Of MoA and MVM

"On Sunday we went to the mall." So begins the diary entries of thousands of teenage girls. My first trip to the Mall of America, and to any American mall in general. Even without expectations of buying anything (I ended up getting a H&M hoodie nonetheless), I was super excited to immerse myself in the American browsing/shopping culture. Given that it's the biggest mall in America by numerous measures, I'd had some high expectations.

Unfortunately I was disappointed. The activity in the Mall of America was just about equivalent to my experiences back in Malaysia; perhaps even less because of its high status compared to the malls I visited with such frequency (sometimes two, three times a week?) at home. Maybe this was due to it being a relatively warm Sunday afternoon in fall (I hear they didn't use to exist?), so perhaps families had decided to spend their time in the actual outdoors.

In many ways the people I encountered were similar to the ones I saw in Malaysia. Tired parents chasing after children in the theme park. Groups of teenagers and young adults just hanging out, usually around food or drinks. Smaller proprietor stalls set up in the middle of the wider walkways. Chinese tourists snapping pictures of every little detail. Strollers were being pushed around everywhere. Most people only carried one or two smaller bags.

Maybe because of the nature of the Mall of America, there were quite a few differences. I hardly saw any people walking alone. Only a select few were wearing business formal, and they looked incredibly out of place. Groups identifiable as families tended to have only one or two adults, rarely more. Most curiously, not many people appeared to browsing the stores; if someone entered a store, they would generally move immediately towards a specific area and pick up an item; people didn't often seem to walk out of stores empty-handed.

In comparison to the Mall of America, I raise the Mid Valley Megamall, one of the malls I frequented most in Malaysia. The two are comparable in terms of size - MoA has 4.87 million square feet of space, while MVM has 4.5 million. Mid Valley is also easily accessible by rail. However, the Mall of America has major attractions in the Sea Life Aquarium (that's the name ">.<) and Nickelodeon Universe; Mid Valley has neither of these, nor is it advertised as the largest mall in Malaysia, as that accolade would go to several others first. These would seem to provide a greater diversity of shoppers in the Mall of America, yet the demographics do tend to similarity. Regardless, there are some sizeable differences.

Malaysian society is generally quite communal. As such, families are about the same size as American ones, but they go out alone less often; it is quite often the norm to invite extended family (aunts and uncles, grandparents, not-so-distant cousins) when going on trips to the mall. This means multiple sets of parents and children are often found together, in bigger groups than I witnessed at the Mall of America. Malaysian malls are also often integrated with corporate buildings; Mid Valley is no exception, being adjacent to a number of business hotels and the fancier Gardens mall. Business people are a common sight in Mid Valley, whether in the restaurants or just business-walking their way through the mall between the corporate offices littered throughout. A third point - Malaysians, and Malaysian Chinese in general, have a tendency to be incredibly calculative. It's incredibly common (maybe even to the point of negativity) to see shoppers going between multiple outlets and comparing prices, searching for the best deals. This kind of mentality pervades Malaysian shopping society regardless of race or age.

One thing to note is that Malaysia is HOT out. Malls provide a refuge from the heat all year round, and especially in the city there are few to no alternatives for outside space. This brings people desperate to escape the stifling heat from their homes in hordes on the weekends. Mid Valley is also unique in that the basement floor is almost entirely dedicated to food outlets, primarily fast food and middle-class-family-oriented restaurants. Because of the sheer number of cultures intermingling over generations, Malaysian foodies have an immensely extended palate, and malls must also be similarly accomodating. I've had numerous trips there with my family for the sole purpose of food, simply because the options are so diverse and accessible. Furthermore, the cinema in Mid Valley is one of the most established in the area, and the ticket queue can easily snake for up to half an hour on weekends.

The general shopping culture in Malaysia might also play a role. Because much of the Malaysian economy relies on tourism, the malls must be able to attract not only locals but also foreigners from various countries.This is to a great degree accomplished by providing varied shopping experiences that draw the attention of people from numerous cultures, nationalities and ethnicities, each of which have their own expectations and desires. Maybe a great diversity of customers and experiences is to be expected from malls in such places. Mid Valley is certainly not very different from the Mall of America in that regard.