Lost at the Mall

Supposedly, I don’t like shopping malls. I remember when we lived in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in the seventies and we thought that it was a good Holiday Season if we hadn’t set foot at the Cherry Hill Mall. We much preferred shopping in the historical town of Haddonfield, with its boutiques, small gift shops and art galleries. In fact, there is no town, big or small, named Cherry Hill. Its only center-like area is the big mall, which opened in 1961 and now has over 130 stores.

Although some malls have appeared, especially in the suburbs, I miss shopping in Madrid with street after street full of stores big and small. Just looking at their beautiful, whimsical windows’ displays is like a spectator sport. To keep my Spanish taste as authentic as possible, I have a private rule of sorts. Before I purchase any clothing, I ask myself: “Would you wear this in Madrid?” And, if the answer is no, I quickly put it back. Never mind that when I travel to Spain my family comments how American my clothes look.

I was thrilled when Zara, the trendy Spanish store, opened in Philadelphia. It had a big footprint, with two floors, one for women and the other for men on Walnut Street, one of the bougiest places in town. According to the documentary, Zara: The World’s Richest Man (directed by Florence Kieffer in 2018), Amancio Ortega, its founder, has earned the title with his 80 billion Euros fortune. He started in A Coruña, Galicia, a region known for its textile industry. Now, Zara with over 3,000 stores, including its children and home lines, has opened in 96 countries. One of the most amazing aspects of Zara is that they don’t use any advertising whatsoever.

Unfortunately, shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic, the gorgeous Philadelphia store closed down, while the one in King of Prussia stayed open. Coincidentally, King of Prussia is another suburb without a downtown area. The mall is its raison d’ệtre. I managed to keep away due to my mall aversion, but then I heard that Mango, another Spanish brand, Zara’s competitor from Catalonia, was opening its own shop there, I had to go and take a look.

The upscale King of Prussia Mall is the largest in Pennsylvania and the third largest in the United States. It opened in 1963 and originally consisted of two shopping areas, “The Plaza” and “The Court.” Since 2016 the two have been joined by a pedestrian walkway that connects its 450 retailers and over 30 restaurants. It’s located in Montgomery County, 20 miles north from Philadelphia, with easy access from four major highways. There are hotels nearby for the tourist-buyers, which add up to 22 million visitors annually. No wonder I couldn’t keep away!

Just finding a parking spot is an adventure, despite its five parking lots, three garages and valet service. The only way to find your car later is to enter through one of the six anchor department stores. I had an app with the map, the list of stores and restaurants, but I was lost within 15 minutes. What threw me off were the Chinese New Year activities in the Center Pavilion. I thought I was on the second floor when it really was the third and I thought I was near an exit when it was a walkway to nowhere. I did find Zara and bought a classic pink stripped blouse with golden buttons. Mango wasn’t open yet, only a large advertisement announced its arrival. By the time I reached my car, I had walked over 11,000 steps per another hopeless app.

It turns out that Zara also has opened a store at the Cherry Hill Mall and it’s much closer than the other infamous mall. All I have to do is cross the Benajamin Franklin Bridge over the Delaware River and I am in New Jersey. In other words, I’m back to square one!

 

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 22nd, 2024 at 11:49 am by conchaalborg and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.