TripCart's US Travel Blog » Shopping Adventures

Holiday Shopping – online vs. the mall? Part Two

TripCart — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 23:11:42 +0000

And even more reasons to get up, get dressed, and brave the crowds at your local shopping mall:
6. It’s social. Bring your kids to see Santa and you’ve got a fun afternoon activity during a long activity-less winter break. Bring your BFF and you’ve got hours to catch up on girltalk. Bring your boyfriend and all of a sudden shopping is a date.
7. Movies. Sure you can watch a movie online, but we all know that’s not nearly as much fun as the big screen.
8. See if it works. The last thing you want is to buy an ipod online, get it in the mail a day before Christmas, and then realize that you’ve gotten a dud. You’ll end up running out the mall anyways. Why not just avoid that possibility?
9. Quality. Ever notice how things aren’t their real size online? And that you can’t actually see your product in action? When I was a kid I bought a banana plant online. The picture showed this gigantic banana tree filled with leaves and fruit. When I got it, it was a little shriveled up twig in a pile of frozen dirt.
10. It’s fun. You can test the video game you’re thinking about buying. You get to taste a piece of Godiva chocolate before settling on a gift box. Need I say more?

Remember, outdoors is best for relieving shopping claustrophobia. Here are a few more outdoor malls we like. These are all located on the West Coast. Enjoy!

Happy Holidays from the travel crew at TripCart!

Further Reading:

Holiday Shopping – online vs. the mall?

TripCart — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:32:27 +0000

And the battle begins! Every year you probably debate charging the crowds at your local mall or staying in pjs on the couch and doing your Christmas shopping online. Since we at TripCart always advocate the more active option, we’ve compiled a few reasons why you should get off your butts and head to the shops this holiday season:

It’s good exercise! An hour and a half of shopping can burn 325 calories. Try on lots of clothes and that number goes up. Con: Pig out on mall food and that number will likely sink.
Variety, variety, variety! You want to buy your mom some new lotion – don’t you want to smell all your options before you buy?
What you see is what you get: You’re buying a sweater for your niece – but can you really tell how soft it feels by looking at a picture? Also, does size 6x mean anything to you?
Sales. You may THINK you want to get your boyfriend a new wallet, but when you see that Wilson’s Leather is having a sale, and you can get an awesome jacket for just a wee bit more money, you may change your mind and end up with a better gift and a great deal.
S&H. Who wants to pay for shipping & handling fees? Not us!

Tip: To avoid crowds and get some fresh air along the way, find an outdoor mall in your area and take advantage of its early and extended hours during the holiday season. Here’s a short list of nice outdoor malls we’ve found:

Happy Holiday shopping! Have fun and good luck!

Further Reading:

Largest malls in America

TripCart — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:57:04 +0000

We at tripcart firmly believe in the importance of the shopping experience, which is why we devote so much time to telling you about all the malls in the U.S. Apparently we’re not the only ones who take a vested interest in the subject—I googled “best malls in America” and got over six millions hits. It seems like everyone’s got their opinion on the best place to shop. So I’ve decided to narrow it down to something a bit more objective: the largest malls in America.

Here is a study done by the Shopping Mall and Shopping Center Studies department who knew??) at Eastern Connecticut State University. These large malls are all 2.2 million square feet or larger (of gross leasable area), are in order from largest to smallest, and include the anchor stores. This list was last updated in October 2008, so it’s up-to-date and practical as well! And with Thanksgiving behind us and the holiday season just up ahead, it certainly can’t hurt to start getting acquainted with the world of shopping madness out there. Enjoy! (P.S. The Mall of America is NOT the largest mall in America – though it does have the most stores.)

Eastwood Mall Complex – Youngstown, Ohio
King of Prussia Mall – King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Mall of America – Bloomington, Minnesota
South Coast Plaza – Costa Mesa, California
Millcreek Mall – Erie, Pennsylvania
Grand Canyon Parkway – Las Vegas, Nevada
Roosevelt Field Mall – Long Island, New York
Aventura Mall – Miami, Florida
Sawgrass Mills – Sunrise, Florida
Woodfield Mall – Schaumburg, Illinois
Tysons Corner Center – McLean, Virginia
Palisades Center – West Nyack, New York

Further Reading: