What’s the best kind of mall food? This question has plagued me various times at shopping centers after I get peckish from walking and spending too much.
Some days I stop at the food court for a humble pizza slice (or two), and on others I just ask for a plate of fried rice and an egg roll at the pan-Asian buffet. But sometimes I’m not craving anything substantial; just a cold beverage and something sweet will do. That’s where Auntie Anne’s comes in, an American classic. Who can say no to a warm pretzel and a frozen lemonade? Not me.
It probably makes sense that I enjoy malls. I mean, I work at a newspaper, for crying out loud. Living in the past is my M.O. My weekends are usually spent browsing through clothes at JCPenney and H&M, with the obligatory stop at Barnes & Noble before I leave the premises, even if it’s to just buy stationary or a venti iced chai latte at the in-store Starbucks. (I’ve placed a moratorium on book-buying for the rest of the year; I have way too many unread paperbacks in my bookshelf already).
Despite news reports saying that brick-and-mortar shopping is taking a beating every financial quarter, I am still seeing far too many people walking around the Oglethorpe Mall on weekends and weekdays (And yes, I see the irony in my complaining about other people going out to places while I do the same. Didn’t you hear? I am the only person allowed to exist anywhere, especially in parking lots and drive-thru lanes).
I remember when the Savannah Mall still existed, back in my day (am I allowed to say that? I think my car insurance quote would agree.) That mall was seen as the “fancier” mall, until Oglethorpe Mall started getting more and more foot traffic as a result of all the new stores they acquired. Soon, the Chick-fil-A and Subway stores in its food court were the only things that the Savannah Mall had going for it in my view.
Today, what was known as the Savannah Mall now only exists in the memories of elder Savannahians, and on the internet via photos and videos collected by “Dead Mall” enthusiasts. There’s a whole website, DeadMalls. com, that is dedicated to the phenomena of out-of-use malls across the U.S. and Canada, with many user- submitted comments describing malls they’ve been to or detailing developments on the mall(s) in their area. You can search up tons of dead mall vlogs on YouTube as well; I’ve binge-watched quite a few of them on my lunch breaks and they are all equal parts informative and slightly off-putting.
Ever the optimist, I do believe that brick-andmortar retail is making a bit of a comeback amongst younger shoppers in particular, including myself. Maybe it’s because Gen Z is tired of waiting on packages from Amazon that scarily always arrive on time, to the detriment of the environment and traffic patterns in Effingham County. Maybe it’s because we want to revive the concept of third spaces, or places to go besides home and work. Or maybe we’re just really craving an Auntie Anne’s pretzel at 3:37 p.m. on a weekday afternoon. Who knows?
In the meantime, you can catch me with an iced chai latte in hand, browsing through books at Barnes & Noble that I promise I won’t buy, I swear. Don’t look at me like that.
Andrea Gutierrez is the managing editor of the Bryan County News. Her favorite food court staples are Great Wraps and Sbarros, and her favorite malls that she has visited in her relatively short life include the Perimeter Mall in Atlanta and the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, New Jersey.