Happy Shopping

A mall near me was torn down and is being replaced by one of the newer-style collection of stores and eateries. This one is called The Promenade, which I imagine is supposed to make us think of a place to stroll around, looking at the scenery. What it makes me think of is that no one involved in this changeover knows the meaning of the word "promenade." There is a tiny fraction of the number of stores that were in the mall, and as far as I can see, there are two, possibly three, stores that you could actually walk between. All the others require getting in your car and driving closer. There is a separate building that has three small restaurants and a phone store. Oh, and one empty store. I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to see what shows up there. Anyway, I guess you could stroll up and down this short sidewalk while you decide where you want to eat. Another of these new areas nearby provides a slightly greater number of stores you can walk between. In one area you can visit a craft store, get some frozen yogurt, then stroll along checking out the front windows of the nail salon, the phone store, and the dentist. It's a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Or thirty-five minutes. It does have a couple of tree-lined walkways, leading to a few other stores and to restaurants a little farther away. But I'm there fairly often and I've never, not even once, seen anyone walking them. There was a reason the traditional mall became so popular. It was efficient. I grew up near a couple of old-fashioned malls. Two or three department stores as anchors and lots of smaller stores between them. So many choices and all together. The original ones were open air and I remember when they were enclosed. All those stores and we didn't have to deal with rain or snow or temperature extremes. It seems to me that we've gone backwards in these newer shopping areas. here are fewer choices and we're subject to everything the weather can throw at us. And maybe I've seen too much advertising in my life, but I'm not swayed by their names--Happydale Town Center and Smileyville Main Street. I would love to see one of these places with an honest name, such as, "The we know you're going to come to the stores you want no matter how inconvenient we make it or what we call it Mall." It would be hard to fit on a sign.