I particularly love it when I get to hear the consumer perspective.  I mean, I know I am a consumer, but hearing from others out there on their retail experience, why they are buying, why they aren't buying, where they're buying etc is so important!  Especially now with the current state of the economy, I want to know these answers more than ever!

Today I came across a great article on USAToday.com that was all about how malls are doing everything from adding amusement parks to bars to attract customers to shop.  Now, I have read many articles on this topic, so it wasn't the article that interested me most, but it was the comments left by consumers on this article that interested me and I thought other retailers would like to hear their dissatisfied sentiments. 

To check out the article, visit here, but the real goods are in the comments.  I have pulled a few below that I think will help with insight into the current state of our consumers:

57girl wrote: 3h 10m ago

Hey if you don't have money to shop with, how are you going to pay for the rides? Seems to me the Malls should be banding together and demanding the Government do something about run away inflation, high oil prices, etc., instead. People these days are trying to survive, I think the frills are over for a lot of people for a while.

Atlanta Man wrote: 4h 7m ago

metito wrote: 4h 2m ago
Simon properties has ruined the mall experience. They have made every mall an exact duplicate of each with each having the exact same stores. I don't want to walk into a mall in Washington DC and see the same stores that'd I'd see in a mall in Chicago. Does every mall need a Foot Locker? Does every mall need a Spencers Gifts? Does every mall need a Cinnabon?

eCurmudgeon wrote: 4h 18m ago

"That was before the Internet shopping and all the on-line options and now, high gas prices."

Absolutely. This is purely a desperation move on the part of the malls, who are facing imminent extinction due to Peak Oil and Internet commerce...

Wow, can you believe the dissatisfaction?  The desire for internet shopping because of the annoyances of mall shopping and gas prices? I know this may not be the most positive of posts, but I feel this information is very helpful for retailers, so I thought I'd share the love...or unlove of retail right now from our consumers.