The Internet Isn’t Killing Malls – Better Malls Are

The customer isn’t always right. For example, the management at South Coast Plaza would prefer that you, or I, or any visitor for that matter, not refer to the mammoth complex as “a mall.” South Coast Plaza is a luxury shopping experience, and a global shopping destination, home to an “unparalleled collection of 250 boutiques and department stores,” including Bulgari, Chanel, and Roger Vivier, among others, in Costa Mesa, California, a quick 20-minute jaunt from the beach. A promotional video narrated in an unplaceable but unmistakably posh accent concludes, “South Coast Plaza: where the world comes to shop.” Plenty of elevated language is tucked into the Orange County landmark’s literature and advertising: premier, critically acclaimed, elegant, exclusive, renowned. But the marketing materials are no smoke-screen. According to a statement provided by the center, South Coast Plaza welcomes more than 22 million visitors each year and nets nearly $2 billion in sales annually. The American mall, meanwhile, is supposed to be dying. Many malls are in fact already dead, their gutted carcasses lying dormant on the sides of highways, attracting mild fascination by way of eerie photography and resigned nostalgia. Read more at Racked.