A much needed ode to brick-and-mortar shopping

In the age of Amazon and a seemingly endless amount of one-touch shopping apps, it’s not exactly shocking that many storefronts are saying goodbye and shopping malls are struggling to stay relevant.

This month alone, a plethora of nostalgic storefronts announced widespread closings. The tween wonderland known as Claire’s — where just about every 12-year-old girl got her ears pierced in the 2000s — filed for bankruptcy, and Toys “R” Us recently announced it will close all of its U.S. stores.

But in light of once-prominent retail stores closing, I can’t help but wonder what our society would be like without brick-and-mortar shopping.

Malls, department stores and storefronts represent more than the material items they sell. No matter how frivolous a trip to the mall may seem, the brick-and-mortar shopping experience is a socially important part of our culture.

The shopping mall has long been a symbol of independence for adolescents, as it’s often where teens get their first jobs and spend time with their friends. It’s where friends learn about each other’s personal styles and perhaps where young people make some of their first decisions about how to spend or save money.

It’s where friends, couples and families give and receive honest style opinions in dressing rooms with fluorescent lighting and converse over soft pretzels. It’s where kids throw pennies into fountains and where impatient siblings and spouses sit on benches waiting for their shopping companions to emerge from seas of mannequins and clothing racks.

For some, brick-and-mortar represents therapeutic activities like window-shopping and people-watching — experiences that aren’t exactly the same as scrolling through a website or your Instagram feed.

Whether it’s a bookstore or a mall, I think many brick-and-mortar stores and shopping centers are like public buses or trains because they are some of the few places in our society where people of all social locations come together — whether it’s to work, to buy or to browse.

And with society’s shifting norms and technological advancements, it’s hopeful to know that some cohorts still see the value of brick-and-mortar stores.

Despite the convenience and rise of online shopping, millennial women as a whole still deem in-person stores as valuable, according to a recent study about millennial fashion shopping habits. Of the 500 women sampled, most said they use websites and social media platforms as starting points to inspire their purchases, but 65 percent said they still make their final purchases in-store, according to the study.

In a culture that values convenience over conversation, it’s no wonder why the majority of people would trade the in-person shopping experience for the ease of buying a pair of shoes or an entire outfit from the comfort of their bed. After all, online shopping can be faster and more efficient than in-person shopping, even if it lacks the social experience.

And while I don’t think the same parent-to-child and friend-to-friend conversations about body image, beauty and confidence that occur between clothing racks or in checkout lines are ever bound to happen over a webpage, perhaps the downfall of physical storefronts will have its own set of social benefits.

In a perfect world, maybe the rise of online shopping and downfall of brick-and-mortar stores means people will spend less time shopping and more time seeking opportunities and experiences that are unrelated to making purchases — like volunteering and community service.

The foggy future of brick-and-mortar retail can’t be romanticized, but the truth is that the four walls of a dressing room will capture many more stories and emotions than an online shop’s virtual checkout basket could ever hold.

Darcy Schild is a UF journalism junior. Her column focuses on human behavior and sociology.