Just Another Day At The Shopping Mall
A good piece of advice for anyone who is trying to save money is to avoid the local mall. Even if you think you’re going there just to have a look around, you’ll probably end up buying something.
They don’t call them shopping malls for nothing. That’s what they were designed for and the architects and marketing whizzes who design these structures are a lot smarter than you or I. They understand everything about sales and what pushes your ‘buy’ buttons.
Let’s follow a hypothetical shopper around the mall. She’s a young woman in her mid-twenties. She has a college education, a decent job with the potential to become a very well paying career and is in a casual relationship that is beginning to look promising. One more thing she has is a credit card.
After work one day, she decides to go to the mall before heading for home. There’s nothing she wants, but she just thinks it will be a nice way to unwind after work. She buys a healthy juice from the stand just inside the mall and then proceeds down the aisles, pausing in front of the window displays that interest her.
Although she’s never looked at wedding rings before, marriage has been in the back of her mind lately, as her relationship has taken a turn towards the serious. Feeling drawn to a jewelry display, she finds her eye wandering to the solitaire engagement rings. One in particular catches her eye and she lets out a sigh of longing before she moves on.
She hardly takes two steps before another jewelry display catches her eye. A big sign in the window says ’50% Off Sale, ‘ so she stops to see what’s there. Among all the earrings on display is a beautiful pair of rhodium earrings. She simply has to go in and have a closer inspection.
Not long after she goes into the store, she comes out again with the earrings and a matching necklace inside her tote bag. The bag is just one of several tote handbags she has purchased at the mall in the past few weeks. She has a passion for tote bags.
In a short period of time, she has already bought a fresh juice, a necklace and some earrings. She’s is a great mood now, thanks to her bargain find, and decides to sit down and enjoy a cafe latte and a snack.
While she’s sitting there, she calls her boyfriend on her cell phone. He tells her to wait for him at the cafe. Instead of having to take the bus home, he’ll come to the mall, they’ll go to a movie together and then he’ll drive her home.
Does this story sound familiar? It should. It’s just another typical afternoon at the mall!
