Angela+Clarke+2


 * Shopping No Longer the Main Purpose**



When one thinks of malls, probably the first thing to come to mind is shopping. But that’s not really the only reason why people come to shopping malls or centers. People go for different reasons, some are just hanging out, using up free time, socializing, eating, and mostly browsing the stores to shop. Similar to most of the malls in the world, the South Shore Plaza is a place where so much more than shopping happens. After spending time in the food court of the shopping center, you can tell that people are not in the food court just to eat food. The Plaza was first open to the suburban towns surrounding Boston in 1961. It was introduced as an open-air plaza in Braintree. The plaza was made to appeal to affluent customers and to get their business. Then in 1976, it was rebuilt and completely changed (eventually) to an indoor two-story mall. The growth of this shopping center is becoming greater throughout the years, with expansions that show all of its development. These expansions have included different stores, along with restaurants to make the shopping experience expand greatly. No one knew if the South Shore Plaza was going to become into more than a shopping experience, but that is exactly what has happened. It used to be that people would go to their malls to do some shopping, if you needed a specific item, you would go out to get that one thing. But as everything changes from the past to the now, our shopping experience has changed dramatically with so much more to do like eating and hanging out without doing any shopping. I feel like I usually go to the mall to look for something like clothes, yet I know people that go to the mall and just walk around. I also have walked out of the mall knowing I would be empty handed plenty of times. Therefore, people’s views of going to the mall are very different than what it used to be. In the past, people would go to the mall to specifically buy something, and now it is seen as a time-consuming hang out place. For instance, there are so many teenagers roaming outside the stores just socializing. The mall can definitely be described as a different place now than what it used to be. In the Plaza there is a food court that displays how the mall can be more than just a shopping experience. The very large food court is filled with probably more tables that are needed and bright light coming through huge windows on the long side wall and the ceiling. The food court has many different food options and even more people enjoying their time there. The selection of foods varies from the traditional American foods like a hamburger to the more international types like Japanese food. The smells emerging from the restaurants are amazing too; ranging from the spicy sauce or marinade put on the Japanese food to the smell of fresh bread coming from the pizza place, which lingers on throughout the whole cafeteria. There is also a powerful scent coming from Johnny Rockets of hamburgers just coming off the grill. Underneath these strong smells, there is a hint of coffee, which is steaming from Dunkin Donuts’ cups. But the smells are not the only appealing feature of this place; the sounds echoing from one side of the large food court to the other fill the room pleasantly. While sitting at a table taking in appetizing food, you will mostly be hearing voices of the people surrounding you. People talk and laugh over their meals, (or maybe they are just in the food court for socializing). Either way, you will still be hearing the sizzling of food and banging of spatulas coming from the Japanese restaurant. Other sounds that are light yet drag on continuously are of people emptying their trays and using the soda machine, with ice pounding into their cups. As good as this all seems, it may not be the greatest experience. One thing I found very annoying was that the tables are always sticky, which makes your hands also sticky. This still occurs even though there are cleaners that go around from table to table cleaning. Maybe this is a little unimportant, but it can change the experience for anyone. It can also explain how the people act or behave, especially in places unlike their homes. People might be more careless and the parents might not be able to control their messy children. They also might not want to take control of their kids, knowing that someone is there to pick up after them no matter what kind of mess they leave. The lifestyles are probably different for the more affluent people coming to the mall compared to the people mostly from non-bordering towns around the mall. This affluent type of person could act differently because of the position they have in life, (they might feel that they deserve to picked up after). Or maybe the food court just needs more efficient cleaners to get the job done better. Altogether with all these sights and sounds, it is a quite different experience for families bringing their kids along. Recently, the Plaza has made the food court better for families and somewhat more kid friendly. Close to the center of the food court, there is a playing area for kids called the Simon Kidgits Klubhouse. This mostly seemed like a place where the kids can play when they are finished eating. The parents of the children would get food for their kids and themselves, and after eating the kids would go play as the parents watched over them. And the food is usually coming from Johnny Rockets, which serves traditional American foods such as cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chicken fingers, or sandwiches with fries. It is probably easier for parents to order food for their kids when it is foods that the kids are familiar with, rather than more international types of foods like Chinese or Japanese. So during weekends or other days when school is out, the food court and mainly Johnny Rockets probably get much more business. On Veteran’s Day, the restaurant was getting a lot more customers, with the lines being fairly long. The playhouse was very busy too. Young children six years and under, take their time while playing with high energy in the play area with a bunch of other kids. They run around and scream, just as anyone would expect. There are connecting seats too, right next to the playing house, where the parents watch their kids have some fun after eating. Actually, it is mostly the mothers that take them to the mall, and the food court. Very few fathers were spending the day with their kids at the mall, as I observed on Veteran’s Day. Perhaps the mothers wanted to do something special for their kids on their day off from school while the fathers worked. But one thing that was a little odd was that it seemed like these mothers with their kids were treating this playhouse as if it were the park or playground. You would think that the kids would rather go play outside in the sun, which the playground or park has a lot more activities for the kids than the playhouse in the Plaza. At the park you can run around, go down the slide, play on the swings, and play other games with kids. But in the playhouse, the children are limited to the somewhat small area, and it would probably be impossible for an eight or nine year old to have fun in it too, they are almost too big to play around there. The kids that are playing in the playhouse also cannot run around, because there is not enough room. The kids were spending a good amount of time at this play area (close to twenty minutes and more); and even some families did not stop to eat anything, just came for their kids to have some playing time. But maybe I am wrong; maybe they went to the McDonalds or Brigham’s that is downstairs in the Plaza. The families that are using the playhouse also have no shopping bags, as if the mall is not used for shopping. The parents (or mostly mothers) could be bringing their children to this awful version of the playground because the environment is a better suit for them too. For example, the mothers that bring their children to the outside parks or playgrounds are most likely sitting on uncomfortable benches. But the mothers to bring their kids to the mall and the playhouse within the mall, they get to lounge and relax on the chairs there (which are made specifically for the parents that bring their kids to play in the playhouse). Therefore, the people to create the Simon Kidgits Klubhouse could have made it for a certain purpose. This could be that the inventors of this playhouse realized that mothers do not want to be sitting outside on the benches watching their kids play. So if they can still give their kids time to play outside their homes, and if the mothers can be indoors, then more families will probably come to the Plaza for this reason. Then, while the families are in the mall, they might as well look in some of the stores to shop. The mothers could definitely find this aspect appealing. They can give their kids something to do for fun, and after the mothers could drag their kids along with them while they shop for themselves. This shows another difference from the past to now; these mothers from the past would use more traditional ways to entertain their children, like taking them to the park. But now, children are exposed to different methods of entertainment and playing time now has a different meaning. Before, playtime was only focused on the kids (and it still can be now); but in this case with the playhouse in the mall, the mothers now get something to look forward to when the kids are done playing. So the children were not the only focus when the playhouse was brought into the food court; everything is about making money and the mall can get more business if they are entertaining the children and their mothers then get to spend some money. At this food court, the price tags for the food are not so cheap either. Yes, you can get a good quality meal, but what you have to pay for it is incredible. Of course though, there are a few places where it is insanely cheap to eat at their restaurant. But more than a few of the restaurants should probably change their prices if they want more customers. Yet, Johnny Rockets possibly would not have to worry about this if my theory correctly stands. It just seems that the places with lower prices get more customers. For example, the Japanese restaurant, Sarku usually gets a lot of customers. At this place, you can get a large plate of food for as cheap as five bucks. This is very unlike some of the other restaurants that do not get as much business because of the price differences. Anyways, this pricing problem could be a reason why the parents bring their children only for the playhouse instead of the food. Why could they not come just for the playtime, since it is there to attract more people, especially ones with kids? It could also be that the attraction of the playhouse almost forces these parents to purchase food from the food court. The highly priced foods are an obvious turn off, but the advantage of having your kids getting in their playtime for the day, does help the food court’s business. I just remember when I was a kid; going to the South Shore Plaza was always fun. I only went to the food court a few times, but I never remembered that amount of kids or the huge line behind the Johnny Rockets. It all means the times are different than they used to be. I was never taken to the mall or a food court for playtime. But I suppose that is what kids and their mothers like to do now. It is very convenient for mothers to bring their kids to the playhouse in the mall than the park outside because of the different weather conditions and the extra things the mothers can do after the kids are done playing. In replacement of the park and playgrounds on any day or the beach during summers, this playhouse within the food court of the mall is now a place where parents can bring their kids just as an everyday thing. Therefore, malls and food courts serve more purposes than just for shopping and/or eating; and that times are different than what they used to be.