by Travis Miller

Yesterday Jennie and I headed down to the Oviedo Mall to kill some time while my mom had Ella. It was one of those rare “date” opportunities! We had just seen a movie, The Bucket List (great, by the way), and enjoyed a nice lunch at our favorite Thai place.

Something was weird from the moment we pulled into the parking lot: it was empty. I almost thought the place was closed. I’m used to having to fight for parking spaces around here, so curb side parking was a real shock.

Once in the store (Dillard’s) the weird feeling continued. I finally realized that the inventory was very thin. A lot of extra space between the racks, and a dirge-like feeling in the air. Then we set out into the mall and I noticed that about 20% of all the stores were closed (out of business). Strange….

We sat down to have an ice cream cone in the food court, and about 40% of the food places were closed. Gone. Ghost town.

Finally, we ended up in Macy’s. Same thing. Low inventory, no excitement or enthusiasm. The whole thing reminded me of going to the mall over in Titusville (which we sometimes do on days we go to the coast). It’s this sleepy little mall with no stores and blue hair. It sort of freaks me out.

So I asked the clerk as I was checking out (I picked up a new addition to my Calphalon collection), “What’s going on with this mall? Why are all the stores closed? Why is the place empty?”

He replied, “Because nobody is buying anything anymore.”

Ahhhh.

Now contrast this with these three scenarios:

• My mom and sister went down to the bike shop where sis' was picking out a new bicycle for her birthday. Bikes start at around $350 at this shop (as compared to $89 at Wal-Mart). When they walked into the store, it was crammed. Absolutely jam packed. They had to wait an hour to speak with one of the 20 sales people. Outrageous! She bought a bike, a helmet, and a host of accessories and spent a lot more than she would have at Wal-Mart.
  
  So…the expensive bike shop is jammed, but the mall is a ghost town. Why?
  
  
• Jim and Christy stopped in a Bass Pro Shop this weekend for grins. “Four acres under roof,” they were told. The guy immediately asks whether Jim is a hunter, a fisherman, or a browser. As a browser, Jim was directed to the 5,000 gallon fish tank with an 18 pound bass and the café. Yes. A café in the Bass Pro Shop. Wow! Place was also jam packed. Why?
  
  
• Week before last Jim and I stopped by the Mall at Millennia to pick up some new ties. This was a Wednesday during the day. We actually had a tough time finding a parking space. Why?
  
  
• Oh, I should add, last Friday we went to EPCOT. Almost at capacity. Absolutely full. Why?

The department store clerk believed that people had stopped spending money, yet the bike store, the bass shop, EPCOT and the higher-end mall were all standing room only, with cash spilling out of people’s wallets.

The answer to this mystery is going to be the topic of discussion on our live training call this Wednesday. I’d really encourage you to register and get the details if you haven’t already.

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