Mall Shopping

Everyone is affected by the society in which we live. Mankind has molded the world to cater to society’s wants and needs. As a result, the business industry has to make accommodations to fulfill those desires. One major focus, in San Antonio, is the malls. There is a variety of malls and shopping centers throughout the city. The Shops of La Cantera, The Quarry Market, Rivercenter Mall, North Star Mall, South Park Mall, Ingram Mall, The Forum, & Rolling Oaks Mall are the main shopping centers in San Antonio. All of them cater to the shoppers in their specific demographic area. They do this by providing a certain arrangement of stores to the public, and stores that fit the income of their shoppers.The Shops of La Cantera is located on the north side of San Antonio right nextFiesta Texas, which is an enormous tourist attraction, making it very accessible andconvenient to shop there. The Shoppes of La Cantera has highly priced stores such as:Niemen Marcus, Nordstrom’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Anthropologie, Apple, Bandolino,Burberry, Club Libby Lu, La Coste, PJ Madison’s, Sole Mio, and Rexi Lio. Thestores that are in this shopping center cater to a more high income family. However, they do have a variety of stores that are offered at other shopping centers, but stand alone when it comes to the cliental stores previously mentioned. When I spoke with Harry Bingleton, manager at La Coste, he was very descriptive on the type of shoppers that he interacts with on a daily basis. “The majority of the shoppers that enter this particular store are between the ages of 20-35, and are mostly of the Anglo race.” (Bingleton) He also stated that the customers who do shop there spend at least three hundred dollars in one visit.Rivercenter Mall is located right in the heart of San Antonio, downtown, adjacent to the Marriot Hotel. This mall contains stores that are targeted to the tourist population. The majority of the stores that are in this mall consist of stands full of Spurs novelties, Dallas Cowboys, Texas Theme, and many restaurants and clubs. This mall is famous for the river walk, a strip engulfed with restaurants, bars, and shops. Locals do not really go shopping at this mall for the everyday necessities and desires. Due to the high volume of tourists, many of the stores and restaurants are severely over priced. “I just come here for the cultural experience.” (Maria Ramos, shopper) A plethora of people enjoy going on the famous boat ride, offered at River Center Mall; a very enticing experience. The community always enjoys the San Antonio Spurs Parade! When the Spurs when the team floats on the boat while all the fans pour in around, it is really cultural and is exciting to witness. Rivercenter mall is the perfect choice for a dynamic cultural experience. North Star Mall and The Quarry Market are located on the same side of town. The only difference between the two is that one, The Quarry Market, is an outdoor mall. These two, target the same group of people. Many of their shoppers come from the Alamo Heights area and the territory near Incarnate Word University and High School. San Antonio is known for having four regions of social status, all of which are stereotyped. The north side is known for having a more wealthy population, the west side, south side, and east side are more of the low class population. North Star Mall offers many of the higher stature stores, including but not limited to, Banana Republic, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Cheesecake Factory, and Build-A-Bear Workshop. These two are very common shopping centers in the San Antonio area. People enjoy shopping at these two malls because The Quarry Market is located next to a golf course and numerous restaurants. North Star Mall has a large variety of stores that meet the communities wants and needs. It offers a little bit of everything and is more simple than La Cantera and not as far.
The Forum and Rolling Oaks Mall are not the most popular in San Antonio. The two shopping centers are really just offering stores for the community for the shoppers who don't want to go to the busier malls. These two centers are the more convenient option for the shoppers located in that particular area or region.
South Park Mall is very popular to everyone living in the small surrounding towns surrounding San Antonio, such as Pleasanton, Jourdanton, Floresville, Campbellton, Tilden, Charlotte, and Poteet, not to mention the people living on or by Military Drive. This mall is well liked now that it has an American Eagle and Old Navy, two stores that are very popular to the young population. "A lot of our shoppers are young teens and they love this store because we offer fashionable clothing at a reasonable price, and the store is bigger than most in the mall. We are also the only mall that is close that offers an Old Navy, if they don't shop here they will have to drive to The Quarry Market, which is a huge inconvenience to the locals."(Lopez, Shyanne Old Nay Employee)
Ingram Mall is the favorite, not only of mine, but the people of San Antonio as well. This mall has all the basic stores for the middle class shoppers, it is not super fancy, and very laid back. This mall has stores like James Avery, Journeys, The Dallas Cowboys Shop, Yankee Candle Co., and many more. This is the mall if you want a selection without dealing with super large crowds and still manage to get a bargain here and there.
Overall, all the malls are great in their own way. They all offer different stores and have their own advantages. The malls are not the only thing that San Antonio has to offer, but if you love to shop or just love a great cultural experience then you should really visit all the different malls and shopping centers and pick your favorite.

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