Slashdot Mirror
Mall Bans Signs Touting Merchants' Web Sites
barjam spotted it: "The Saint Louis Galleria
informed its 170 retail tenants
in a letter last week of a new
policy prohibiting any in-store
"signs, insignias, decals or
other advertising or display
devices which promote and
encourage the purchase of
merchandise via e-commerce." The merchants are understandably irate. See the ZDNet story. The mall is afraid that e-commerce may eventually put it out of business.
The mall claims that it's expressing a "deep concern" that many other malls have, but are not showing. Doesn't this show that many people are still not ready for the evitable age of ecommerce? (Witness the parallel with so many business people that look at the success of Open Source with disbelief, not understanding why it works and looking at it more like a threat.) Human beings tend to be like the legendary ostrich... (probably more so than real ostriches, but that's beside my point).
But in spite of all the catcalls this mall and other techo-phobic businesses may be getting from techies like us, I think we should stop and consider the issue that their reaction shows. The Internet is growing so fast, and getting so much attention, that barely anyone has had time to consider it's real relevence in our lives.
Apparently that's the picture a lot of people fear will come true. This is a rather significant question: what will the role of the Net be in our lives in the future?
IMHO I think the answer is that it is only a convenience, more than anything else. I think the picture I described above will never happen. Why? Because the idea of a living, breathing human being, being willing to vegetate in a tiny niche on this globe with an Internet connection as his/her sole link to the outside world, is simply ludicrous. Human beings will never be able to put up with such a life. Tech-junkies like myself might be able to do it for longer times than others, but regardless, a human being needs physical interaction with the outside world, esp. with other human beings. Yes we have VR and all that. But nothing compares with real, physical interaction. That said, I think physical shopping will not die out. It will be less significant, perhaps, but there will always be people who prefer to physically see and handle the goods before they purchase. The Internet only acts as a convenience for the different things in our lives, but it is not a replacement.
But of course, this is just my opinion. What do my fellow slashdotters think? :-)
mikre he sophia he tou Mikrosophou.
Free speech? This is a mall, not a governmental institution.
That is absolutely true. It is, however a violation of customary expectations. Typically, restrictions are used to prevent obscene, lewd, or just plain ugly displays. A URL is none of those things.
Of course, the Mall has to contend with free market forces AND with what's in their lease. For example, did they give the stores adequate time to comply? Does signage (which is probably the relevant topic in the lease) include shopping bags? Complementary bookmarks? I doubt it. What about products that have their web address on them? If the mall management continues with this, it will most likely devolve into a legal war of semantics.
The odds are, they won't be able to enforce the ban. In the event that they can (or if they revise their lease at renewal time), the stores could elect not to renew, possably even as a group. That would more than likely break the management's back.
One that I'm aware of changed the name of the church to "those crazy people who bought the mall".
Shalom.
-- Slashdot sucks.
What they forget, is that the Mall isn't just a place to buy stuff. It's a social scene itself. People get together to go to "The Mall." That's not something you can do with E-Commerce sites online. I don't think I've ever seen friends say "Oh, let's go to MY house, and we can go shopping on the internet!"
The main thing about getting people together to go to the mall is social interaction. Not only that, but you also have things there that aren't offered online. (i.e.: Resturants, snack bars, etc.) The presence of these places makes the Mall a viable option to make a day of being there. You aren't offered the same option online. Social entities like the Mall aren't going to disappear because of Online shopping.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
Here are a few scenerios to think about:
(1) I'm about to grab a bite to eat and I want something to read while I'm eating. I go to the bookstore, find something that suits my current mood, and go to lunch. 0% chance I'd switch that to an online transaction.
(2) Someone tells me that I have to read this book. It's much cheaper online than it would be in the local bookstore, but if I go to my local bookstore I could have it right now. 50% chance I'll buy it online, increasing dramatically if it's a particularly expensive book, decreasing to zero if it's below, say, $ 15.
(3) There is a subject I've been curious about that's rather obscure. I go to amazon.com and find a book on that subject with favourable customer reviews. 100% chance I'll buy online. But I'll go to the bookstore too and I have a nearly 100% chance that I'll buy what I see there, too.
(4) I want a Canon XL1 MiniDV camcorder, a product which, at the time I bought it, sold for about $4,400. I could get it more cheaply via mail order or online, but if there was a problem it would be a hassle to return, and I don't really know if the online store I see has it in stock. 0% chance I'll buy online; I want customer service.
In general, what I've found out is that I'll spend more on books overall than I did before online book retailers. Instead of passing up a $50 book because I can't afford it, I'll buy it online and get a good discount. But I'll still buy that $5-20 book or magazine and read it during lunch. I don't think bricks and mortar bookstores have much missed me, since I still buy from them all the time; there's nothing like being able to see and read what you're buying before you plunk down your money.
So in sum, I really don't think bricks and mortar are on their way out. In fact, I think online retailing expands the total market more than it crowds out offline stores. In my case, that's certainly been true.
D
----
They should all dot-com their names.
What's the mall going to do, tell the stores they can't put their names on the door?
So now what would be better... a non-descript sign promoting a website, or a 20 foot-long sign, lit up like a casino, on the outside of the store?
-m
Well as much as it makes me sound like an anti-social freak, I really do avoid shopping in stores and malls as much as possible. The simple fact of the matter is that the so-called "social activity" is filled with rude, pushy shoppers, even more rude & pushy (oh, and disgruntled & disinterested) employees, etc. It of course gets worse around the December shopping hysteria season, and I just don't like dealing with it. You ask how my world would be if I didn't have to go running through screaming people to get my furby. It's awesome, actually. I despise shopping, and hate being surrounded by frenzied idiots who couldn't be bothered to do their gift shopping earlier in the year. I do realize there's certain things you can't order over the internet (yet), but you'd be amazed at how much you can get. We really only venture out of our cave for groceries & work now :) I agree though that this mall will probably reverse this decision from all the flack they'll be catching from this. Sadly, though, I don't think it falls under the First Amendment (RIP :). Methinks if I were a shop owner in this place I'd invite them to shove it and move the place elsewhere at the earliest convenience :)
Read my stuff.
Instead, what you'll be seeing is further integration between online purchasing and brick&mortar stores. Instead of purchasing your book online and waiting days for it to show up via the mail, imagine ordering your book online and having it delivered locally by courier. Local stores are capable of performing value-added services; they're just in a bit of flux right now as to how to go about doing so.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
As a St. Louis native, I must say I am not the least bit suprised by this. St. Louis seems quite determined to squander its advantages whenever possible, particularly when it is related to something progressive, innovative, or technological.
The Gallarina is "prime" retail real estate. Located near the wealthiest neighborhoods, done up in pink marble, and catering exclusively to national retailers, they are not in danger of going out of business anytime soon. Unless they work hard enough at it, that is...
It is simply that Hycel, the mall owners, are part of the group of rich old white men group that own the region. They are not interested in anything other than what they have. If they have the option to modify cut off their nose to spite their face, they will do it. They are not going to stop the Gap from putting up billboards with their url.
Whatever. In the local paper, the spokesdroid for the mall said they are only interested in keeping local money in the local mall. The powerful chains, like the Gap, are telling them to basically FO, and the weaker ones are knucking under. This won't last. It will be amusing to see if this ends up in court. Especially if it is the mall trying to drag some big retailer in. More likely they will "strike a deal" with the big ones, and bully the small ones.
In St. Louis, even though the area has quite a lot of advantages, the ROWM are obviously quite prepared to allow the region to deteriorate under their control, rather than work to make the region thrive, but with less ROWM influence.
I find it quite interesting that this is getting the attention it is. Good ole' STL, the only time it makes national news is when someone here does something stupid. Again.