jon Pahl made in his chapter “The Shopping Mall as ‘Stairway
to Heaven,’ Leading Nowhere.” The outside of the building was indeed windowless
and a drab, boring beige-ish color. In the inside, there were lots of fake
trees and skylights in the high ceilings to let in natural light, just like
Pahl said. Overall, it created a very welcoming, comfortable, open, airy, clean, bright, natural ambiance.
Almost all of the stores had large windows in the front and
their products displayed right there in front in a very appealing way in order
to entice and persuade shoppers to step inside and buy something. The other
form of persuasion that was incredibly ubiquitous and apparent was sale signs.
Nearly every store had at least one in their front windows or just inside the
store. People love to shop and buy things, but they love low prices even more. There
were also advertisements in the middle of the walkways, on the walls, and in
other places. Like the “clutter” discussed in The Persuaders, Woodland Mall was also littered with such
persuasive advertisements.
Before this class and this trip to the mall, I had never
thought about or realized how shopping and consumerism truly are like a
religion and how malls are like a “church.” Walking around the
mall, it was incredibly apparent that the products that are sold there to
consumers are meant to be worshipped by them. The displays, the windows, the
colors, the advertisements; all of it is portrayed in such a happy and
appealing way, it’s hard not to worship and feel like you not only should, but have to buy something. The shoes set on
pedestals and the clothes worn by mannequins make it easy for the consumers to
idolize the products, like it was a religion. Though I’m into shopping a whole
lot, I’ve been to malls before and I’ve experienced this feeling, this need to
buy something. So this time I resolved before I even set foot inside that I
wasn’t going to buy something. I was determined not to give into the
temptation. It wasn’t easy. Multiple
times I glanced into a store and thought something along the lines of: “Oh
look! That dress/those boots/insert product here is super cute and it’s even on
sale! I should go look if they have it in my size…” But I was able to refrain.
Other observations:
- There were multiple nice, luxurious cars in the middle of the walkways
- Kiosks selling a myriad of products were also in the middle of the walkways
- Two young women asked our ages and whether we’d be interested in doing any modeling
- A woman at a kiosk asked if we wanted a free hair demo
- Most stores cater to a certain demographic
- There was a children’s play area in which the play structures were shaped like food (banana, bacon, sausage, etc.)
- Malls allow people to be lazy: so many stores in one place; very convenient, easy; makes you want to buy more things because there are so many stores.
- It truly is disorienting. Because the mall is shaped like a cross, each hallway looks similar and you don’t remember where anything is and whether you’ve already been down that hall. It makes you keep walking around and around.
- The big department stores, which many people go to, are located at the ends of the halls, which means you have to walk by all the other stores to get there, and chances are you’ll walk in a few and buy something there, too.
- The mall was open from 10 am to 9 pm, just like Pahl said most malls are open.
What
is this advertising???
Fine art???
What
store it this??? Oh wait, everyone knows what Hollister looks like so it doesn't even need a sign…
Some great t-shirts…
What an exceptional mall!!!
Great observations, Hannah! I'm fascinated by Hollister in general because of the mystique of their stores--how they create a whole other world, a "holy of holies" that's dark and moody in the midst of all the brightness, like a confessional...
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