Your hands are aching from the bags hanging on your wrist, your feet sore from the miles you’ve walked, and a feeling of joy washes over you after finally reaching the store you have been searching for; we don’t get to experience this often anymore.
With the increase of online shopping came a decrease in attendance at malls. According to research done by Capital One, “The number of malls declined 16.7% per year from 2017 to 2022.” Over the past three years, it has only gotten worse.
Malls can bring with them a feeling of nostalgia. For some, they may have memories of hanging out with their friends in the mall; for the younger generation, their memories may consist of playing on an indoor mall playground. However, it isn’t just shopping at malls that has decreased; overall, purchasing items in-person has declined.
Senior Aiyana Karanja feels there are specific days we really miss out on with the decrease of in-person shopping.
“Things like Black Friday shopping; I never experienced the craziness of Black Friday,” she said. “I feel like it’s changed because everyone can just order from Amazon. It’s not even like the craze of having hundreds of people waiting outside Best Buy to get the best deals.”
Aiyana claims that there is something special about shopping until you drop, in person, to find the perfect gifts for your family during the holidays.
Shopping in-person provides two things online shopping cannot: an experience, and the opportunity to try items on.
Zh’ky Johnson-Tuzo, a senior from Bermuda, believes going in-person to buy specific items can be important.
“I prefer to go in-person to buy certain things like jeans, pants, or things that may fit people differently,” he said. “I feel like online I’m just taking a chance or I’m basing it off of the model and not everyone is built like the model.”
Aiyana adds to the love for in-person shopping, claiming that part of purchasing an item is the experience.
“Sometimes going in-person is better because if you are investing in that piece, you might as well invest in the luxury experience as well,” she said.” Things like that I think have been ruined.”
Zh’ky believes people simply enjoy online shopping more than in-person shopping.
“I feel like more people are inclined to do online shopping because, like I said, it’s more convenient and it’s online. You know, technology has become more prevalent, so why not use it instead of driving to the mall?” he said.
He makes a strong claim. However, for Aiyana, growing up in New York City, this issue was not as prevailing. She says that it is so easy to pop into “whatever store [was] just by [her] house in New York,” but she adds that it can be overstimulating.
“In-person stores in NYC I usually like, however, they do get a little overstimulating. Sometimes I just want to run out and die and turn into a piece of dust,” she said.
Zh’ky didn’t grow up with the luxury of having mutiple shopping opportunities around the corner from his house.
“People usually go away on trips mainly to shop because Bermuda lacks affordable places to shop,” he said.
This geographic difference allowed for contrasting effects on both students when they came to boarding school.
Zh’ky feels as though when he came to boarding school, he was “a lot more free to shop.”
Aiyana, however, claims she shops way less when she is at school.
“We don’t have time to go to like H&M. We don’t got no time to be going to Birkenstock. No Sephora,” she said. “I love how shopping is now like a luxury to me.”
