1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you should know from how Stuff Works 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. We're in beautiful San Francisco, 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: California at the Castro Theater. Good, thank you, it's wonderful. 5 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: Our biggest, our biggest show to date. Seriously today on 6 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: a Sunday afternoon. Who San Francisco Sketch Fest. All right, 7 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: So we're talking today everybody about a little something called 8 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: the Mall. And I'm not joking. Yeah, that's what I have. 9 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: So that's good. So we've been wanting to do something 10 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: on the mall for years now and years and years, 11 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: and we thought, well, what is San Francisco if not 12 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: the Mall? Right, they're gonna love this one, and I 13 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: guess we were wrong. Now, you guys will love it. 14 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: I promise. It's just like, um, like the Grass episode. 15 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: You may have been like, I'm not listening to that, 16 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: and then you finally ran out of episodes. Listen to 17 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: the Grass episode and you're like, that wasn't as bad 18 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: as I thought it was gonna be. This will be 19 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: similar to that experience, Okay, except the Grass episode is 20 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: free I promise we will give it our all. I 21 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: don't know why we're selling it. Like this is going 22 00:01:54,680 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: downhill so fast, it's great, okay, so hill shall we 23 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: get in the way back machine? Oh? Which is imaginary boo. 24 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: So when you think of shopping mall, you think of 25 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: the mall. Right, everybody knows what the mall is. If 26 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: there's somebody who doesn't know what the mall is, raise 27 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,519 Speaker 1: your hand and whoever sitting next to that person, punch 28 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,400 Speaker 1: them in the arm. Really hard to be, like, come on, 29 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,399 Speaker 1: you know what the mall is. I assume San Francisco 30 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: has malls somewhere. Oh yeah, they've got I've never seen one. 31 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: They're probably out a bit. It's not like a mall 32 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: in the middle of the mission, is there, I don't 33 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: think so. Right, there's a few they pop up here there. 34 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,519 Speaker 1: You guys will know, because I'll be like, so if 35 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: we're we're all on the way back machine and we're 36 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: going all the way back backpack back to ancient Rome 37 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: where the actual the first what you could consider a 38 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: shopping center appears. It was called Trajan's Market, and Trajan's 39 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: Market was built in something like one oh seven. I 40 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 1: think that's early. I think it's anchor store was Trajan's Horse. 41 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: That was okay, sorry, if I had a store back there, 42 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: that would have totally called it Trajan's Horse. Yeah, and 43 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: it's it's known as the world's oldest shopping center for 44 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: good reason. Again, it was built in one oh seven 45 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,239 Speaker 1: and right now it's in ruins. There's some guy who 46 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,360 Speaker 1: sells um those little balls with the raccoon tails on 47 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: the end of them on a tray, but he's technically 48 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: outside of the mall, so it doesn't really count. So 49 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: the mall is closed. It has been for several millennia now. 50 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: But the oldest continually operated. Um what you would might 51 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: call an outdoor market or mall is the Grand Bazaar 52 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: with an A and three. A's actually two, No, there's three. 53 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: You've been drinking, Yeah, just not together be a Z 54 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: A R. Yeah, I guess if I'm not gonna checking 55 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: his math checks out. That's a joke from Fletch. If 56 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: I'm not mistaken, I don't like alright, deep cut the 57 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: Grand Bizarre Istanbul between fourteen fifty five and fourteen sixty 58 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: one and is when that was built, and it is 59 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: still an operation today. About five thousand cupboard shops still 60 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: gets about a quarter million visitors a day, so it's 61 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: still rocking day. Yeah, yeah, a lot of folks. So 62 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 1: you've got what medieval market towns kind of started to 63 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: come later, um, seeports, all these things, these commercial districts 64 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: where people went to shop. They all had to kind 65 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: of be centered in an area together because people rode horses, 66 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: or they walked, or they were chased by other people whatever. 67 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: But you had to go and get all of your 68 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: shopping done at one place, right, And that's just kind 69 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: of a very ancient idea, and it's right, it's wonderful. 70 00:04:58,200 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: By the turn of the twentieth century here in the 71 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: u US we had something we still do. It hasn't 72 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: gone away. But pre mall, we had the department store. 73 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: And um, I think I even mentioned this on another show. 74 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: It didn't dawn on me, you know, like the simplest 75 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: words dawn on you late in life, like what it 76 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 1: really means. I just always said, Hey, a department store. 77 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: It really just occourad to me a couple of years ago, like, oh, 78 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: just store full of many departments. Never really thought about it. 79 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: Do you ever have those? It's kind of nice department stores, uh, 80 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: thirteen stories high in Chicago, the Marshall and Field Company, Marshall, 81 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: Field and Company. And then in Detroit there was one 82 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: called J. L. Hudson's that it was twenty five floors 83 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: of department store floors of retail space. And this thing 84 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 1: took up like a whole block. Yeah, and there's nineteen eleven. 85 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 1: So there's a lot of stuff. It is a lot 86 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: of stuff. Uh. In eight though, if you back up 87 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: a little bit, the first sort of enclosed shopping center 88 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: that you might kind of consider a mall mall even 89 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: though we really don't, as you'll see, because it didn't 90 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: have an arcade, even though it is it's called the 91 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: Westminster Arcade, ironically, I didn't have an arcade. And Providence, 92 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: Rhode Island. Has anyone ever been to this place? Yeah? 93 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: Have you really? Yes? I didn't know that you didn't 94 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: type in here I've been there. Yeah, all right, I 95 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: didn't know I needed to say that. Well, it was assumed. Uh. 96 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: It's a pretty cool place. So if you look it 97 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: up online, it doesn't look like the mall that you 98 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: would consider the mall looks like sort of like a 99 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: Greek revival building, and uh, it's like, yeah, it's really nice. 100 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: It's got three it sort of looks like a train 101 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: station three floors, and recently they were going to demolish it, 102 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: but someone swooped in and built micro apartments. Now you 103 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: can live in there and they're really kind of cool. 104 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: And I was gonna explain again what a micro apartment was, 105 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:59,480 Speaker 1: but I forgot where I am. So you all know, 106 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: isn't that like a dresser drawer? Yes, and you walk 107 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: through the little thing that's like, I love living in 108 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: thirty square feet and it's just some guy standing in 109 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: a broom cloth. Pretty much. Uh, screw the sup herbs. 110 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: Wait even well, even back further than this, Russia should 111 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: get its due right, even even before the even before 112 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: the the the Westminster Arcade, there is this thing called 113 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: the ghost Veeded Voor. And I looked at the pronunciation, 114 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: but I should qualify that I looked at the pronunciation 115 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: on the same site that I looked up the pronunciation 116 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: on Disha chain, which I called Dixia chain throughout the 117 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: entire Underground City episode. So to take that for what 118 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: it is, I was about to say, all our Asian friends, 119 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: let us know that was wrong. But really, everyone of 120 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: every race. Let us know that was wrong, Thank you dummies. 121 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: After World War two, things really kind of evolved with 122 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: the shopping center though, That's when things kind of started going. 123 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: And um, in nineteen fifty Seattle's Northgate Center was Uh, 124 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: but I feel like we say several times the first 125 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: thing we think of them all. I guess it was 126 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: just part of the evolution, right. South Dale was the 127 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: first real mall. Alright, so Southdale we're gonna pick up 128 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: with Southdale. Southdale was in Adena, Minnesota, and Dinah, thank 129 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:42,720 Speaker 1: you live corrections very nice. Where were you when I 130 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: was saying Dixie a chance over and over and over again. 131 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: Well previous to that, boy, we're jumping all around. Uh. 132 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: This designer and really, um, the man who were gonna 133 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: either thank for the mall or blame for the mall, 134 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: depending on how you feel about malls is a gentleman 135 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: named Victor Gruin. Anyone want to correct me on that. 136 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: He's an Austrian architect and uh he designed Northlands Center 137 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: in Michigan. Is that correct? And it was? Northland Center 138 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: is in Southland, Michigan. Now looks so confusing, it's terrible. 139 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: It had a what was known in I said, anchor 140 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: store earlier. And this is what malls have. They have 141 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: these anchor stores which are still to this day mainly 142 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: department stores. And that anchor store was Hudson's Department Store, 143 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: but had about a hundred and ten other stores. But 144 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: it still wasn't a real mall mall because it wasn't 145 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: um as you'll see uh introverted correct, and it wasn't enclosed. 146 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: It was open air. Yeah, like you know when you 147 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: go to those outlet malls today where it's just all 148 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: you're walking around outside like an idiot. You know. This 149 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,160 Speaker 1: is kind of like what what um Southfield was like 150 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: in Michigan. And that's what all shopping malls were like 151 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: up to that point. They weren't closed. It was ninety 152 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: six in a Dina, Minnesota when the first enclosed mall 153 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: like we think of it today came about. Yeah, and 154 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: I actually looked up the previous Northland They did close 155 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: that in in the seventies and it finally shuddered for 156 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: good a couple of years ago, and I found this 157 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: website that said twelve weirdest things left behind in the 158 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: Northland Center And it wasn't that exciting, but there was 159 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: one the group to tension room, and I started thinking, 160 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: holy crap, malls have jails. And I looked it up 161 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: and someone said, uh. I went to Yahoo answers like 162 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: where else do you go to get the real truth? 163 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: And the number one voted up answer said, it's not 164 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: a real cell. It's just a small dark room with 165 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 1: no windows, in a chair and a camera in it 166 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: that you that you're not allowed to leave. It's like 167 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 1: and this one that's a department basically. This one had 168 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: chains on this benches and I was like, no, that's 169 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: a al cell. So I saw that too. There was 170 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: like a target cart under a spotlight. I think. I 171 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: thought that was beautiful. Yeah, it was very arty, haunting. 172 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: I'm with you, lady, alright. So jumping back forward again 173 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: to Minneapolis. Outside of Minneapolis, is it aDNA Southdale twenty 174 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,640 Speaker 1: million bucks? The anchor store was Donaldson's and Dayton's, right, 175 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:36,959 Speaker 1: who can forget Donaldson's? I did, okay, And Dayton's actually 176 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 1: commissioned this mall to be built because they were building 177 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: a new outpost in the suburbs of Minneapolis. And it 178 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: wasn't just by coincidence that Diana was ten miles away 179 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 1: from downtown Minneapolis because again this is nineteen fifty six, 180 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: so during the Cold War, and that's actually right outside 181 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:58,439 Speaker 1: the eight mile blast radius of atomic bomb were it 182 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: to be dropped on Minneapolis, because of course that's what 183 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: the Rooskys were thinking, We're going from Minneapolis first. But 184 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: they've built a mall outside of the blast radius, so 185 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: I guess we'll just give up. So the original idea 186 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: for them all from Victor Gruen was to um, he 187 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: wanted to kind you know how they have these mixed 188 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,199 Speaker 1: use centers. Now, he had this idea way back then 189 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: and he wanted people to live there and uh kind 190 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: of congregate there. And we'll get a little more to 191 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: this later, but it sort of ended up just being 192 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: a shopping mall, to his disappointment. But he modeled it 193 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 1: on Northgate in Seattle and sort of the big idea 194 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,439 Speaker 1: was that you go to these department stores because that's 195 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: what people were used to. But how do you get 196 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: them to these other stores? Was the big question, Right, 197 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: how do you get them shopping? Oh at the mall? Yeah, 198 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: like ice, they're there because people went to department store. 199 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:51,199 Speaker 1: So if you put a department store out in the suburbs, 200 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: they'll go to the department store. They're like, I thought 201 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: I was supposed to take a left. Now I'm taking 202 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: the right. I'm at the department store. Who cares. Right. 203 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: The problem is is if you put Hunter and ten 204 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: other stores coming off of that department store, they just 205 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,120 Speaker 1: go to the department store and leave. Not good, right 206 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: if you're one of these other stores. So what Northgate 207 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: figured out, and what is mind numbingly obvious but really works, 208 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: is you just take this department store, put another department store, 209 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: and then put the shops in between them, and then 210 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 1: the people take a right, but they should take a left. 211 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: But they're fine, we're going to the department store. Oh 212 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: there's another department store. Well, i'll just walk past this. 213 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: Maybe i'll buy that. We'll buy a little bit of this. Sure, 214 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: i'll take a feather boa And then they walk into 215 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:41,680 Speaker 1: the other department store and and consumerism is saved. That's right. 216 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: It was revolutionary at the time. So he built he 217 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: was commissioned at least by Dayton's department store to build 218 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: this uh kind of advanced shopping center. Didn't call them 219 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,679 Speaker 1: malls at the time. They called him advanced shopping centers 220 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: and that's so high tech. He actually at its space 221 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: for a competitor at the other end because he had 222 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: this idea like how to keep people there? And I 223 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: don't know how he talked Dayton's into it. Were like wait, wait, yeah, 224 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: like hold on a second, no, no, we're paying you 225 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: to do this, and you want to put a competitor's 226 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 1: store in there. He's like, yeah, it'll work, trust me. 227 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,319 Speaker 1: So a few minutes ago I mentioned that it was introverted. 228 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 1: My uncle's still texting me, um, still looking for parking, 229 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:29,160 Speaker 1: just circling the castro at this point. Uh so we 230 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: mentioned introverted and extroverted malls previous to this. We're outdoor, 231 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: and like we said, they were extroverted. So in other words, 232 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,800 Speaker 1: you walk the perimeter and the stores faced the outside 233 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: and they had doors on them that you would walk 234 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: into if you wanted to shop. So he had this 235 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: idea like, wait, let's reverse all that. Let's turn it 236 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: all inside. Where you walk into this huge building. You 237 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: got these two stores on both ends, and there are 238 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: no doors. They might have a gate they lower at night, 239 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: but it's just open, like pool will just walk through 240 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: this little concourse and all the stores are wide open 241 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: for everyone's air conditioned. It's heated, not at the same time, 242 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: at appropriate times, especially in a place like Minneapolis, it's 243 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: probably a nice place to go in the wintertime. Yeah, 244 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: it was a big deal, and he introverted him. Is 245 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: what they're called right where they look in on themselves 246 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 1: and they're enclosed as well. So for the first time ever, 247 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: you could just walk around this beautiful place with trees 248 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: and he put like a twenty foot bird cage, and 249 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: there were goldfish ponds and all this stuff. And it 250 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: would be the middle of winter and you could walk 251 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: around in short sleeves and be like, I live in 252 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: a Dina, not a dina. Uh. The other thing he 253 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: kind of nailed right out of the gate was um. 254 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: Previous to this, shopping malls were usually um or shopping 255 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: centers are on one floor and they were spread out 256 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: over this big, broad area and you had to enter 257 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: from the outside and walk around the cold and it 258 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,320 Speaker 1: was all this one big, single level. And he said, 259 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: how about this, how about we stack it, because this 260 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: is a genius. Everyone put a store on one end, 261 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: put a store on the other end. You stack him 262 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: on top of each other. You put escalators on both sides. 263 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: You park in this side, you go into your department store, 264 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: you walk down on the first level to get to 265 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 1: the other department store, you get down the escalator, and 266 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,680 Speaker 1: then you walk back on the other level to get 267 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: to your car, and you've seen every store and it 268 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: was genius. It was retailed genius, exactly pretty amazing. And 269 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: again we take this for granted now, but at the 270 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: time everyone's like, I never thought of that. Well, the 271 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: point that we take this for granted, like all of 272 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: this sounds brain dead. All of this came essentially from 273 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: this one guy, this dude named Victor Grewitt, who was 274 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: kind of like a high artsy Fartsia society type from 275 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: Austria who fled the Nazis in and was a self 276 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: taught architect right who just started designing them all. And 277 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: he invented the mall, and he got basically everything right 278 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: right out of the gate, actually amazing. The MSS has 279 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: a really great quote about him, They say that, um, 280 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 1: he it was as if Orville and Wilbur Wright invented 281 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 1: not just manned flight but also tray tables and duty 282 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: free service. Not bad. The other thing he got right 283 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,240 Speaker 1: right out of the gate was these uh low balconies. 284 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: You know, if you ever go into them all, you know, 285 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: if you're on that top floor, you can look down 286 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: and say, I gotta go into Chess King and get 287 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: some parachute pants. Or if you're down on the bottom floor, 288 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: you can look up and you can see, I gotta 289 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,160 Speaker 1: go to Merry Go Around and check out the ladies. 290 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: Merry Go Around. Man, that takes me back. There will 291 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 1: be a bit of nostalgia peppered in here and there. Actually, 292 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:44,920 Speaker 1: I don't even think I put Merry Go Around. I 293 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: put Camelot music is what I have in my Camelot 294 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: music everyone. And the joke I have was the Duran 295 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: Duran Kiss single. Oh my God, the Kiss single. It's 296 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: like I just ate a whole bud of member berries 297 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: or something of what member berries. I don't know. It's 298 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: a yeah, well three other people love that joke. So 299 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: more than seventy five thousand people. Seventy five thousand people 300 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,880 Speaker 1: turned out on the grand opening day of South Dale Mall, 301 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: and not just local press, Life Magazine, Time Magazine, UH, 302 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: New York Times, Business Week, Newsweek. They all came out 303 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,159 Speaker 1: and said things like it's the splashiest center in the 304 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: US as a goldfish pond, birds art, ten acres of 305 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 1: stores and all under one Minnesota roof. It's a pleasure 306 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: dome with parking, said Time magazine. But one guy got 307 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:48,480 Speaker 1: it right. One guy said south Dale has become an 308 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,639 Speaker 1: integral part of the American Way, and this is the 309 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: first mall. And some journalist points Witt and says, this 310 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,960 Speaker 1: is how things are from now on. And this is 311 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,160 Speaker 1: the page that is very hard for me to read because, 312 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: as you can see, I crumpled it up. Well, hold on, 313 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 1: so if we're going to release this, we should probably 314 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,520 Speaker 1: take an a break. Huh oh yeah, sure, Okay, you're ready, 315 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: so we'll be right back. And we're back, all right. 316 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: I'm glad you thought of that. You guys get to 317 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: see how the sausage. So, as I was saying before 318 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: the break, I don't know if you can see it there, 319 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: but this is crumpled up and very hard to read. 320 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: Because Josh sent a new version and I in the 321 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: hotel room, I said, great, I printed it out. I 322 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: crumpled up the wrong one, m through it away and 323 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:02,520 Speaker 1: right before I came, I was searching through the trash 324 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: and uh, here it is. It's not the bad actually, 325 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: so we're gonna entitle this next section the Golden Age 326 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,640 Speaker 1: of the mall. That it wouldn't be a live show 327 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: if we didn't have a golden age of skyjacking, Golden 328 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: age of pr golden age of grave robbing, and now 329 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: the golden age of the mall. It was about to 330 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: say golden Age of Brodney Dangerfield, but it was all 331 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:30,479 Speaker 1: golden age for that guy. So the mall had its 332 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: golden age. Between nineteen fifty six and two thousand, five 333 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: fifteen hundred malls America were built, possibly two thousand, possibly 334 00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: three thousand, what no one knows. They just stopped counting 335 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: pretty much. They're like, forget it will stay seven thousand. 336 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: Who cares? Million? A million malls were built between that 337 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: time in the US. So there's a woman named Lisa 338 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,360 Speaker 1: Sharon who wrote a book called America The Mall Colon, 339 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: because you book has to have a colon if you're smart. 340 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: The cultural role of retail utopia. And she said, for 341 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: the children's seventies, eighties, and nineties, the shopping mall was 342 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: the place to be, space where we defined as our own. 343 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: The mall taught us how to fit in, how to 344 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: be a consumer ultimately, how to be an American? Uh So, 345 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: who I mean, we don't You don't have to say 346 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: how old you are. But if if you grew up 347 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:24,640 Speaker 1: in sort of the seventies and the eighties, you know 348 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,399 Speaker 1: that the mall and into the nineties, of course, the 349 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: shopping mall was like it's different than it is today. 350 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:34,520 Speaker 1: Like families used to go to the mall for the day. 351 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: You pick a Saturday, and you all pile in the car, 352 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: you go to the mall. You maybe go see a movie, 353 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:42,479 Speaker 1: the kids would go to the arcade. Mom and dad 354 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,719 Speaker 1: would do some shopping, and you would literally spend like 355 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,119 Speaker 1: six and eight hours as a family outing at a mall. Right, 356 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: pretty unbelievable to think about that. Now you gather around 357 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: the laptop and go onto Amazon dot com. Yeah, and 358 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 1: I'll sit around and stare at your phones and ignore it. 359 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 1: You say, yes, I would like to get into for 360 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: men to pickles. I could do some fermentation weights. Thanks 361 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: for suggesting that Amazon. Interesting. You just changed my life. 362 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 1: But it was a big deal. You would spend family 363 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:14,280 Speaker 1: day at the mall. And uh in the eighties, it 364 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: was just it was a part of America as anything else. Um, 365 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: there were uh restaurants in the food court at the 366 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: mall that didn't exist outside of the mall. They were 367 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: born in the mall, like Cinnabon. Someone gasped, that's it, 368 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: we can go home now. We're ever working toward as 369 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,640 Speaker 1: a gasp from somebody. Orange Julius that was another one. 370 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: And Express was only in malls for a long time. 371 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: And apparently Sparrow. Everyone knows of Samorrow right. It was 372 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: so tied to malls that when Sabarrow filed for bankruptcy 373 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: in two fourteen, they cited unprecedented decline in mall traffic 374 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: in their filing. There's like, no one likes the mall anymore. 375 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: We're tomorrow, We're dead. Word good Chick fil A too. 376 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:07,800 Speaker 1: You guys don't have Chick fil A here, do you? Oh? 377 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: You do? Long before we knew the chicken. This is 378 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: back when everyone just thought it was delicious and juicy 379 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: and crispy, not filled with homophobia. But no, no, they've 380 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: they've since walked it back. So it's all fine. We're 381 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: just not open on Sundays. Uh Chick fil A would 382 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: used to only be in the mall. I think there 383 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 1: was one original chick fil A store in Georgia. I 384 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: think that's where it was born. But aside from that, 385 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,680 Speaker 1: it was only in the mall. And I remember, uh 386 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:44,360 Speaker 1: going to the mall. Remember when malls used and they 387 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: may still do this. I don't go to malls. There's 388 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:50,159 Speaker 1: on Amazon dot com. Um. Malls used to have events 389 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: like a world record Sunday, I Scream Sunday or something 390 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: to get people there. I went to Chick fil A 391 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: when I was about ten at North Lake Mall, which 392 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: was my mall, because they had the world's largest cup 393 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: of lemonade on a Saturday afternoon. My mom took me 394 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:10,159 Speaker 1: and I drank from that spigot among the thousands of 395 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: other people, and it was not even that impressive, Like 396 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,080 Speaker 1: I thought it was giant, but now that I'm adult, 397 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: it was probably like eight ft high. Right now it 398 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: was sixty four ounces. But they were just the first 399 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: ones to try, so whatever they did was the world's 400 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,840 Speaker 1: biggest cup of lemon eight. That was a mall event 401 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: that I went to. What was your mall? I had 402 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: to because we moved a very formative time in my life. 403 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: I had Southwick Mall, Untiledo Noah, and then I had 404 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: a town Center Mall in Atlanta. No, okay, you guys 405 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: haven't been to Town Center Mall. Believe me, I would 406 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: recognize you. No, no, not necessarily. No, I would not 407 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: call myself a mall rat because I wasn't. I didn't 408 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 1: like sell or consume drugs at the mall, so it 409 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: wasn't a mall rat. I was like, they're legitimately like 410 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: I was there to visit the Led Zeppelin box set 411 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,479 Speaker 1: on cassette that I was saving up to buy, just 412 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: it was still there, you know, Or like I would 413 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: go to Spencer's and like put my hand on the 414 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,639 Speaker 1: plasma ball. Let's be like, yeah, Spencer Gifts. Well I 415 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: say that like you're from here. I know that like 416 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,399 Speaker 1: eight people are from San Francisco in this room, you know, 417 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: Spencer Gifts. Okay, very titilating place for a young Bathos 418 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,440 Speaker 1: because because there's the one section, you know what I'm 419 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: talking about, plus the posters too. Yeah, it's funny now 420 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: as an adult, the one section, I just thought it 421 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: was like, oh man, and then there are some children 422 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,240 Speaker 1: here just you don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe 423 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,400 Speaker 1: maybe she's used pick I don't know how to do that. 424 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 1: It was but for a young Baptist kid, I was 425 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:54,680 Speaker 1: just like I would I would. I would walk by 426 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,440 Speaker 1: it and I would pretend like I'm looking at other 427 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: things and just look in that section to see what 428 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 1: was in it. I remember, and now it's just so 429 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,160 Speaker 1: dumb the stuff that was in that section. Yeah, it's 430 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 1: like a stud collar. It's like who cares. By the time, 431 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: you're like, I got it checking me out yesterday was 432 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,479 Speaker 1: wearing one and nothing else. Maybe a condom with bells, 433 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:19,240 Speaker 1: and that's it so silly. I remember walking past Victoria's 434 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: Secret like I was not doing that on purpose, but 435 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: just kind of like like I could. Actually I trained 436 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: my right eye to go like I took a lot 437 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: of exercise, a lot of work, a lot of muscle relaxers, 438 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: but I got a town path. Oh that's good. And 439 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,439 Speaker 1: that was pretty cell phone when you couldn't fake like 440 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: you were doing something else. Good work. That's very impressive. 441 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:50,680 Speaker 1: You trained it back and everything I did now I 442 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: can't do it anymore or else I show you guys. 443 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: I don't know where I was. I got so side 444 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: tracked my North Lake mall. Oh and the gold mine 445 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 1: was my arcade at the mall wonderful. You get like 446 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: twenty tokens for a dollar on a Wednesday, and now 447 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: games cost like a dollar fifty to play one game. 448 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: Ah progress, That's what else did they have back in 449 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: those days? You made a list Chess King, of course, 450 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: Marry go Around. I mentioned contempo casuals. Ladies knew this 451 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:29,400 Speaker 1: section was all into that county seat remember county seat. 452 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 1: That is a deep cut. Or you could go get 453 00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: gene blue. It was like when the gap used to 454 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,159 Speaker 1: be like sweatshirts and blue jeans before they rebranded. You 455 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: should go back to that. Merry go Around. Can't want music? 456 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,400 Speaker 1: What else? Oh? Well, bookstores? You could just say bookstore 457 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 1: and that would be novel. Be Dalton Books. I think 458 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,600 Speaker 1: I consumed every single volume of truly tasteless jokes and 459 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 1: those without buying a single one. Man, I remember those, God, 460 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:59,159 Speaker 1: those are great. Pet Doctor the cruelest, cutest store of 461 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 1: all time, Remember like the Mall Pet Store. It was 462 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: like this, hamps are so cute and then it died 463 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: like an hour later from Neglay. It just shuffle it 464 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: out and put a new one in. There's a trap door. Nice. 465 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: John Hodgeman to hate this show. Dripping with nostalgia. He's 466 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,120 Speaker 1: here in this town. He refused to come because he knew, 467 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: you kidding, he'd already be up here. Like the nostalgia's toxic. 468 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: The mall became a prominent fixture in movies of the day, 469 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: of course, the Sherman Oaks Galleria and California, which is 470 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: where we are, yea California here. That was the mall 471 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: in Fast Times a Ridgemont High one of the great 472 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: mall movies, and full mall movie, but it's short. It 473 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: also appeared prominently in Commando, where on a sports nigger 474 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: beats up like a ton of guys at the mall. Yeah, 475 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: same mall. Uh. And I of the comment you mentioned, anyone. 476 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,720 Speaker 1: I remember seeing that as a kid and thinking, because 477 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: you know that here if you haven't seen the movie, 478 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: this comment comes and destroys like everyone at night. Yeah, 479 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: and everyone has these comment parties to watch the comment, 480 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: but it kills everybody except for the two really hot 481 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: teenage girls that didn't watch the comment, and then a 482 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:25,960 Speaker 1: few other people. And what do they do. They go 483 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: to the mall shop because it's abandoned. And I remember 484 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: being a kid thinking that would be the dopest thing 485 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: ever to just go in an empty mall and it's 486 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: all yours order order to live at Restoration Hardware, to 487 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 1: run into Spencer Gifts into that section. Yeah, just like 488 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: pass out from pleasure. That's what a way did you 489 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: and you missed your chance? You could be walking around 490 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: the castro right right kind of look out and there's 491 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: a creepy guy with a wandering eye staring at me 492 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: and who knew? Who knew? Uh? What else? The Blues 493 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: Brothers had a very famous mall scene. Yeah, they went 494 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: through the Dixie Square Mall, sorry the Square mall that 495 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: where they were like, this place has got everything. Uh, 496 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 1: and maybe one of the most famous mall parking lots 497 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: of all time the Twin Pines Mall from Back to 498 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:29,720 Speaker 1: the Future, which was actually the Quinte Heels mall. Heels 499 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: that was possibly appropriate maybe, which I don't even know 500 00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: where that is. I mean, it's in l A obviously, 501 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: but I'm not sure it's a It's in City of Industry, 502 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: which is name for a town everybody you know, it's 503 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: outside of l A. I looked it up. And of 504 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: course mall rats, which we don't need to talk about 505 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: too much. Because it was a little really that was 506 00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:00,800 Speaker 1: Kevin Smith. Here's a really high voice. N Smith. You 507 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: can't leave out moon Unit Zappa dude, Oh well, yeah, 508 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: of course. Valley Girl. Yeah, she had a hit single, 509 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: Valley Girl, and her father, Frank Zappa hated the Valley 510 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,480 Speaker 1: Girls right, and while it kind of blew up in 511 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: his face when he released a song with his daughter 512 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: about how stupid Valley Girls were, that it actually popularized 513 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: Valley Girls and made him cool in America. So eat that, 514 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:33,720 Speaker 1: Frank Zappa. Uh, he's past. That's eat that. In Musical Heaven, 515 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,320 Speaker 1: so um, alls started to really grow um, not only 516 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: in popularity but in size, to the point, as Josh says, 517 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: of sheer absurdity. Uh in Canada, because they have malls too, 518 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,400 Speaker 1: I should say, uh yeah, yeah, we have some Canadians here, 519 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:57,120 Speaker 1: and yet no one from Toledo. The West Edmonton mall 520 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: really all right opened and no one from Toledo, anyone 521 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: from Elm Street in Edmonton. Yeah, that's what I thought. 522 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,320 Speaker 1: It was open. Two had an ice skating rink, It 523 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: had sea lions in a pool boo, and an indoor 524 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: bungee jump. It's a tempt fate for shoppers right over 525 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,680 Speaker 1: the Sea Lions. It's just scared than terrible. Oh my god. 526 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: Sea Lions hate being jumped over, and the developers knew 527 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: it too. And of course the Mall of America, perhaps 528 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:38,520 Speaker 1: the most famous mall in Minnesota. Uh, they were gonna 529 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: build a roller coaster there when they decided to build 530 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:45,440 Speaker 1: three roller coasters there. I've never been there. Have you 531 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,480 Speaker 1: been there in Mall of America? Anyone been there? Oh? Wow? 532 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: All right? Huge? Right it's outside of a Dina, so 533 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: actually no, really, it's like seven miles from a Dina. 534 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 1: Should we go to the mall Walkers? Yea. This may 535 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:04,840 Speaker 1: be one of my favorite sections of any show we've 536 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: ever done, because I love Mall Walkers. I didn't know 537 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: it existed until I worked at them all I worked, 538 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: I think I mentioned on the show. I worked at 539 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: the Gap for a month in college over Christmas break 540 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: and I was a champion folder and I still have 541 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: those skills today. Were you really? You know? I actually 542 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: quit working in the Gap is because they got mad 543 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: that I wouldn't recommend socks and belts as they checked out, 544 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: and I said, I think if they wanted socks and belts, 545 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: they would get socks and belts. And my manager said, 546 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:38,360 Speaker 1: you know, I don't know if the gap is right 547 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 1: for you, and I think you might be right. I 548 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 1: took off my little pen and I handed it to him, 549 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: and me and my mock turtleneck strolled right on that 550 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,239 Speaker 1: and that was it. That's the only retail job I've 551 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 1: ever I did. But anyway, a long way of getting 552 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: to mall walkers. I remember showing up for work one 553 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,280 Speaker 1: morning to open and there were these old people walking 554 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: around and I thought, does anyone know that they're in 555 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: here because the mall is not open yet? And someone said, yeah, 556 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:14,320 Speaker 1: they they live in uh and Merry go round and 557 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: come out at night from the giant pants they just 558 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:22,440 Speaker 1: screwed out of the legs. But they explained to me 559 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,839 Speaker 1: what a mall walker was, and even at a young age, 560 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: I was like, that's wonderful. It warmed my heart and 561 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: it became a legit, real American thing. It did. Apparently 562 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,800 Speaker 1: the CDC did a report on this, because if you 563 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:40,359 Speaker 1: can't study gun violence, might as well study mall walking. 564 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: And in two thousand and fifteen they said, uh, malls 565 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:53,480 Speaker 1: are right behind neighborhoods for popularity of walking they just 566 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: went to bed after that, but they did a little 567 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,680 Speaker 1: more digging and they said the reason people of malls 568 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: is because there's restrooms, water fountains, benches, and level surfaces. 569 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: And this is one of my favorite quotes from any 570 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: CDC report ever. They said that quote, the latest fashionable 571 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 1: workout attire is not a requisite for mall walking, And 572 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:22,279 Speaker 1: no truer words have ever been spoken. You won't find 573 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,000 Speaker 1: any yoga pants on the mall walkers. As a matter 574 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 1: of fact, I would imagine you would be ostracized if 575 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: you did just kind of gussy, if like you're putting 576 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:31,839 Speaker 1: on airs or something. You know, they don't play that 577 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,640 Speaker 1: in a dina. Yeah. Actually, you know what mall walker's 578 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: where those uh those workout pants that that look like 579 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,359 Speaker 1: lotted up paper. You know what I'm talking about. It's 580 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 1: like this wrinkly, weird material. I don't even know what 581 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 1: it's made of. Fish skin? What? Yes, all right, we're 582 00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:50,879 Speaker 1: gonna talk about all right, we'll talk about it later. 583 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,719 Speaker 1: Let's hang on to this page to remind us to 584 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,960 Speaker 1: talk about it. Well, that's fish skin, but you mean 585 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 1: clothing that's totally weird, but it makes sense in a way. 586 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: Uh So, these these generally elderly folks are walking around malls. 587 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:08,960 Speaker 1: And at the Mall of America, they have a PR 588 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 1: coordinator there named Tara Neebling, and she says, we love 589 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:17,920 Speaker 1: our wall uh wall markers, mall walkers. They're very special 590 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: to us, and they even have a program. They're so adorable. 591 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,439 Speaker 1: But they give them little swipe cards. It keeps track. 592 00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,560 Speaker 1: It's sort of like a fitbit, but they can't wear 593 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: a fitbit, I guess because I don't even know why. 594 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,040 Speaker 1: They can't figure it out or something that's very agist 595 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:34,080 Speaker 1: and is going to be against the wall for that 596 00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:37,000 Speaker 1: joke later on. But they've given these little swipe cards 597 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: that lets them track how much they're walking and how 598 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,479 Speaker 1: much exercise they're getting. They have monthly breakfast meetings where 599 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,920 Speaker 1: they have health experts come in and talk about we 600 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:51,319 Speaker 1: should all go there right now. And all this is 601 00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:54,239 Speaker 1: in exchange for a fifteen dollar annual fee if you 602 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,640 Speaker 1: want to officially be a member. But don't feel bad, sir, 603 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,479 Speaker 1: because like I was, like, what a rip? He said. 604 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,960 Speaker 1: They welcome unofficial mall walkers a k a. The old 605 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,640 Speaker 1: dudes who refused to pay the fifteen dollars a k 606 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: a society's leeches. That would be me. I'm not paying 607 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:21,720 Speaker 1: fifty dollars. That's mean about ten or fifteen years. Anyway, 608 00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:23,959 Speaker 1: I think it's adorable. Uh. And the whole thing about 609 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: mall walkers is they it was a problem at first 610 00:37:26,640 --> 00:37:29,400 Speaker 1: because they didn't used to open malls to allow this. 611 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:31,399 Speaker 1: They just came to the mall when it was open 612 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:33,759 Speaker 1: and they would walk around. And they said that there 613 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 1: was a quote in here they said they thought it 614 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 1: would upset the regular shoppers to have them just exercising 615 00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:42,279 Speaker 1: among them. And they're like, you know, what do we do? 616 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,200 Speaker 1: We can't kill them. They got our they have our 617 00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:48,680 Speaker 1: arms behind our backs, like they really have us over 618 00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:52,080 Speaker 1: a barrel. You can't kill them, can we? We could 619 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:54,520 Speaker 1: wait for them to die. And I guess this is 620 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,359 Speaker 1: that they're really healthy. Owners gets together once a year, 621 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 1: capes red satin inside black on, you know. So they 622 00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:06,680 Speaker 1: decided to open them all just for them to walk 623 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,240 Speaker 1: around before the store is open, which is just adorable, 624 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:15,320 Speaker 1: I think. And speaking of the Mall of America, Douglas Copeland, 625 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,680 Speaker 1: I don't know if any of you have read Generation X. 626 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,279 Speaker 1: It's a really great book, but he basically coined the name. 627 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:26,239 Speaker 1: Apparently no one's read it. Douglas Copeland, Um, wow, this 628 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:28,680 Speaker 1: really would work so much better if you guys knew 629 00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,479 Speaker 1: what what Generation X was. Yeah, we wrote it. So 630 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,680 Speaker 1: he wrote the book literally Generation X, and like just 631 00:38:35,719 --> 00:38:37,799 Speaker 1: set the tone for the whole thing. And he was 632 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:42,360 Speaker 1: actually at the opening of Mall of America on August 633 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:45,400 Speaker 1: and he was up there on stage with the local 634 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:48,600 Speaker 1: radio affiliate, and he said that everybody was walking by 635 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:51,040 Speaker 1: with what he called country fair face, where they were 636 00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:54,600 Speaker 1: like google eyed and eating ice cream, couldn't believe this mall. 637 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:56,880 Speaker 1: It was the most amazing thing they've ever seen. And 638 00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,319 Speaker 1: he said that the interviewer just assumed he was going 639 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: to be like a lacquer ironic wise ass and said, 640 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:04,640 Speaker 1: you know, I bet you think this whole mall is 641 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:08,160 Speaker 1: very hokey and trashy. And Douglas Copeland said, actually not 642 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:13,680 Speaker 1: at all, Chuck, where should I start here? Oh? Oh, sorry, 643 00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:15,839 Speaker 1: I can finish my part. And then the radio guy 644 00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:21,560 Speaker 1: was like, what, Chuck, and he said, quote, I mean 645 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,719 Speaker 1: that I feel like I'm in another era that we 646 00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 1: thought had vanished, but it really hasn't, not yet. I 647 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:28,920 Speaker 1: think we might one day look back on photos of 648 00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: today and think to ourselves. You know, those people were 649 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: living in golden times and they didn't even know it. 650 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 1: Communism was dead, the economy was good, and the future 651 00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:42,680 Speaker 1: with all of its accompanying technologies, hadn't crush society's mojo 652 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: like a bug and drop the mic. And they said, well, 653 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:52,800 Speaker 1: that's really not good for the mic, and we're please anymore. 654 00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 1: And he goes on to say it's true. He says 655 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 1: that technology hadn't hallowed up the middle class and turned 656 00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 1: us all into like laptop click junk. He's he didn't 657 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 1: say that there were no He said there were no 658 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:05,839 Speaker 1: new boogeymen hiding in the closet. He said, we may 659 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:09,120 Speaker 1: look at the nineties as the last good decade. And 660 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,880 Speaker 1: all of this came to him at the mall, so 661 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:17,080 Speaker 1: they didn't get their snarky quote after all, which is 662 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:20,160 Speaker 1: kind of ironic in a way. You know, he really 663 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:24,799 Speaker 1: did zing him. But it was a medazine. So if 664 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:26,719 Speaker 1: you want to talk to the psychology of malls, we 665 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:29,560 Speaker 1: need to go back to Victor Gruen and um he 666 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:31,360 Speaker 1: has a quote where he said shoppers will be so 667 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,919 Speaker 1: bedazzled by the store surroundings they will be drawn unconsciously 668 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:39,280 Speaker 1: continually to shop, and um, this kind of goes against 669 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:43,200 Speaker 1: his ethos. He he wasn't some big He wasn't like 670 00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:46,960 Speaker 1: the pr guy. I can't I think of his name. 671 00:40:46,960 --> 00:40:50,240 Speaker 1: We did that like twelve times. He wasn't like Ed Burney's. 672 00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:51,759 Speaker 1: He didn't have this thing where he was like, yes, 673 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:53,520 Speaker 1: we need to get people to shop. But he was 674 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:55,439 Speaker 1: commissioned to do so, and he did a good job. 675 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:57,960 Speaker 1: He thought the mall would be a little bit more 676 00:40:58,040 --> 00:41:00,480 Speaker 1: like a sort of like they had in Europe, like 677 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,680 Speaker 1: a public meeting space, and that's why he built these 678 00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,400 Speaker 1: atriums in the middle, the skylights in the fountain, and 679 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:07,480 Speaker 1: he thought people would go there and hang out and 680 00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:10,839 Speaker 1: talk politics and maybe even uh stand up and like 681 00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 1: speak about things publicly to people, because that's what happens 682 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,239 Speaker 1: at the mall. Right, instead of the developers are like, 683 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:21,000 Speaker 1: you go over there, you're done, you did your damage, right, 684 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:23,920 Speaker 1: We're actually gonna go so far as to name a 685 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:27,759 Speaker 1: psychological effect after you, something called the grew In transfer, 686 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,319 Speaker 1: which is where you walk into the mall and you're like, 687 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,279 Speaker 1: I'm going to buy a Hello, Kitty pen and that 688 00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:35,960 Speaker 1: is it, and you get through the mall and you're like, 689 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:38,000 Speaker 1: oh my god, there's a water fountain, Oh my god, 690 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,560 Speaker 1: there's old people walking around. There's this amazing stuff going 691 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:43,200 Speaker 1: on here at the mall. I forgot what I was 692 00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:45,840 Speaker 1: going to get, and now I have a compulsion to 693 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:50,080 Speaker 1: get an orange Julius with drugs in it. And you 694 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:52,200 Speaker 1: forget what you're doing, and all of a sudden you're 695 00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:56,360 Speaker 1: shopping in general rather than purposefully shopping. That is called 696 00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:59,239 Speaker 1: the grew In transfer or the grew In effect, And 697 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:01,800 Speaker 1: and Victor grew probably would not be very happy to 698 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,000 Speaker 1: know that that was the case. No, And as we'll 699 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:06,000 Speaker 1: see later, he in fact was not happy about that. 700 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:13,799 Speaker 1: Uh So Malcolm Gladwell, Josh's mortal enemy. He did an 701 00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:16,879 Speaker 1: interview with a Alfred Tubman and he said it's called 702 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:19,880 Speaker 1: threshold resistance. He said, people assume that we enclosed his 703 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,600 Speaker 1: face because of air conditioning and climate control. He said, 704 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,600 Speaker 1: what it really did was allow us to open the 705 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:27,040 Speaker 1: store to the customer. Just what we talked about, that 706 00:42:27,160 --> 00:42:29,800 Speaker 1: introverted thing. All of a sudden, you're in this huge 707 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,200 Speaker 1: retail utopia. All the doors are open at all time, 708 00:42:33,680 --> 00:42:35,399 Speaker 1: and you're just strolling through the mall and you walk 709 00:42:35,480 --> 00:42:37,520 Speaker 1: by Nike Town, and they have like looks like a 710 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,760 Speaker 1: nightclub in there, so you're just sort of unconsciously drawn 711 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:45,280 Speaker 1: inside there, like I'd like to make some new friends, truly, 712 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:49,520 Speaker 1: I can't Nike Town. Uh. Back in the day in 713 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:52,359 Speaker 1: shopping centers, they used to have live bands, and that 714 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,200 Speaker 1: was replaced, of course, with music later on, which is 715 00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:59,120 Speaker 1: you know, you take like a normal song like Bread's 716 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:01,680 Speaker 1: I Want to Make with You, and then you remove 717 00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:05,600 Speaker 1: the lyrics, the percussion, replace it all with strings, and 718 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:07,279 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, people are just walking around. Like 719 00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:13,040 Speaker 1: by most by it works really well, so much so 720 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:16,280 Speaker 1: that the people at malls who are typically in charge 721 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,000 Speaker 1: of the music were the same people who were in 722 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,040 Speaker 1: charge of the heat and the lighting, the facilities manager. 723 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:24,439 Speaker 1: That's how much music meant to It was like part 724 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:27,200 Speaker 1: of the building. But at the same time, you can't 725 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:30,720 Speaker 1: really call it music, you know. In fact, you probably 726 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:35,400 Speaker 1: call something weird like music. Yeah, you think about the 727 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:40,520 Speaker 1: coolest DJ. I'm not hip on that scene. Uh, Steve Ioki, Okay, 728 00:43:41,440 --> 00:43:46,400 Speaker 1: the facilities manager is the opposite of Steve Ioki. But 729 00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,719 Speaker 1: they're sitting in their room and and they're controlling the 730 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:51,040 Speaker 1: music and the the lights and the sounds of the 731 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:57,040 Speaker 1: mall all in that little room dead mouse. Oh, I 732 00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,520 Speaker 1: know what that is. But the s is a number five? 733 00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:06,440 Speaker 1: Right yeah? So hip, so hip. I'm not old. I 734 00:44:06,560 --> 00:44:12,640 Speaker 1: know that guy too. So we talked a little bit 735 00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:17,759 Speaker 1: earlier about the the cycle of the mall, the two 736 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 1: story layout. And while you can go to malls where 737 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:24,120 Speaker 1: there are three stories, um, most of the malls I've 738 00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:26,000 Speaker 1: been to that have a third story. It's not the 739 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:28,920 Speaker 1: entire mall. There'll be like a section with a third story. 740 00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:30,719 Speaker 1: I don't know if they built it on or what, 741 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,040 Speaker 1: but generally you see a two story mall because you 742 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,520 Speaker 1: had that cycle the across down, across, up, back to 743 00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:39,600 Speaker 1: your car and you've seen all the stores. Right, But 744 00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,800 Speaker 1: if you have a third level, you go across, down, across. 745 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:44,799 Speaker 1: My car should be here. But now I have a 746 00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:47,600 Speaker 1: third level and I'm stuck. I'm just gonna wander around 747 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:51,680 Speaker 1: this corner until some people come get me. And as 748 00:44:51,719 --> 00:44:54,640 Speaker 1: a matter of fact, Valco mall had three levels. Look 749 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:59,040 Speaker 1: what happened to it? What mall? It's the local mall. 750 00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:06,439 Speaker 1: Oh and the fourteen people from San Francisco applied right, yeah, Oh, 751 00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:11,319 Speaker 1: it's in San Jose it's like the same place. Come on, 752 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:15,200 Speaker 1: I think you could default to Bay Area and you 753 00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,600 Speaker 1: do yourself a lot of favors. You're hearing this from 754 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:20,799 Speaker 1: like the guy who took off an infinity scarf right 755 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,000 Speaker 1: before he came on stage because he was told like, 756 00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:26,480 Speaker 1: it's not cool anymore. I don't even know what that is. 757 00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:29,000 Speaker 1: So you're burn does not work? No, No, I was 758 00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:32,680 Speaker 1: talking about myself burning you, buddy. I wasn't burning you, 759 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:41,880 Speaker 1: all right, burn? Yeah, any scarf, it's a stupid what 760 00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,879 Speaker 1: else did they figure anyone where? You're fine? Lady? Your 761 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:48,440 Speaker 1: infinity scarf is fine? Is that an infinity? That's lovely? 762 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:50,640 Speaker 1: Can you come up here and show everyone when an 763 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:56,080 Speaker 1: infinity scar I'm kidding? No, everyone stopped now. Yeah, because 764 00:45:56,120 --> 00:46:00,160 Speaker 1: we thought about adding runway modeling to our shows. That 765 00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:04,120 Speaker 1: would be a great time. Sorry about the infancy scarf joke. 766 00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:10,640 Speaker 1: Now I feel terrible. Is anyone drinking nothing but soilent 767 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:13,640 Speaker 1: right now? I should have made that joke instead. I'm 768 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:15,920 Speaker 1: looking over my glasses for more clothes I can make 769 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:23,640 Speaker 1: fun of Tyler Murphy. That beard is something else. He 770 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,439 Speaker 1: died of blue. Everybody, all right, this is another part 771 00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:30,320 Speaker 1: that's gonna be edited out later, so Tyler say whatever 772 00:46:30,400 --> 00:46:36,880 Speaker 1: you want. So the other thing they figured out with 773 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:38,719 Speaker 1: keeping people in the mall, which is a big goal, 774 00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:41,520 Speaker 1: is that that people like to shop with other people. 775 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,120 Speaker 1: But sometimes the people that you bring to shop with you, 776 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:47,839 Speaker 1: namely husbands, don't like to be at the mall. So 777 00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:50,359 Speaker 1: they said, well, let's put comfy areas in the mall, 778 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:52,560 Speaker 1: like chairs. And in fact, there was a quote that 779 00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:55,800 Speaker 1: said a chair says we care a famous mall designer. 780 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:58,440 Speaker 1: What it really means is a chair says we can 781 00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:02,719 Speaker 1: keep your wife here longer than you like to be here. Right. 782 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:04,960 Speaker 1: The husband's like, oh, I just want to lay down 783 00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:07,480 Speaker 1: and die on my floor at home. Can I just 784 00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:09,799 Speaker 1: go home? Like you can lay down and die here, sir? Right, 785 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:18,480 Speaker 1: lay there? Shut up. So the ironies are growing, we 786 00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:20,840 Speaker 1: said earlier. I don't think we specifically said he was 787 00:47:20,880 --> 00:47:26,719 Speaker 1: a socialist. Now it's really weird for a socialist to 788 00:47:26,760 --> 00:47:28,600 Speaker 1: be the father of the shopping mall, wouldn't you think. 789 00:47:29,280 --> 00:47:31,480 Speaker 1: And his original idea was that people could go there 790 00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:35,440 Speaker 1: and espouse their views, and that maybe happen once in 791 00:47:35,560 --> 00:47:38,920 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six, until the Supreme Court came in and 792 00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:43,120 Speaker 1: said in the case of hud Hudgens versus Natural Relations 793 00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:46,879 Speaker 1: Labor Relations Board. Basically, these union dudes wanted to pick 794 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:48,640 Speaker 1: it inside the mall and they did so they got 795 00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:52,040 Speaker 1: kicked out. They sued, and the Supreme Court said, actually, 796 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:55,960 Speaker 1: his private property, and you can't bring your picket signs 797 00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:59,440 Speaker 1: in here. And and the picketers were like, wait, wait, wait, 798 00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:03,120 Speaker 1: the all is the new heart, the new civic center 799 00:48:03,200 --> 00:48:06,080 Speaker 1: of American life. In the Supreme Court, don't be an 800 00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:11,720 Speaker 1: idiot place of shot dummy and everyone. When I didn't 801 00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:14,360 Speaker 1: hear what you just said, We're gonna just keep pretending 802 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,160 Speaker 1: like the mall is the hardest civic life. So it 803 00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:20,080 Speaker 1: was a big problem for Grew And actually he um 804 00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:24,239 Speaker 1: he also hated cars. He was big into walking. He 805 00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:28,160 Speaker 1: was in favor of pedestrianism. And yet you have to 806 00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,759 Speaker 1: drive a car to get to the mall. And not 807 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:33,279 Speaker 1: only that, you have to park, like some of his 808 00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:36,480 Speaker 1: creations want. I think Southdale had like two point eight 809 00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:39,760 Speaker 1: million square feet of parking, and he called these things 810 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,960 Speaker 1: like land wasting seas of of parking lots. So as 811 00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,319 Speaker 1: he's as he's designing these things, he's like, I'm not 812 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:48,600 Speaker 1: very happy about this, and they would go do it anyway, 813 00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:50,759 Speaker 1: even the stuff he scratched out. They're like, no, this 814 00:48:50,840 --> 00:48:53,080 Speaker 1: is a good idea. We're gonna go with this. And 815 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:56,160 Speaker 1: he had like, no, say whatsoever. After a while now 816 00:48:56,320 --> 00:48:59,040 Speaker 1: and he got pretty disgusted, and he left the United 817 00:48:59,080 --> 00:49:02,520 Speaker 1: States forever. In the nineteen sixties, went back to Europe 818 00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:05,239 Speaker 1: and said. Uh. In nineteen seventy eight, a couple of 819 00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:07,400 Speaker 1: years before his death, he gave a speech in London 820 00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:09,600 Speaker 1: and said, I am often called the father of the 821 00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:12,600 Speaker 1: shopping mall. I would like to take this opportunity to 822 00:49:12,760 --> 00:49:16,480 Speaker 1: disclaim paternity once and for all. I refused to pay 823 00:49:16,520 --> 00:49:21,880 Speaker 1: alimony to those bastard developments. They destroyed our cities. And 824 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:23,880 Speaker 1: they said, sir, we have the paternity tests and you 825 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:28,120 Speaker 1: are the father, right He said, no, I'm not, No, 826 00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:36,520 Speaker 1: you really are. Yeah. We used lumen all in everything. Uh. 827 00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:39,319 Speaker 1: Maybe we should take another ad break. Yeah, let's take 828 00:49:39,360 --> 00:50:04,480 Speaker 1: another ad break. We'll be back right after this, and 829 00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:10,480 Speaker 1: we're back. We should, I guess move on to the 830 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:12,279 Speaker 1: death of the mall. Yeah, because I don't know if 831 00:50:12,320 --> 00:50:14,600 Speaker 1: you guys know this or not, but malls are not 832 00:50:14,640 --> 00:50:20,320 Speaker 1: doing very well these days. I know, but you'll probably 833 00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:24,360 Speaker 1: like the rest of this episode. The mall actually peaked 834 00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:28,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety at sixteen million square feet of new 835 00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:30,879 Speaker 1: space opened in that year, and it's been tapering off 836 00:50:30,920 --> 00:50:34,680 Speaker 1: ever since. And here's a little staggering statistic for you. 837 00:50:35,080 --> 00:50:37,360 Speaker 1: Since the nineteen fifties, when the first mall was built, 838 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:40,600 Speaker 1: there was at least one mall built every single year 839 00:50:40,800 --> 00:50:44,920 Speaker 1: until two thousand seven, usually many, many mall, well up 840 00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:48,799 Speaker 1: to a million from what I hear. I mean that's 841 00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,800 Speaker 1: an estimate, but yeah, yeah, so two thousand seven marked 842 00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:53,960 Speaker 1: the first year that a new mall wasn't built, and 843 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,719 Speaker 1: I think there were no new malls built until two 844 00:50:56,719 --> 00:51:02,040 Speaker 1: thousand twelve in the United States. Uh, two thousand eight. Recession, 845 00:51:02,120 --> 00:51:06,000 Speaker 1: the Great Recession had a really big impact on retail. Yeah, 846 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,480 Speaker 1: that's there's like a bunch of different reasons people put 847 00:51:08,520 --> 00:51:11,680 Speaker 1: for what killed the mall. Right, the mall has long 848 00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:16,399 Speaker 1: been known for killing the American downtown. Right, the mall 849 00:51:16,440 --> 00:51:19,520 Speaker 1: moved out to the suburbs in the downtown just kind 850 00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:22,239 Speaker 1: of went away. Right, So reason number one is that 851 00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:24,920 Speaker 1: the Great Recession killed them mall. And this is true 852 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:29,759 Speaker 1: to a pretty large extent actually, like from World War 853 00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:34,680 Speaker 1: Two until I think two thousand nine, Every single year 854 00:51:34,960 --> 00:51:37,960 Speaker 1: Americans spent more money than they had the year before, 855 00:51:38,200 --> 00:51:41,680 Speaker 1: which is nuts. Right. Then two thousand nine comes and 856 00:51:41,719 --> 00:51:44,240 Speaker 1: we stopped, and not only did we stop, we actually 857 00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:47,800 Speaker 1: declined tremendously. We stopped spending by something like ten percent. 858 00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:50,640 Speaker 1: And then the money that we did spend, we started 859 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:54,360 Speaker 1: spending at Target and Walmart, not at the mall or 860 00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:58,000 Speaker 1: at places like j. C. Pennies or Sears who tried 861 00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:00,120 Speaker 1: to keep these malls propped up, and who mall is 862 00:52:00,160 --> 00:52:03,160 Speaker 1: depended on. Because again, remember, if you go to a mall, 863 00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:05,760 Speaker 1: the whole reason the mall exists is for the department 864 00:52:05,840 --> 00:52:08,320 Speaker 1: stores to spread their traffic out to the smaller stores. 865 00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:11,120 Speaker 1: And if the department stores are hurting, which they were, 866 00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:14,319 Speaker 1: then the smaller stores heard as well. So as these big, 867 00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:17,920 Speaker 1: large anchor stores started to go under, the malls did 868 00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:21,120 Speaker 1: as well. But people said the Great Recession was pretty bad. 869 00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:24,520 Speaker 1: It's probably not the only reason that the mall is dying. Yeah, 870 00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:27,120 Speaker 1: we mentioned Amazon dot Com earlier, and they're not the 871 00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:29,359 Speaker 1: only online retailer, of course, and you can tell we're 872 00:52:29,360 --> 00:52:31,799 Speaker 1: not from the area because we say dot com after it. 873 00:52:33,719 --> 00:52:35,319 Speaker 1: We just want to make sure you guys know what 874 00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:42,080 Speaker 1: we're talking about. We're trying to communicate with you. I 875 00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:46,080 Speaker 1: can't believe I said that. How nerdy we would both 876 00:52:46,120 --> 00:52:50,200 Speaker 1: of us have said it like five or six times. Stuff. 877 00:52:50,200 --> 00:52:54,040 Speaker 1: You should know. Dot com Well, there's dot orgs and 878 00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:58,959 Speaker 1: dot nets and dot yeah, not Amazon, dot e d US, 879 00:52:59,120 --> 00:53:05,120 Speaker 1: dot UK specificity is a soul of narrative. Oh good one, 880 00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:10,719 Speaker 1: thank you. Take that, everybody, thank you. Uh. In two 881 00:53:10,760 --> 00:53:14,920 Speaker 1: thousand fourteen, traditional retailers, for the very first time, generated 882 00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:18,200 Speaker 1: about half their sales from the web. Um, but you can't, 883 00:53:18,200 --> 00:53:21,640 Speaker 1: like I do all my shopping online now, I literally 884 00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:23,839 Speaker 1: haven't been. I think I went to the mall last 885 00:53:23,920 --> 00:53:26,200 Speaker 1: year for something and asked my wife, she's out there. 886 00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:29,239 Speaker 1: I was miserable. I hated it, but we had to 887 00:53:29,239 --> 00:53:31,040 Speaker 1: go for some reason or another. I can't remember, probably 888 00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:34,520 Speaker 1: staying the line for a stupid phone. I'm just kidding 889 00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:36,480 Speaker 1: out and do that either. But I almost stood in 890 00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:39,680 Speaker 1: line for breakfast this morning right here in San Francisco, 891 00:53:40,239 --> 00:53:48,680 Speaker 1: because that's the thing. Jeez. But online retailing isn't that 892 00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,800 Speaker 1: big of a thing yet. Uh, even if it hits 893 00:53:51,840 --> 00:53:54,960 Speaker 1: the fifteen percent annual growth over the next three years 894 00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:58,440 Speaker 1: that they project by two thousand nineteen, it'll still only 895 00:53:58,480 --> 00:54:00,759 Speaker 1: be about two point four I'm sorry, twelve point four 896 00:54:01,120 --> 00:54:04,160 Speaker 1: percent of retail, which is not enough to kill them all, 897 00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:07,359 Speaker 1: but it's a factor no. And plus you can kind 898 00:54:07,360 --> 00:54:10,200 Speaker 1: of find this weird confidence in the idea that malls 899 00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:13,120 Speaker 1: may continue limping along if you're into that kind of thing, 900 00:54:13,600 --> 00:54:17,960 Speaker 1: by the fact that Amazon dot Com open a brick 901 00:54:18,000 --> 00:54:21,880 Speaker 1: and mortar store a bookstore to help boost their online sales, 902 00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:25,840 Speaker 1: which is mind boggling, but they did it in Seattle. 903 00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:29,759 Speaker 1: But more than anything, perhaps the reason the malls died, 904 00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:33,640 Speaker 1: it's because they were never meant to live forever. Uh. 905 00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:37,520 Speaker 1: And this next part is about the economics of malls, 906 00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:44,960 Speaker 1: and specifically it sounds so boring tax loopholes concerning malls. 907 00:54:45,800 --> 00:54:53,960 Speaker 1: Josh is gonna explain it. Okay, So if you build 908 00:54:54,000 --> 00:54:56,560 Speaker 1: a building somewhere, and I should say hats off to 909 00:54:56,640 --> 00:55:00,200 Speaker 1: Gladwell for explaining this too. This comes largely from him. 910 00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:02,719 Speaker 1: But if you build a building somewhere and say, like 911 00:55:02,880 --> 00:55:06,799 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty, um, the government said, you know what, your 912 00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:08,920 Speaker 1: building is not going to hold up forever, so you 913 00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:13,120 Speaker 1: can deduct a certain percentage of your building's value every 914 00:55:13,200 --> 00:55:16,640 Speaker 1: year and put it aside tax free to replace that 915 00:55:16,680 --> 00:55:20,479 Speaker 1: building eventually. And at the time when shopping malls first 916 00:55:20,520 --> 00:55:24,400 Speaker 1: started to come about in the early fifties, the the 917 00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:30,239 Speaker 1: deduction for this wear and tear was one. Right, Like, 918 00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:33,520 Speaker 1: you had a forty years to deduct this value of 919 00:55:33,719 --> 00:55:36,480 Speaker 1: your your building. This is not going well, No, that's 920 00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:39,640 Speaker 1: perfect so far. I'm checking in for accuracy. Okay, Right, 921 00:55:40,760 --> 00:55:46,120 Speaker 1: I feel like like my fingernails are bleeding. So every year, right, 922 00:55:46,239 --> 00:55:48,600 Speaker 1: if you went and built a shopping mall, you could 923 00:55:48,600 --> 00:55:52,120 Speaker 1: deduct one of the value of the shopping mall. Not 924 00:55:52,239 --> 00:55:56,200 Speaker 1: a huge deduction, but it was something. It's the problem 925 00:55:56,360 --> 00:56:00,160 Speaker 1: is is this depreciation deduction was It was something, but 926 00:56:00,200 --> 00:56:02,920 Speaker 1: it wasn't enough. If you built a shopping mall in 927 00:56:02,960 --> 00:56:06,160 Speaker 1: the early fifties, you were really asking for trouble because 928 00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:09,759 Speaker 1: they were hugely expensive. They cost like twenty million or 929 00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:11,920 Speaker 1: thirty million, which are on par to a hundred and 930 00:56:11,960 --> 00:56:15,920 Speaker 1: eighty or two hundred million dollars today, right, and you 931 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:18,400 Speaker 1: were going to make your money back very very slowly. 932 00:56:18,680 --> 00:56:23,280 Speaker 1: But then and I think nineteen the US government said, 933 00:56:23,320 --> 00:56:25,040 Speaker 1: you know what, we really want to kind of get 934 00:56:25,080 --> 00:56:28,400 Speaker 1: things going on building and construction. Uh, we want to 935 00:56:28,400 --> 00:56:30,600 Speaker 1: make sure Josh and Chuck have something interesting to talk 936 00:56:30,640 --> 00:56:33,160 Speaker 1: about at the end of their Malls episode years from now. 937 00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:36,120 Speaker 1: So we're going to change the tax code, and they did, 938 00:56:36,560 --> 00:56:40,600 Speaker 1: and they created or allowed for something called accelerated depreciation, 939 00:56:40,880 --> 00:56:46,799 Speaker 1: and this changed everything, Chuck. So I'm gonna go back 940 00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:49,799 Speaker 1: to nineteen sixty one. The Wall Street Journal wrote a 941 00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:53,879 Speaker 1: little article trying to describe this financial situation for real 942 00:56:54,000 --> 00:56:59,560 Speaker 1: estate company name Cratur Corp. Sounds totally made up. I 943 00:56:59,640 --> 00:57:03,240 Speaker 1: can eave villains business that you would run or std 944 00:57:07,200 --> 00:57:16,160 Speaker 1: I abbreviated, what does that stand for? It won't go away, Doc, 945 00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:23,880 Speaker 1: So I'm gonna I'm gonna million to one, I tell you. 946 00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:28,640 Speaker 1: So this is the sixty young and around the numbers 947 00:57:28,680 --> 00:57:30,720 Speaker 1: just to make it easier. So let's say Crowder Corp. 948 00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:34,520 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty made about ten million bucks overall. Is 949 00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:39,200 Speaker 1: everyone writing this down as we're saying that, So deductions 950 00:57:39,240 --> 00:57:43,760 Speaker 1: from operating expenses and mortgage interests is about five million bucks. 951 00:57:43,800 --> 00:57:46,080 Speaker 1: So they still make about five million bucks. Not a 952 00:57:46,120 --> 00:57:50,000 Speaker 1: bad income, but not good enough. Then came the depreciation, 953 00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:54,920 Speaker 1: accelerated depreciation to the tune about seven million dollars. So 954 00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:57,600 Speaker 1: all of a sudden crowder, instead of having a profit 955 00:57:57,640 --> 00:58:00,280 Speaker 1: of five million dollars on the books, has a loss 956 00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:03,400 Speaker 1: of a couple of million dollars on the books. And 957 00:58:03,680 --> 00:58:07,800 Speaker 1: everyone has these huge tax write offs. And now you 958 00:58:07,840 --> 00:58:11,280 Speaker 1: fully understand, if you didn't before, why our next president 959 00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:16,720 Speaker 1: doesn't pay income tax. Right. It's basically this accelerated depreciation 960 00:58:16,800 --> 00:58:19,479 Speaker 1: on real estate that allows you to write off these 961 00:58:19,520 --> 00:58:22,400 Speaker 1: massive amounts of money to show big losses where you're 962 00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:25,120 Speaker 1: in fact making gains. Right. And the big change of 963 00:58:25,160 --> 00:58:27,840 Speaker 1: the tax code was to the I R s. They're 964 00:58:27,840 --> 00:58:30,280 Speaker 1: still getting the same amount of taxes over the life 965 00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:32,400 Speaker 1: of the building. They just said, if you want to 966 00:58:32,960 --> 00:58:36,440 Speaker 1: deduct this depreciation at the beginning of the life of 967 00:58:36,440 --> 00:58:38,760 Speaker 1: the building, that's fine with us. It's it's all the 968 00:58:38,800 --> 00:58:41,040 Speaker 1: same to us. Well, if you were a developer, you 969 00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:44,000 Speaker 1: would build this building, deduct as much as you could 970 00:58:44,120 --> 00:58:48,480 Speaker 1: over say three four five years, maybe even break even 971 00:58:48,520 --> 00:58:51,720 Speaker 1: just from the tax deductions, and then sell that mall 972 00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:55,240 Speaker 1: for pure profit of fifty or a hundred or a 973 00:58:55,280 --> 00:58:59,040 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty million dollars and walk away laughing and 974 00:58:59,120 --> 00:59:05,720 Speaker 1: laughing and laugh and exactly, we're in your cape. But 975 00:59:05,880 --> 00:59:07,880 Speaker 1: here's the thing. They wouldn't like put that money back 976 00:59:07,880 --> 00:59:10,160 Speaker 1: into the mall to make it better. They would sell 977 00:59:10,200 --> 00:59:11,960 Speaker 1: it off like you said, and just go build a 978 00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:15,720 Speaker 1: bigger mall further out. And now we'll call these ex serbs. 979 00:59:15,720 --> 00:59:18,480 Speaker 1: They're not even suburbs. Because they were all about going 980 00:59:18,520 --> 00:59:21,280 Speaker 1: where the land was cheapest. The mall stopped being a 981 00:59:21,320 --> 00:59:24,600 Speaker 1: place to actually service people. They would just build malls 982 00:59:24,680 --> 00:59:26,960 Speaker 1: where they could get the best deals on land and 983 00:59:27,080 --> 00:59:29,440 Speaker 1: found that people would drive to them and sometimes even 984 00:59:29,480 --> 00:59:32,320 Speaker 1: build entire towns around them. Right, yeah, let's move to 985 00:59:32,400 --> 00:59:37,880 Speaker 1: the mall. And it's true. And so under this view, 986 00:59:37,960 --> 00:59:40,800 Speaker 1: when you really understand why there were two thousand or 987 00:59:40,840 --> 00:59:45,080 Speaker 1: three thousand or a million malls built in the United States, huge, 988 00:59:45,200 --> 00:59:49,120 Speaker 1: huge mall. Some cities had multiple malls, when you realize 989 00:59:49,160 --> 00:59:51,400 Speaker 1: that they were built for text breaks and not to 990 00:59:51,680 --> 00:59:55,080 Speaker 1: fulfill some consumer demand, then of course they were destined 991 00:59:55,120 --> 00:59:57,520 Speaker 1: to shrivel and die because they were part of an 992 00:59:57,640 --> 01:00:01,200 Speaker 1: artificial supply. And once that him exposed and the text 993 01:00:01,200 --> 01:00:05,640 Speaker 1: bricks went away, malls started going down. And uh, it's 994 01:00:05,720 --> 01:00:08,720 Speaker 1: sad in a way. When a mall goes under. People 995 01:00:08,760 --> 01:00:11,760 Speaker 1: have associations of memories with the mall, you know, like 996 01:00:11,840 --> 01:00:14,280 Speaker 1: you you think about all the mall walkers you've seen 997 01:00:14,360 --> 01:00:17,960 Speaker 1: and loved walking around the mall, and when it dies, 998 01:00:18,080 --> 01:00:20,360 Speaker 1: it's it's it's sad. But even more than that, it 999 01:00:20,400 --> 01:00:23,520 Speaker 1: can actually, depending on the town, can take an entire 1000 01:00:23,640 --> 01:00:30,160 Speaker 1: city down with it. Yeah, there was a place north Randall, Ohio. No, 1001 01:00:31,040 --> 01:00:34,080 Speaker 1: I'm satisfied. What do you mean really, I mean it's 1002 01:00:34,120 --> 01:00:36,520 Speaker 1: outside of Cleveland. I figured half of Cleveland probably tried 1003 01:00:36,520 --> 01:00:39,240 Speaker 1: to move to some Even Emily didn't cheer for that one. 1004 01:00:39,280 --> 01:00:42,520 Speaker 1: I know she's from Ohio. So they had the Randall 1005 01:00:42,560 --> 01:00:45,560 Speaker 1: Park mall and uh, it costs about a hundred and 1006 01:00:45,560 --> 01:00:49,560 Speaker 1: seventy five million bucks to build in and get this. 1007 01:00:49,920 --> 01:00:55,360 Speaker 1: The grand opening, five thousand guests had champagne, twelve hundred 1008 01:00:55,400 --> 01:00:59,439 Speaker 1: pounds of fresh shrimp, crab, cold roast, turkey, hot corn, 1009 01:00:59,480 --> 01:01:02,800 Speaker 1: beef and ham, um, melon and cheese, small crapes filled 1010 01:01:02,800 --> 01:01:06,880 Speaker 1: with chicken and spinach, coffee and dessert. Uh. It was 1011 01:01:06,920 --> 01:01:10,720 Speaker 1: like a Roman orgy basically. And disguise of the opening 1012 01:01:10,720 --> 01:01:13,240 Speaker 1: of them all you got you got the world's largest 1013 01:01:13,240 --> 01:01:16,800 Speaker 1: cup of lemonade. Yeah, it wasn't too bad. I just 1014 01:01:16,840 --> 01:01:18,520 Speaker 1: hate that I put my mouth on that thing along 1015 01:01:18,520 --> 01:01:21,680 Speaker 1: with other people. He should have at least had smaller 1016 01:01:21,680 --> 01:01:27,720 Speaker 1: cups or maybe not professional swimmers inside the cup. No, 1017 01:01:27,800 --> 01:01:33,480 Speaker 1: there were seahorses, but no, no no, no, those are fine. 1018 01:01:33,640 --> 01:01:37,680 Speaker 1: You just they passed right through your digestive tip. You 1019 01:01:37,720 --> 01:01:44,080 Speaker 1: don't metabolize this. So gross. Uh. Tommy Dorsey showed up 1020 01:01:44,080 --> 01:01:46,040 Speaker 1: at the grand opening of this mall with this orchestra 1021 01:01:46,120 --> 01:01:48,880 Speaker 1: to play. It was a big event. But Randall Mall 1022 01:01:49,200 --> 01:01:51,439 Speaker 1: has since fallen on hard times and those two point 1023 01:01:51,440 --> 01:01:55,160 Speaker 1: two million square feet of retail space have been shuttered 1024 01:01:55,320 --> 01:01:59,480 Speaker 1: and um almost along with it. Uh North Randall, Ohio 1025 01:01:59,560 --> 01:02:02,320 Speaker 1: as a whole, That whole town is sort of on 1026 01:02:02,600 --> 01:02:04,960 Speaker 1: life support basically because of closing of the shopping mall. 1027 01:02:05,160 --> 01:02:08,160 Speaker 1: Really yeah, but there are some malls that are still 1028 01:02:08,200 --> 01:02:12,120 Speaker 1: doing well. Outlet malls are thriving. High end malls, in 1029 01:02:12,160 --> 01:02:15,040 Speaker 1: case you're wondering how they're really wealthy, are doing pretty good. 1030 01:02:16,040 --> 01:02:18,880 Speaker 1: High end malls are thriving like you would not believe. 1031 01:02:19,040 --> 01:02:23,480 Speaker 1: They're up by fourteen point six percent since the economic crisis. 1032 01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:27,720 Speaker 1: And there's this dude, his name's Rick Caruso. He pretended 1033 01:02:27,800 --> 01:02:31,040 Speaker 1: the uh, the death of the mall. Malls are dead, 1034 01:02:31,080 --> 01:02:34,360 Speaker 1: They're gone unless they reinvent themselves, and it just so 1035 01:02:34,440 --> 01:02:37,680 Speaker 1: happens that I build the type of mall that malls 1036 01:02:37,720 --> 01:02:40,760 Speaker 1: should reinvent themselves into. So he basically is trying to 1037 01:02:40,880 --> 01:02:46,880 Speaker 1: recreate downtown, but a nice, happy disneyesque downtown where nothing 1038 01:02:46,880 --> 01:02:50,600 Speaker 1: ever goes wrong and everything is great. And by the way, 1039 01:02:50,600 --> 01:02:54,000 Speaker 1: it's also a mall and it's outdoors. And to follow 1040 01:02:54,080 --> 01:02:57,320 Speaker 1: this trend, malls are doing the exact opposite of what 1041 01:02:57,360 --> 01:03:01,080 Speaker 1: they did when Gruen started designing and closed malls. They're 1042 01:03:01,080 --> 01:03:04,800 Speaker 1: tearing the roofs off and following this new trend to 1043 01:03:04,880 --> 01:03:08,520 Speaker 1: try to survive. Yeah, he calls them lifestyle centers. I 1044 01:03:08,520 --> 01:03:10,240 Speaker 1: don't know if there's one here. There's one in Atlantic 1045 01:03:10,280 --> 01:03:15,600 Speaker 1: called Atlantic Station. I hate them more than anything, really 1046 01:03:15,640 --> 01:03:19,320 Speaker 1: strong opinions. At least the mall is a mall. It's 1047 01:03:19,360 --> 01:03:23,479 Speaker 1: not pretending to be a small town. You know, It's true. 1048 01:03:23,600 --> 01:03:25,960 Speaker 1: It's like, look, we just built these streets and there's 1049 01:03:26,000 --> 01:03:29,160 Speaker 1: it looks like a stoplight, but your your child can 1050 01:03:29,160 --> 01:03:32,960 Speaker 1: control it fully. And then there's no cars with a button. 1051 01:03:33,040 --> 01:03:36,280 Speaker 1: So it's it's like downtown USA. There's no crime anywhere, 1052 01:03:36,560 --> 01:03:39,920 Speaker 1: security guards everywhere, and all you do a shop, shop shop, 1053 01:03:40,240 --> 01:03:43,040 Speaker 1: So to me, there's like there's a certain sadness over 1054 01:03:43,120 --> 01:03:45,400 Speaker 1: the depth of the mall. Like for me personally, I 1055 01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:48,640 Speaker 1: think even for some of the boos in here you 1056 01:03:48,720 --> 01:03:51,880 Speaker 1: spend time at the mall, the mall represented something to America. 1057 01:03:52,400 --> 01:03:57,520 Speaker 1: But if you step back and look, it's about exactly 1058 01:03:57,640 --> 01:04:00,240 Speaker 1: what the mall represents, and even more to the point, 1059 01:04:00,280 --> 01:04:02,600 Speaker 1: with the death of the mall represents, is it really 1060 01:04:02,640 --> 01:04:05,680 Speaker 1: the death of a golden age or a golden eraw 1061 01:04:05,720 --> 01:04:08,160 Speaker 1: when things were great? Because if you look at the mall, 1062 01:04:08,480 --> 01:04:12,520 Speaker 1: it's an outpost of consumerism. It's like a church of consumption, right, 1063 01:04:12,720 --> 01:04:16,160 Speaker 1: So if we've lost that, then maybe out of the ashes, 1064 01:04:16,520 --> 01:04:18,880 Speaker 1: out of the things that are so broken right now, 1065 01:04:19,200 --> 01:04:22,160 Speaker 1: you can find some kind of weird hope that maybe 1066 01:04:22,560 --> 01:04:26,200 Speaker 1: we can rebuild in a new, better way to where 1067 01:04:26,240 --> 01:04:33,600 Speaker 1: the most important part of civic life isn't the mall. Wow, 1068 01:04:34,160 --> 01:04:40,560 Speaker 1: and that is mall. That's malls. Thank you everybody you 1069 01:04:40,640 --> 01:04:51,120 Speaker 1: can for more on this and thousands of other topics. 1070 01:04:51,360 --> 01:05:00,320 Speaker 1: Is that how stuff works? Dot Com two