Shopping around for better retail experience

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OK, here’s what I want for Christmas — as in, I want this specifically for the gift-giving season, though it would be helpful at other times of year.

I want a one-stop shopping experience where I park the car once, but I do not have to walk for acres to find everything (within reason) that I need. I don’t think it’s asking a lot because I remember these places existing and they seemed to be bustling at the time.

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‘ESCAPE FROM THE ORDINARY’

I’m in danger of falling into a trap of nostalgia when I think back on my childhood and teen years where department stores like Margolians in Amherst and Truro, N.S., or Holman’s in Charlottetown and Summerside, P.E.I., seemed especially magical this time of year.

Floors of goods from clothing and housewares to tools and toys greeted shoppers along with sights, smells and sounds of the season artfully woven into merchandise. Each department had its own counter where knowledgeable and friendly staff could measure a shoe size or recommend a lipstick shade.

As Jino Distasio writes in an article for Retail Insider, “Department stores were so much more than shopping: they were destinations where people met, gathered and socialized. They were also exclusive spaces, with lavish displays and architectural designs that offered an escape from the ordinary.”

Now, I know I am privileged to even have a choice of where to shop and a little disposable income to do it with. And I’m in no way suggesting that we need to turn back time and stop any evolution we’ve made since the emergence of the department store in the 1800s. I am not sure, however, the “super centres” or “power plazas” we have now would qualify as progress.

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CRUMBLING EMPIRES

I remember when the Bayers Lake Business Park first opened outside Halifax, I was living downtown and didn’t own a car. Naively, I one day took the bus out to Bayers Lake intending to stop at a number of stores in the complex.

I did not understand I would have to basically hike a half-marathon to walk from the bus stop, across the parking lot, into the depths of the store to find one or two things and then back out and across a hectare of parking lot full of inattentive drivers to the next store before returning to the bus stop. The exercise to visit a handful of stores on foot took several hours and all of my energy and goodwill toward fellow shoppers.

Perhaps that’s where I developed my aversion to power centres, and I have rarely visited any of them since, even with a vehicle.

“Department stores were so much more than shopping: they were destinations where people met, gathered and socialized. They were also exclusive spaces, with lavish displays and architectural designs that offered an escape from the ordinary.” Jino Distasio, Retail Insider

So, since you will not find me at Dartmouth Crossing, Trinity Drive or any other complex that compels me to park at one store for one or two items, then get back in my car and park again at the retailer “next door,” I am hopeful that the demise of the shopping mall and downtown retail is greatly exaggerated.

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Distasio writes, “By the late 1990s, the first titan of Canadian retail fell as the Eaton’s empire crumbled. For many cities, the result was the closure of many anchor stores in malls and downtown. And since then, the retail sector has continued to face challenges, especially in downtown areas.”

PROCEED TO CHECKOUT

According to Deloitte, Canada’s top 10 shopping malls have been recording rapidly declining foot traffic — down 22 per cent between 2018 and 2019, and a 42-per-cent decrease in shoppers between February 2019 and 2020. This was before the pandemic and the resulting shutdowns led to further declines. At the same time, online shopping grew by 78 per cent.

The prognosis may be worse in the United States, where, according to Capital One Shopping Research released in May 2024, up to 87 per cent of large shopping malls may close over the next 10 years, leaving as few as 150 malls still in operation across the 50 states.

COVID, Amazon and remote work have certainly delivered a blow to the neighbourhood shops, but I have to believe that if there are enough shoppers to fill the parking lots outside the Costcos and Walmarts in the region, there are enough locals to keep our small malls and downtown retailers afloat.

Pressing “proceed to checkout” or navigating miles of bland aisles of a faceless corporation is not the stuff of anybody’s Christmas season memory. Give me an hour to finish my shopping, and I’ll meet you at the soda bar.

Jocelyne Lloyd is the managing editor for The Guardian in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

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