Tue 13 May 2008
When Will Malls Start Charging Admittance Fees?
Posted by RichSlick under Watch Out
Thanks for visiting. This Blog and is intended for individuals with Net Annual Income of $105,000 or more. Get Rich Slow + Get Rich Quick = Get Rich Slick. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Well it happened again, I stopped by the mall and couldn’t help but notice how packed the parking lot was yet few people inside actually shopping. Too many people hanging around the food court eating ice cream or pretzels. I could see many of the food shop owners hungry for customers as people were just milling about.
It occurred to me that shopping malls should start charging admittance fees. I’d honestly prefer this to the shops inside the mall tacking on an “energy fee” to my purchases in the very near future. Don’t laugh, if energy prices keep climbing, you can expect retail outlets to start squeezing the consumers some how to make up for their additional expenses.
If airlines can tack on a fuel surcharge then why can’t retail outlets tack on an energy fee surcharge on the stuff they sell? Perhaps the energy fee can be refunded with a purchase of $100 or more at the shops. Just food for thought….
May 13th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Well, they should definitely charge a parking fee.
Any entrance fee could be waived with a qualifying purchase. That makes a whole lot more sense than an “energy fee surcharge”. Why punish the people who are buying? Punish the freeloaders.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
A parking lot fee would only penalize the driver. A big SUV might pull in with 3 adults and 4 kids and eat up a lot of a shopping malls AC.
It’s an “energy fee surcharge” or raising prices across the board. I’d like to think that an energy fee surcharge would be temporary vs. prices just going up.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Aren’t energy fees standard business overhead? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just raise prices to cover the costs?
If there’s a shortage of accountants and it becomes really expense to hire one, would you expect to see an accountant fee tacked onto the price of a shirt?
What about storage fee? At what point do you just break down the price label to all the components that go into having the business and list them all. I think psychologically, they’ll lose sales by listing fees. People hate the word fee.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Airlines have all pretty much adopted a $25 “extra bag fee.” Isn’t carrying luggage part of the deal? Airlines also charge a “fuel surcharge” fee.
My cell phone has a dozen “fees and taxes” tacked on each month.
My hotel stays always include “parking fees, resort fees, or ‘because we can’ fees” all the time.
People accept fees all the time more vs. increased prices - don’t ask me why but they do.
if an airline priced a ticket at $600 people would balk but charge $500 + $50 fuel fee + $25 fuel fee + $25 TSA security fee and they’ll accept it.
I guess it’s the concept of having to give too much money to one entity is bad but if it’s broken down into numerous components then it’s okay because the money isn’t going to one entity.
I don’t get it either but I expect the fees will continue grow… Coming soon to your retail mall
May 13th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I think people understand the reasoning for some fees and some industries are always assumed to have have “extra costs” associated with them.
For instance, car dealerships have always had fees on them. You know going in that the final price is going to be $X more than what it says. I think airlines have been a similar way. Some things like TSA fees are government related. Same with cell phones and regulations that come down like E911.
Perhaps we’ll start seeing mall fees, but I don’t see the consumer already conditioned for that expectation. I think it would be a poor adjustment period.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Most of the Malaysian malls charge for parking, but none charge admission. I think this trend is going to change.
The mall near where we live has now removed all the benches that used to be in public areas, as it seems that people come just to take a break, enjoy the clean airconditioned surroundings and not buy anything.
Maybe malls will charge an admission fee that can be deducted from the price of your shopping. Then serious customers get preferential treatment.
You have raised a very interesting point. Time will tell.
May 17th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
People who only buy ice cream are still shoppers and making a purchase. People often shop for things and don’t make a purchasing decision at the exact moment ( for many this is probably a good financial move). So what?
As far as people enjoying the environment and convenience, that’s a common sales strategy ( or should be). If you create an environment that encourages people spending time they will probably end-up spending money. Maybe they only buy a pretzel or a soda, but thats a purchase they would not have made. Maybe I particularly like soft pretzels or Orange Julius and the only place to buy it is the mall ( which is the case in many towns). Maybe I don’t want to buy a new wardrobe every time I go to a store or a new lawn tractor every time I go to the hardware store.
I remember when I was around 18 some idiot who worked at the grocery store told me it “wasn’t a library.” I was browsing some magazines for maybe 10 minutes. I also happened to spend around $200 a week at this store. But because I’m young and this genius managed to become the assistant night manager of a grocery store at age 40, I’m some idiot. I just remember thinking this guy just didn’t “get it.”
Barnes and Noble didnt come to my area until 6-7 years ago. At the time there was exactly 1 bookstore in town- a “book warehouse.” That place had the environment of, well, a warehouse. There were a couple hard benches, and the space wasn’t inviting for relaxing. Barnes and Noble was the opposite. They have many chairs of various cushioning levels. They encourage people to “hang out” and the sales people specifically tell people that if they want to special order books they can read them before deciding to buy. They also have the only public restroom I would consider using. The book warehouse lost a lot of customers and went out of business, despite having a wide selection and better prices. I am sure the Barnes and Noble, where probably 90% of people just hangout and are encouraged to, outsold that place by a large margin and was directly responsible.
FWIW, we have had this thing called the internet for a long time. I have bought almost everything I use except perishable groceries online since around 2000. There are very few reasons to go to a brick n’ mortar store as it is. Almost all mall stores have websites with a better selection and better deals. As a regular male, I dont really need to try on clothes and stuff like that to buy it. For other products I can do all research and get all specifications online. Why would want to go to a store/mall? Why would anyone? A big part is probably the atmosphere. People go to hangout, socialize, people watch, take a walk, whatever. And all that has always been a default purpose of the mall. Make malls like a warehouse ( it works for Sams and Costco for obvious reasons that don’t apply to malls) and watch them become abandoned ones. Limit them to “serious” shoppers and what tenants will fill the real estate left behind by the cookie, ice cream, and pretzel stands.
May 18th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Greg,
There are places where the shop owners won’t even let you in the door if you’re not wearing the proper attire. High end jewelry stores (Tiffany’s) come to mind and they’re not hurting one bit keeping out people they don’t think can afford their wares.
The problem I have is that when I go to the mall I do spend $1000+ in money and I’m irritated that:
1. I can’t find a parking space
2. I can’t find a retail clerk to assist me because he/she is too busy helping someone that likely won’t buy anything or there to spend $20.
3. I can’t sit down after shopping all day because the mall is packed with people eating pretzels.
I only go to the mall perhaps once every month or every other month and when I go there to spend $1000+, I’d like to have a nice shopping experience. I could care less for the “crowd” ambiance or “crowd” atmosphere. I’m there to “hunt” for my wares and then get out.
John Edwards was right when he said there was two Americas - the wealthy and the not wealthy. It is only a matter a time, in my opinion, that malls start charging for parking or some sort of entry fee. I can only imagine the AC/heating bill has doubled with the price of energy going out.
Inevitably, I can see two types of malls - one for the wealthy and one for everyone else and I can guarantee that the mall charging the $1 fee (for wealthy) will be preferred over the one that’s free to enter.
I think time will prove me right.