Another Weird Hong Kong Mall Experience....

I went into IFC Mall yesterday and stopped by the sign that lists the stores in the building. I intended on taking my son to buy some sports shoes and some IFC employee asked me if I wanted some help. Our conversation went something like this....

Me: I am looking for a sporting goods store to buy my son some shoes.
IFC: We don't sell anything for children.
Me: Well, he is 12 years old and bigger than you, so he can use adult sizes. I just want to see where you have a sporting goods store or shoe store.
IFC: We don't have any of those here.
Me: You don't have any shoe stores?
IFC: No.
Me: You don't have have any sporting goods stores?
IFC: No.
Me: You don't have any stores with such a basic things as shoes or sporting goods?
IFC: No.
Me: You don't have any stores for normal humans?
IFC: No.

So, there you have it. Another useless place. Nothing for you to buy here. "Please Leave NOW!!!!!"

It kind of reminds me of Pacific Place, probably one of the most useless facilities in Hong Kong built for the intended purpose of selling goods to people that want to buy them. I went cruising through there recently since it provides and easy access to such useful facilities as the MTR, Companies Registration Office and Hong Kong Park where one can look at the turtles climbing on each other.

Pacific place has closed its food court, kicked out McDonalds and has upgraded its collection of stores to only 'high end' brands, thereby eliminating such places that sell goods to the uncool, not-to-trendy and those that need to eat on a regular basis. It appears as if they are trying to retarget the place to the PRC China buy-anything-expensive crowd where top-priced goods are derigor for these vapid individuals. Of course I noticed that this Pacific Place retargeting was somewhat successful since there were around 15-20 people squatting in various places around the mall. AS one knows, PRC people come to Hong Kong and when they get tired squat with their friends, talk loudly, smoke cigarettes, eat food that ends up all over the place and create a general nuisance. It just made me think that maybe that Pacific Place management should create squatting pens like smokers have smoking rooms in airports so that they can be contained into easy to clean areas. And maybe placing spittoons at various intervals may make some sense since this squatting crowd is also the spitting crowd and spit on the highly polished floors of Pacific Place could lead to some slippery accidents and injuries.

Well, I guess that since I am not a PRC China brand name junky, then there is no reason for me to go to Pacific Place anymore. There are plenty of other places to go to buy the things for "Normal People."