As new generations begin to form, people's way of living starts to change. This change is also redefining how people shop. No longer do Americans trek out to outdated malls to do their shopping, since they are able to make all of their purchases online comfortably in their homes. Amy Merrick, a writer for The New Yorker, wrote “Are Malls Over?” to describe the decline of popularity that Americans have with malls. Merrick uses anecdotes as well as analogies to relay how malls are becoming less popular and how they must be reinvented in order for them to avoid becoming obsolete.
Merrick initiates her essay by using an anecdote that provides background about the typical American mall. Merrick recalled, “when the Woodville Mall opened, in 1969, in Northwood, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo, its developers bragged about the mall’s million square feet of enclosed space; its anchor tenants, which included Sears and J. C. Penney; and its air-conditioning—seventy-two degrees, year-round!” She then follows by describing how this same mall is being demolished this year along with many other malls due to their outdated qualities. By providing this anecdote Merrick is able to show how malls were once the hot new trend in America, but are now quickly becoming outdated and unneeded. After proving that the typical American mall is becoming less popular, Merrick is able to suggest the idea of reinventing the American mall.
Merrick initiates her essay by using an anecdote that provides background about the typical American mall. Merrick recalled, “when the Woodville Mall opened, in 1969, in Northwood, Ohio, a suburb of Toledo, its developers bragged about the mall’s million square feet of enclosed space; its anchor tenants, which included Sears and J. C. Penney; and its air-conditioning—seventy-two degrees, year-round!” She then follows by describing how this same mall is being demolished this year along with many other malls due to their outdated qualities. By providing this anecdote Merrick is able to show how malls were once the hot new trend in America, but are now quickly becoming outdated and unneeded. After proving that the typical American mall is becoming less popular, Merrick is able to suggest the idea of reinventing the American mall.
Merrick’s analogies allow her to show the opportunity for success if malls were reinvented. “As any cubicle dweller knows, people like natural light and fresh air and, when deprived of them, feel oppressed. So are people alienated by those older malls, with their raw concrete, brutalist architecture and fretful, defensive air?” By comparing a cubicle dweller to a shopper, Merrick is able to determine the key details, like natural light and fresh air that may reinvent the mall. Her comparison allows her to then provide others’ research and draw to the conclusion that outdoor malls with more than just shopping experiences may reinvent the mall, and make the mall popular once again.
Nowadays many typical American malls are being closed and in order for malls to thrive once again, they must be able to adapt appeal to what shoppers want. I believe that Amy Merrick does a good job at proving this point by using anecdotes and analogies to show how the typical American should be reinvented before malls become obsolete. The audience is able to follow what is being said and connect to how the need for malls is slowly dwindling. Developers need to pin point the desires of shoppers that will make a mall desirable to be frequented by the shopper to help malls thrive once again.
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