On a windy Saturday afternoon, Norse Starians Miles Heritsch, Marah Kostlevy, and Naomi Matthiesen visited both the East Towne and West Towne malls to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their locations.
First, the group visited West Towne mall, which was bustling with activity. Shoppers in and out from the Hot Topic, the Auntie Anne’s had a line several people long, and, ultimately, you couldn’t stand still for a few seconds unless you wanted to disrupt the flow of traffic and irritate a few people.
The group decided to investigate the Hot Topic first after indulging in some pretzel bites from Auntie Annes.
“I am such a big hater of the Hazbin Hotel display at the front that it actually made me not want to walk further into the store,” Heritsch said, “but the rest of the store was actually pretty okay. I like all the Hello Kitty stuff. I feel like their music hasn’t fallen off of the emo track quite yet, but I feel like they might be getting there because they have a Pokemon Jersey standing right in front of me.”
Kostlevy purchased a shirt that Heritsch “freaked with” and Matthiesen bought a Mountain Dew themed sock blind bag. It was a perfectly fine experience.
Next, the group investigated the store Mochi, a store full of stationary and plushies. It’s one of the stores that East Towne doesn’t have. The group found it charming nonetheless. Next, the group meandered over to the Victoria’s Secret. It was expensive. Nobody bought anything.
On the way to the next staple, the group stumbled upon a fencing arena. After stopping and staring for a few moments, the group concluded it was some kind of club, like the Planet Fitness in the East Towne mall.
“Personally, I don’t see the vision in practicing a sport like that in front of a fat window where everyone can watch,” Matthiesen said.
Another staple of the West Towne mall was Ragstock. Kostlevy broke a clothing hanger (accidentally) and felt tempted to buy the jacket that had been on the hanger, but, unfortunately, the cash register was broken and Kostlevy left, unable to atone for his actions. (It was fine)
“I really like ragstock a lot. The West Towne having a Ragstock, I think, makes it marginally better than the East Towne because the East Towne doesn’t have one. It’s cute. It’s not super expensive, actually, compared to a lot of the other spots,” Heritsch said.
There were many individual spots unique to the West Towne mall and the group had an overall jolly experience wandering.
Next, the group was off to East Towne. After a massive U-turn, the group entered with stars in their eyes, knowing that this specific mall had a Barnes and Noble attached.
“It’s only better because it’s closer. To be honest, I would prefer the Barnes and Noble from West Towne to be connected to East Towne,” Matthiesen said.
Immediately, the group noticed several differences between this mall and the last. East Towne had more attractions. There was a movie theater, an escape room, a bowling alley, and a trampoline park-thing for kiddos. However, this mall also had many more noticeable empty stores. While there were maybe one or two empty stores from West Towne, East Towne had at least 12, creating a noticeably emptier vibe comparatively.
The Hot Topic of East Towne was “emptier, smaller, and grayer” compared to the West Towne, but also had fewer fandom items and more “emo” staples. After Hot Topic came H&M, which was actually better compared to the West Towne version.
“It’s just an H&M but bigger, better, and has more sections,” Kostlevy said.
There were fewer unique stores to East Towne mall, however, there were more typical chain retails you’d expect to find in a mall. While the typical mall experience would be expected of the East Towne, the group found that West Towne had a better atmosphere and overall better quality.