Take a second to think, does our local mall have all your favorite stores? My guess is no, the mall leaves no enjoyable place for students here at Rio to spend their time. The Westfield Valencia Town Center is SCV’s local mall off McBean Parkway. Over time, the mall has been losing its spark, money, and stores.
Just looking at past years, we have lost more stores, quick-service restaurants, and apparel stores like Five Guys, Francesca’s, Hot Dog On A Stick, and even Forever 21. The reason for all these stores’ decline is that many companies are going bankrupt because of higher rents, and many people do not want to go to stores and go online shopping instead on popular stores’ websites that are not in our mall.
According to a mom and blogger, Samantha Darby, “At the mall, you can talk to your friends as you walk without anyone shushing you, and you can pick and choose what stores you want to go into. The mall gives our tweens and teens some autonomy… the chance to discover themselves a little bit more.” The Samantha just was explaining how she remembers her childhood fun and malls give the students more what you can say freedon. This is not what our mall is showcasing to any SCV citizens.
Rio Norte student, Alexis Berg, said, “There are no enjoyable stores and all of my go-to food places have closed.” They claim that they are opening all these good stores when they are not, such as Dave and Busters. While no stores are filling the halls!
From all this, many malls have been struggling, and so are teens. Not being able to have a place to hang out while expressing yourself in things like clothes or accessories has caused many struggles. This is why having a good mall is beneficial for teens.
Not being able to express oneself has been seen to cause mental health problems, chronic stress, and depression. Teens who grew up with the ability to express themselves are happier.
All in all, SCV should definitely reconsider making the mall a better place for teens, including more stores for everyone, like a Brandy Melville or even a store for those in need for plus sized clothing, and bring back the spark it had years ago before the increasing inflation hit.