I haven’t been in there for awhile. I’m not a mall kind of person. But when I first moved here I marveled at two characteristics of the mall that distinguished it from others. One was the choice of background music – classic rock over Musak. The second was the unusual proportion of locally owned businesses (no, franchises don’t count).
Just drove by the mall this morning. You’ve got Sears, Borders, Pier 1, Hometown Buffet, etc. – certainly no locally owned business showcased for the drivers on Broadway. Are there any locally owned businesses left?
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March 31, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Anonymous
Click on the cover for a larger image:
http://www.amazon.com/Malling-America-William-Severini-Kowinski/dp/1401036767
March 31, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Carson Park Ranger
There are a few locally-owned businesses in the mall.
I’ll take quit, insipid muzak over the fervently cloying drone of “classic rock” any day.
March 31, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Anonymous
quit being lazy and find out for yourself.
March 31, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Carson Park Ranger
“Quiet” is what I meant to write, as in “unobtrusive.”
March 31, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Anonymous
I get sick to my stomach after about 10 minutes of shopping there.
March 31, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Anonymous
I like Malls. Ours is one of the best ones, because it doesn’t every get really crowded.
March 31, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Anonymous
There’s a fairly high turnover rate with the smaller businesses in general in the BM, and local in particular. I only go in there occasionally, sometimes to revisit a store that was in there the last time I was there only to find it gone. Franchises are not excluded either, although the bigger stores – the anchors – seem to do OK. Then again, they’re more prone to industry wide fluctuations. It’s like that with most malls.
Someone should do a survey of all the businesses that have come and gone in Garberville over the past 10 years say, or 20. Now THAT would be quite a list.
March 31, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Fred
I don’t know how true it is, but some guy told me years ago not to even consider starting a business in a mall.
The wife was considering buying some business in town (not at the mall) and the guy was saying that it costs so much to rent space in a mall that you’re at a disadvantage right from the start, having to make so much money just to break even.
Again, don’t know how true that is and that was many years ago. Things may have changed since then.
March 31, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Anonymous
Don’t we deserve to shop at national chain stores? Must we be at the mercy of local stores with their huge markups and poor service (especially on returned items)?
April 1, 2007 at 1:21 am
Anonymous
I have stock in general growth properties. Does that count for locally owned?
April 1, 2007 at 1:38 am
oracle
Yes. A mall where businesses are grouped together for convenience and you can shop out of the rain is so inherently evil. You lefties are right to detest the place. The real complaint is the high rent paid to out of towners. We would be better off keeping the money local. Of course, that is simple common sense. A notion lost on lefties.
April 1, 2007 at 2:31 am
ED Denson
Dear Oracle: conflicted?
April 1, 2007 at 2:39 am
Anonymous
I just read in the eureka paper that Baa Baa sheepskins was purchased by two Fortuna sisters who returned to the area for the specific purpose of buying and running that store. GULP! I hope they don’t lose their shirts! baa baa sheepskins = baa baa boring ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
April 1, 2007 at 2:51 am
Anonymous
The pricing at Baa Baa Sheepskins was outrageous.
Basically she would double the price and add .95 cents.
Yes, I know this for a fact. I worked there for awhile and it sucked.
April 1, 2007 at 4:08 am
Eric V. Kirk
I’ll take quit, insipid muzak over the fervently cloying drone of “classic rock” any day.
F*&#ing communist!
quit being lazy and find out for yourself.
I don’t go into places like that unless I have to.
I like Malls. Ours is one of the best ones, because it doesn’t every get really crowded.
Well, that raises another question of course.
Don’t we deserve to shop at national chain stores? Must we be at the mercy of local stores with their huge markups and poor service (especially on returned items)?
If that’s your choice. Point is, we seem to be losing the options.
Yes. A mall where businesses are grouped together for convenience and you can shop out of the rain is so inherently evil. You lefties are right to detest the place.
Except at a flea market, I’ve never had to shop in the rain. Most stores have roofs, whether they’re in a mall or not.
April 1, 2007 at 4:25 am
Rose
Before the Mall you had McGaraghan’s in Henderson Center, Bistrin’s in Eureka (Club West) and Arcata where Belle Starr is now, Evie’s in Burre Center, Daly’s (Arkley Center), The Three of Us (Starbucks), and a few other Boutiques – to go “shopping” you had to drive all over the place, and yes, you did get wet. Oh, Forgot, Penney’s (dowtown), Sears (Old Mall) and Wards (Target). Everyone I know was glad to see the mall come, and was tired of driving to Santa Rosa to get some real choices.
April 1, 2007 at 4:33 am
Eric V. Kirk
Well, it’s not like the Bayshore Mall offers indoor parking. But unless you’re talking about food, I don’t go “shopping” anyway. I go to a store to get what I need and then I get out. I’m not into it for the experience.
April 1, 2007 at 5:43 am
Anonymous
I go to a store to get what I need and then I get out.
It’s just that kind of attitude makes life so ugly.
April 1, 2007 at 5:46 am
Anonymous
ANybody with sense knows the bayshore mall is a dumping ground for merchandise that wont sell or has gone out of style in major markets. All of the major anchors dump their shit here. No exception.
Have you been to Santa Rosa? Have you been to Sacramento? Go into the same stores and you will realize what I am talking about. Thats why it is still 1998 here in Humboldt county, and everyone else has moved on. The only thing nice about the mall is the new bookstore. Thats the best thing to happen to the mall since Sears.
April 1, 2007 at 6:40 am
Carson Park Ranger
How dreadful that Humboldt County shoppers should be offered goods which are no longer in vogue in “major markets.”
They wear camouflage with such élan in Sacramento, don’t they?
April 1, 2007 at 7:31 am
Eric V. Kirk
It’s just that kind of attitude makes life so ugly.
What, that I don’t want to spend so many hours of my short life “shopping?” Actually, I’d just as soon be getting a root canal.
April 1, 2007 at 7:40 am
Anonymous
Actually CPR, Camo is out. Especially camo pants. Its been that way for a while now. Of course I don’t blame you for not knowing that. Step out your door and its goddamn 1998! The cars, clothes, hair… everything… 1998!
April 1, 2007 at 7:54 am
Carson Park Ranger
I’m for “updating” only if bare midriffs and thongs above the waist-band of the jeans go away. Otherwise, what’s improved in 2007 over 1998?
I don’t care if we dress like 1958.
April 1, 2007 at 8:43 am
Anonymous
10:46:00, you’re channeling the former JC Penny. No other chain dumps outlet material here. Ross doesn’t count because Ross is Ross everywhere.
April 1, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Fred
Eric wrote, “What, that I don’t want to spend so many hours of my short life “shopping?”.
Agreed. I am NOT a Shopper.
April 1, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Rose
You’re guys. Guys hate shopping.
April 1, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Anonymous
Lame brain gender stereotype.
April 1, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Fred
“Guys hate shopping.”.
Guilty as charged.
I go in, buy what I came for, and leave. I don’t clutter up the store and slow everyone else down like Shoppers do.
April 1, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Stephen Lewis
It’s true. Two ex’s will confirm. Most guys hate shopping. It’s women’s work to gather life necessities. We men hunt. Politically correctly these days of course..with catch n release of all our lions and tigers and buffaloes and deers..
April 1, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Anonymous
Eric, you need to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I have many times greatly enjoyed taking my daughters shopping and buying them clothes. Do it too often and it is a vice, but an occasional shopping spree with the kids can be a pleasant way to get them what they need and enjoy some time with them.
April 1, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Eric V. Kirk
I’ll enjoy it after I buy it. I can take my kids to the beach, zoo, Natural History Museum, park, fishing, or about a dozen other options to spend time with them.
April 1, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Anonymous
Say what you want about how nice the malls are, but I miss stores like “Arthur Johnsons”. Remember when you would walk in the front door and (I forget his name. Shame on me!) would meet you and ask you what you needed? You’d say I need a new suit of clothes, he would make several suggestions, to size up your price range, Then, picked you out a suit that that was in style and matched your eyes, hair and body size. Stuff that guys don’t usually consider. He would have all the alterations made within a week. You could be out the door as a happy customer within an hour, and have the rest of the day for a beer and a ball game.
Would I pay extra for them to be back? Hell yes! Sadly, we pay more now than then, and get poorer service.
Be careful what you think you are wishing for.
April 1, 2007 at 9:27 pm
ED Denson
We shop quite a bit and seldom go to the Mall or local stores. The internet has made it possible to get virtually anything you want usually cheaper. It’s not quicker – take 2-6 days to get stuff here. But its in many ways better – enormous variety, endless choices. My guess is that most of the stores, chain or local, are in big trouble but they don’t know it yet. After all the Mall’s big draw is that there’s lots of stores, and therefore variety. How you gonna keep up down on the Mall, after they’ve seen Ebay?
April 1, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Cristina Bauss
I really feel like smashing a gender stereotype right now, so here goes:
I’m female and I hate shopping. Have list, get what’s on list, leave. Go read, watch film, swim in the ocean, plot next road trip with daughter, whatever. The only place you’ll find me doing something that vaguely resembles shopping is at a bookstore.
April 1, 2007 at 11:03 pm
Anonymous
I think that gender stereotype was was off the mark. Go to Harbor Freight sometime. Plus most women I know are like the one above…make list, fill basket, pay and leave. Most of the “shoppers” I see at Costco are men in the tool aisle drooling.
April 2, 2007 at 12:29 am
Anonymous
My wife hates to shop more than I do.
April 2, 2007 at 3:01 am
Anonymous
Well if you look at what is occuring around the mall, state and national chains popping up, the mall isn’t going to have much a chance to survive unless it rolls with the times. The fact is that any business which doesn’t keep an eye on what its customers want isn’t going to be around very long. Mom and Pop’s, local businesses, can’t compete on price when it comes to serving the masses. Now they can give upscale quality service and premium products but that is only serving a portion of the population’s interests. Where are the people who make less than 40 grand a year supposed to shop? The mall’s lack of ambiance and artistic presentation may be a sore on our collective psyche but a mall isn’t going to be able to survive in this small of an area by serving only the elite in the community. Everything is a balance and there are few things that come down to a this way or the highway approach.
April 2, 2007 at 3:01 am
Fred
Cristina wrote, “Have list, get what’s on list, leave.”.
Way to go, cristina! Please consider doing some shopping at Henderson Center Rite- Aid, in Eureka, to show the Shoppers how it’s supposed to be done.
April 2, 2007 at 6:05 am
Eric V. Kirk
The only place you’ll find me doing something that vaguely resembles shopping is at a bookstore.
I do enjoy bookstores, but that’s like being in an art gallery. I have made pilgrames to Cody’s (before its demise), Moe’s, and that big place in Portland. I have on occasion considered retiring with a used bookstore, the kind with stacks from the floor and multiple rooms, with a resident cat – somewhere in the back you can find a dusty old book on witchcraft with spells that really work….
April 2, 2007 at 7:09 am
Cristina Bauss
“…that big place in Portland.”
Powell’s? I LOVE that place! I could spend DAYS there!
Wait, I HAVE spent days there.
Elliott Bay in Seattle is pretty cool, too. And yes, being in a bookstore is like being in a gallery — a lot to drool over, but what do you REALLY want to live with?
I have a couple thousand books, most of which are neatly packed. One day I’ll have shelves for them all… but then again, unpacking my books (when I move or rearrange the house) is like Christmas. I get to see all my old friends again.
April 2, 2007 at 7:20 am
Anonymous
Cristina, maybe you should make friends in the real world. Books are great but what about a little love in your life?
April 2, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Anonymous
Arthur’s was owned by Art Dalianes. He ran it well. I also wish it would come back. It was located where Plaze Design is now.
April 2, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Anonymous
I agree with Ed Denson, I shop on line and save a fortune! I downloaded my last will and testament on line . I scared my wife out of filing for a divorce by sending her a legal form-letter that I downloaded. There is a website that you can go to for free legal advice on line. You hardly ever have to put up with that, face to face, lawyer experience anymore! Thanks Ed!
April 2, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Anonymous
Judging by the amount of solo driving time Ed does as a part of his job I would say he is desperately trying to escape society and its inconvenient face to face relationships.
April 2, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Cristina Bauss
“Cristina, maybe you should make friends in the real world. Books are great but what about a little love in your life?”
Thank you for your sentiment. Just so you know, I DO have love in my life… in the form of my partner of four years, my children (18 and 16), and a few very close friends.
I even, occasionally, leave the house without a notebook or microphone!
But, seriously: I’m an only child who grew up in a very adult world, and books have been my main source of solace, education and enlightenment since about age 5.
April 2, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Eric V. Kirk
Wasn’t that in a Simone and Garfunkle song?
April 2, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Anonymous
Lets see, Ed Denson spends an ungodly amount of time driving around the state alone in his car on obscure roads no one in their right mind would drive on. He eats at buffets. He has a blog but wont allow comments unless you register. He is a lawyer.
I smell an anti-social lunatic.