Goss argues that developers and designers of the built environment, specifically shopping centers and malls, use the power of place and understanding the structural layout of the space to boost consumption of the retail profits. Shopping centers are separated from the downtown area of shopping either by distance and/or design. These establishments emerge for many to be the new heart and location for public and social life. In his article The "Magic of the Mall": An Analysis of Form, Function, and Meaning in the Contemporary Retail Built Environment, Goss also argues that the regulation of the spaces within the mall creates an atmosphere of "community" rather than one that is "public". This article’s main argument is that developers manufacture an illusion of doing more than just shopping when designing malls and shopping centers. The developers and designers disguise the building’s identity while mediating the materialist relations of mass consumption. Goss focuses on five areas in his article. This first area is looking at the mall in a cultural context and the connection between ...
Beautiful scenery, delicious foods, and desirable accessories at your fingertips along with other enticements and wishes the mall offers as described by Carolyn Merchant as the modern Garden of Eden in her writing of “Eden Commodified.” Merchant is an award winning writer and professor at the University of California covering the subjects of environmental history and philosophy, making her an expert in the subject of human nature and our connection to the environment. She characterizes the combination of gardens, goods, and ornate architecture as heaven on earth a peaceful, clean, and orderly destination for rich and poor, old and young; however, is this really all she is saying?
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
Companies realize what people need and they take it as sources to produce commodities. However, companies which have famous brands try to get people’s attention by developing their products. Because there are several options available of commodities, people might be in a dilemma to choose what product they looking for. In fact, that dilemma is not real, it is just what people want. That is what Steve McKevitt claims in his article “Everything Now”. When people go shopping there are limitless choices of one product made by different companies, all choices of this product basically do the same thing, but what makes them different is the brand’s name. Companies with brands are trying to get their consumers by presenting their commodities in ways which let people feel impressed, and that are some things they need to buy. This is what Anne Norton discussed in her article “The Signs of Shopping”. People are often deceived by some famous brands, which they will buy as useless commodities to feel they are distinctive.
How exciting malls are in terms of architectural and interior design! Just by going around the heart of any major city and seeing new steel and glass structures stretching towards the sky, many people may feel that shopping malls are a perfect destination for a combination of shopping and entertainment.
In “High-Tech Tools Help Stores—and Shoppers”, Givens writes, “The more store owners know about their customers’ behavior, the better they can make the shopping experience. They can improve displays, showcase popular merchandise,
In times of overconsumption shopping is considered today to be a stressful, exhausting and time consuming situation to the postmodern consumer. In order to bring back the interest of the postmodern consumer to visit the store, retail has surrender to Internet by providing all the necessary information on the new trends in social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and main Websites that gives us the opportunity to participate in the new means of consumption by giving us voice as society became dominated by the power of digital information, also allowing us to shop online. The disadvantage of a postmodern society to brands and capitalists is that consumers can now dictate their own methods of consumption therefore opting to avoid a physical shop visit and instead it can be possible to do it at their homes. By understanding the story of branding spaces and its cultural impact I intend to share my ideas on the current social and political situation of retail by using local examples such as the extravagant yet powerful Selfridges flagship store in London by describing their methodologies used for a effective costumer experience in comparison to its competitors, their ethos towards the environment and how it relevant it became for the British economy. In this essay I will also share my opinion (as a costumer) on what could be done for an improvement within brands and how does it affects society moralities and the cultural impact.It can be understood by statement above the importance of an environment that stores should provide to its costumers. Without any excitement factors within the space there will not be any other reason for costumers to spend their money in stores. As well as product quality and set prices, the more ex...
Shopping malls didn't just happen. They are not the result of wise planners deciding that suburban people, having no social life and stimulation, needed a place to go (Bombeck, 1985). The mall was originally conceived of as a community center where people would converge for shopping, cultural activity, and social interaction (Gruen & Smith, 2005). It is safe to say that the mall has achieved and surpassed those early expectations. Unfortunately, in today's consumer culture, the mall is the center of the universe and and this has shaped consumers in a negative way.
Downtowns used to be vibrant places filled with businesses, people, and unique architecture. However, this has completely changed. Many downtowns have lost their businesses, people, and uniqueness. This is because of three things, the first one is Euclidean zoning. This separates land based on its use. This affects the variety of buildings and infrastructure in an area. Euclidean zoning assigns a purpose to a plot of land. The next thing that has led to the loss of vibrancy in downtowns is the G.I. bill, which resulted in the creation of new subdivisions throughout the US. Another factor is the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. These three things led to the creation of shopping malls. These shopping malls were built the same in different parts
Here I go again preparing to go to the store Stater Bros and checking my shopping list to see what to buy. As I walk through the store to my left, I can see the organic food and wind up at Services Deli while when going to my right. Buying prepared food saves me time cooking at home and the store has exclusive recipes for everyone. “Human begins walk the way they drive, which is to say that Americans tend to keep to the right when they stroll down shopping mall concourses or city sidewalks,” according to Malcolm Gladwell in his article “The Science of Shopping” (1). He explains how consumers’ shopping behaviors are affected by walking from scanning from left to the right and how it is easier for shoppers to do. Charles Duhigg, writer of The Power of Habit, says that “Realization came from a growing awareness of how powerfully habits influence almost every shopping decision. A series of experiments convinced marketers that if they managed to understand a particular shopper’s habits, they could get
From the quaint café on the corner of First and Main that booms on Sunday mornings, to the community park and pond where families feed the ducks and children play in the midday sun, reminders of an urban area’s identity are scattered within its limits. This identity is composed of a certain level of community shared by the inhabitants of urban areas, and this sense of community develops over generations as people become personally intertwined with other people and structures contained within the fabric of their environment. This sense of community is the heartbeat of thriving urban centers and is what encourages people to take pride in their city — to take pride in their home. It is therefore alarming when one rounds the corner of Main to discover their favorite café has closed up shop, or the duck pond is gated because of contaminated water, or the historical home is deserted and falling apart. As building blocks of community like the café, pond, or the home are eliminated, the identity of urban environments is lost. Cities’ sense of being erodes and the vitality and joy of the area and its inhabitants decays.
Tremendous shopping centers, malls, even those little corner shops became an icon of American culture and its society. We are constantly manipulated by these so called convenient public places where escaping from it would be almost impossible. There are probably a 50% of chances that we will start our day with a cup of coffee in one, buy our afternoon lunch in the other one, or end up just walking around one. Shopping centers are everywhere; we cannot escape from it. Moreover, we do not want to escape from it as we are constantly underestimating the power and the real impact these places have on our society. Thus these places play a huge role in the process of socialization and are largely influencing the development of our society as a whole. In order to understand the way these places are emphasizing the gender differences and inequalities between the sexes, I decided to visit the local store Walmart and through an observation of its environment and its settings try to record its power of gendering. I was looking for a proof that gender is not merely an element of individual identity, but a socially constructed institutional phenomenon which is even imposed in our shopping centers and local stores.
Consumer culture plays a key role in the economy. Today, the ways in which urban spaces are arranged facilitate the consumption of goods. One only needs to look to modern cities such as New York, London or Tokyo in order to recognise the countless forms of advertisement intended to lure the mass population into spending money on various merchandises, from novelty items to luxury products. The use of built structures to facilitate the display of retail products for the consumption of the masses is nothing new. After its renovation, Paris became a model innovative city planning and construction for a lot of modern cities that exist today. The wide boulevards and open spaces engaged the mass population and encouraged consumerism.
The theories in Jameson’s text “Postmodernism and Consumer Society” can be used to analyze Barthelme’s short story, “I Bought a Little City.” In Barthelme’s story, the city owner made modifications to a good city with the intention of bettering it. Instead, he stripped away the city’s individuality and originality. Jameson’s text allows us to interpret Barthelme’s short story and gives us a revelation of the main character’s behavior and his reasoning behind it. The framework that Jameson utilizes helps us understand why the city owner in “I Bought a Little City” alters a perfectly industrialized city with antique ideals.
People are always going to go shopping. A lot of our effort is just: 'How do we make the retail experience a great one? '” - Philip Green
When a person goes shopping and may take a trip to the mall they may feel like they are having a good time on the inside because there are typically nice big ceilings and nice clean stores with new things all over and not to mention the massage...