Mall Rat.

Westfield Valley Fair, or known as Valley Fair Mall, is an up-scale shopping mall, located in between San Jose and Santa Clara. The mall, being one of the largest malls in California, is made up of over 240 stores, a food court with 17 outlets, nine restaurants, and three department stores consisting of Macy’s Mens & Home, Macy’s Womens, and Nordstrom. While at this mall, I had a truly interesting experience, with its endless stores and numerous people, I was astounded by the many people of different races, the different kinds of cuisines, and many different outlooks on fashion.

Because of the massive size of the mall, and the number of consumers that go to the mall every day, many possibilities are opened up for the community. Although many of the possibilities are good, some are bad as well.


So what are some of the endless possibilities presented by Westfield Valley Fair Mall?

The inter-racial experience

Because the Bay Area is made up of such a diverse population, of Asian, Caucasian, African American, and ECT, Valley Fair Mall accumulates them by having many different kinds of stores in the mall, especially in the food court. In the food court, there are 17 different outlets including American, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Cajun, and other types of foods from different cultures. Although very Americanized just as the rest of the mall, the food court allows its consumers to try and experience food from different cultures.

                Americanized inter-racial foods?


Although I say that Valley Fair Mall’s food court allows its consumers to experience food from different cultures, it is still much Americanized. Panda Express for example, claims to serve gourmet Chinese food, however, its food are made the suit the tastes of the average American, giving the false image that Chinese food is nothing but greasy and unhealthy foods. There is no easy fix for this, since the everyday consumers in Valley Fair Mall are American. The food court is run purely by capitalism, trying to make the most money by having food outlets that can appeal to the widest range of people.

An outlet for fashion

Valley Fair Mall is full of brand name store outlets such as Forever 21, American Eagle, Ambercrombie & Finch, and so on. Although these stores may sell things that look great, in the end, it is all fashion that is created in certain people’s views.

                How does this pose a problem?

Along with telling us how to look, many brand name and mainstream stores are telling us how to act. Inside the stores, are mannequins and posters of people doing activities that are supposedly fun. This is a problem, because this causes consumers to lose some part of their individuality, for the stores are telling them how to look and act. The only fix for this is to have stores that have no advertisements and are plain, however that will go against the point of capitalism.


Overall, the Valley Fair Mall also gives people a place to hang out. Because there are so many things in the mall, such as places to socialize, places to eat, things to buy, and even activities such as mini inline racing, people are able to stay at the mall during free time and have fun. The mall is made in a way that is comfortable for its consumers with its sofas, tables, and air conditioning, and safe with its security. However, their main goal is to not to make you feel comfortable, but to make money.

It seems that many of the problems, including ones that are not stated are from the fact that the mall is run by capitalism. The makers of Valley Fair Mall made the mall to be a advertisement bomb, urging its consumers to spend their money and consume.