Now I understand.

When I was a young mother, thirty-five years ago (Yikes), I enjoyed going to the local mall by myself on Sunday afternoons to enjoy a little me time.  Most of the time I was not shopping for anything in particular; I enjoyed just looking and perhaps finding some good sales.  There were certain stores I frequented and there were those that I passed right by because they only carried “old lady clothing.”  I don’t remember now what those clothes looked like, but I do remember my attitude about them.  That said, there was no shortage of things for me to buy;  plenty, of other stores carried things I liked.  During many of my young-mom-Sunday-shopping-trips I found way more than I “needed” so I spent much of my time making decisions about which of my finds I could justify buying. Back then, I actually enjoyed this whole process.

As I got older, had less time for shopping, and spent more money dressing my girls, mall shopping for myself lost its appeal. And once online shopping progressed beyond the J. C. Penney catalog, to everyone having online shopping available, I stopped mall shopping altogether except on the rare occasion of needing a dress for a real grown-up affair…or shoes.  I need to try on shoes.  I started ordering almost all of my clothes online from my favorite mall stores.  And then came Stitch Fix and I don’t even have to do the “shopping” myself.  My ‘stylist’ does a better job finding things for me than i do for myself.  Boy have times changed over the last thirty-five years. 😉

Last week, I needed a little adventure so I decided I would go clothes shopping at the mall, Galleria Dallas, something I have not done since  before the pandemic, and likely longer ago.  I had time to spare, money to spend, and a specific goal, which may have been the problem.  I was looking for some fun new clothes to wear on a trip to the Caribbean.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was looking for, but I knew I’d know it when I saw it.

It was going to be like old times!  I started my shopping adventure at Macy’s, a store where, in my previous shopping life, I’d always had found a wide selection and good luck finding things that I liked.  When I arrived at the top of the escalator and stepped into the women’s department, nothing looked familiar.  What once was a sea of color, varying styles, and overwhelming choices was only little pockets of racks huddled around designer names, most of them unfamiliar to me.  I wandered around looking for my favorite brands—Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, even the Macy’s store brand.  I never saw them.  In fact, I found little nothing that spoke to me.  But I did find these.

It was crazy!

I wandered out into the mall, four floors of shopping; surely I would find something somewhere.

I passed store after store on floor after floor and saw nothing that even piqued my interest.  The number of stores that used to be grandma stores when I was in my twenties and thirties are all now geared to twenty-somethings, are expensive designer couture, or both.  Where did the grandma stores of my youth go now that I need them?

The only thing that I purchased on my trip to the mall that day was a cover for my new iphone.  The Apple Store is a multi-generational shopping experience;  both young and old dress our phones similarly.    Thank goodness!  And just so my day at the mall was not a total disappointment, I bought myself a bagel with cream cheese and a Diet Coke and sat and watched the Zamboni refresh the skating rink, another activity enjoyed by young and old.

I left the mall that day with empty hands and a virtually unused credit card.

The next day I went to Target for basic stuff—socks, non-aerosol hairspray, kitchen trash bags, and cheese.  Sadly, this shopping trip was more fun, and more successful, than the previous day’s.  While there, I decided to take a quick detour through clothing.  At this point, I had nothing to lose.  Just like when I was at the mall, I didn’t know what I was looking for but I’d know it when I saw it.  Score!  I found several things that were exactly what I wanted.  I don’t know whether this speaks to my lack of fashion sense, which admittedly I have little, or empirical evidence supporting the reason for the demise of the big box stores.  Either way, my future shopping “trips” will be exclusively to the Internet where things are much easier to find or I’ll shop at Target.

Sorry mall stores.  i tried.  I really did.

Now I understand why you are having trouble keeping your friends.