100% disagree. Don't discriminate against a whole group -- target those who are causing the problem.
They are - the mallrats!
I guarantee you, even if there were 1,000 people in that food fight (a number that strikes me as hyperbole) there were at most 10 who instigated it and the rest followed the crowd, as teenagers are wont to do.
By that logic, reduce the density of the crowd and reduce the problem. That's what they're doing. Your statement also illustrates the point that the *teenagers* are wont to do things like instigate or participate in a food-fight, which is why they're being targeted instead of the old mallwalkers.
Well, I can understand their perspective. But, this is the most suicidal business move they could make.
Our local mall did the same thing around 15 years ago.
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<dead mall story>
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I've got a family of my own, kids, and have personally watched the history I described above.
I was going to post 'How will American capitalism survive?' till I read Flyinmac's lovely post. She answered it for me. It won't.
OK, both of you are completely missing the situation here.
1. Christiana Mall has A LOT of these mallrats. You can't move for the groups of them standing around so you can't even walk down either side of the walkway. They don't bring in business for most of the stores there. When was the last time you saw a bunch of goth/emo/scene kids shopping at Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, or even Gap? That's what they are - the Hot Topic crowd. Yes, they spend money in the food court, but given the selection of vendors at Christiana, the majority of the food court is *not* making money off of them. Burgers and the 2 pizza places, yes, Saladworks, the Deli, the 2 asian places, etc., not so much. The overwhelming majority of stores where these freaks
aren't spending money will only be helped by getting rid of the nuisance so that adults, with jobs and money to spend, will not cringe at the thought of going to the mall after work/on weekends.
2. This mall is *not* going to die because of this. It's the ONLY real mall in Delaware (Concord mall doesn't count). It's right beside I-95 which is packed with traffic from the surrounding states. It's minutes away from 2 other states, (PA and MD). People in Maryland north of the tolls can drive up to Delaware and save $10 in tolls instead of going to White Marsh (MD). If you're south of Philly, Christiana Mall is closer than King of Prussia, and... Most importantly, there is NO SALES TAX in Delaware, so this mall draws in people from other states in addition to the locals. It's in the middle of a multi-year renovation, with significant upscaling, including a new food court. One of the anchor stores (Strawbridges) closed when they merged with Macy's, and that drove more business to the rest of the mall stores rather than hurting the mall overall. Now a new anchor store (Nordstrom, I believe) is going to be built.
Getting rid of the riff-raff now will help get its reputation improved before the grand opening of the new renovations.
