Malls: The Pinoys' own version of local parks?

Every weekend, I always end up going to the mall.

Well, I'm guessing 90% of Filipinos end up at the mall during weekends.  The figure might be an exaggeration but every mall I go to during the weekend is literally a sea of people.  Getting a parking space is like winning the lottery.  It's even an accepted fact that you might have to wait a few minutes before getting a parking space.

I recently audited a store in a remote province.  It was a standalone store.  Meaning, it's not in a mall or a commercial complex.  It's a store by the highway.  And it surprisingly did well during the weekday.  The weekend is a different story.  It's like a deserted town.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a tumbling weed inside the store.  The culprit: the mall 30 minutes away.

It got me thinking, is the mall our new hangout place?

Well, everything you need is there.  Food outlets ranging from well-known chains to new concept restaurants to food courts.  Groceries.  Cinemas.  Bookstores.  Toy stores.  Flower shops.  Drugstores.

Nowadays, lists are not just for groceries.  It's a mall list:
I need to go to Plains and Prints for clothes.
Watsons for my vitamins
Grocery for stock-up.
The list goes on.

It might include getting a pedicure while waiting for a friend. Or coffee at Starbucks after the movies.

They're geniuses, they got our days planned out for us by carefully selecting the tenants that they have and the brands that they carry.  They got shopper profiling --- high end malls with stores and for the affluent; lower-end malls with outlet shops; mostly Chinese clientele with restaurants from HongKong.

Kids now go trick or treating at the mall.  You can also have your pets baptized during pet events.  Of course, you still shouldn't let your kids just run off.  Or leave dog poo on the floor.  But all of these concepts revolve around the fact that the malls are where families hang out nowadays.  Why not keep them there?  Hence, the park-like benches or comfortable sofas.  During summer, you can cool off at the mall.  You can walk around, do your errands and not perspire for hours.

Retailers know that the longer you keep people inside the store (or the mall), the more people spend. And the more activities you have, the stronger your lure to get foot traffic.

You can also pay your bills and withdraw money without (as much) fear in standalone ATMs or bayad centers.

Why risk getting mugged in the national parks when there are guards roaming around the mall?  And there's a paging system as well, just in case little junior wanders a bit too far.

So where are the non-mall hang-outs?  There are very few, mostly targeted to the artsy or the affluent.

I guess I'll end up at the mall again this weekend.