6-26-06 - Hello to all my friends here in Mesquite TX.
Here in Mesquite, shopping in the TERRA district or in the Retail Row area is a big part of our town's economy. It is the major source of tax dollars for the city, serves as a major tourist attraction and a destination for out-of-town shoppers. At the center of all this is our own Town East Mall.
Town East Mall is one of the very best shopping malls we have here in the Dallas-Ft.Worth area. It is up-to-date, clean, safe, has friendly employees, and is convenient for shoppers to use. These reasons are why TEM has been so successful for so many years.
But of course Town East it is not the only mall out there. One of the newest ones to emerge is Firewheel Town center in Garland. Now Firewheel cannot be really compared to Town East however, since it is not a mall in the true since of the word, but rather a huge shopping center. But, as it is the newest competitor in the marketplace where competition makes evryone better. I thought I'd better go and check it out.
So my wife Carrie and I went and visited Firewheel. We found it a very nice palce to go and shop. There is lots to see, many shops, restaurants, and a cinema. It has many of the same stores as TEM does such as Foley's, Gamestop, Hot Topic and Victoria's Secret. It has some store although that we do not have such as Coldwater Creek, Barnes & Noble and Elisabeth. We walked around the center for about two hours and we found the place not so different than any other strip mall or shopping district. The one difference that I could make out was that Town East seems to cater to a younger generation, where as Firewheel goes for the more mature shopper. I can see this especially working well for adult women seeking more choices in clothing.
Many people may not be big on shopping. Town East and the surrounding retail may have all they are looking for. Convenience being the deciding factor in there shopping habits and Town East mall remains the mall of choice for a very large area. But, beyond convenience, an outdoor mall in Texas (as Firewheel is) may not seem like a greatest ideas. Summer days where the temperature reaches toward and above the 100 degree mark, will it horrible to be walking from store to store in the heat. The air conditioned comfrot of TEM would be a much preferred alternative, and days in January and February when it is in the 20s and 30s or any other time the weather is bad, again TEM wins.
Both of them suffer from traffic woes, which is going to be a hard issue to avoid for any large retail district.
Firewheel although will still do very well because of the continued growth in the Sachse/Wylie areas and I think it will give TEM some good competition for a very long time. Carrie and I will probably go back sometime, but Town East we still be our first choice when we go to the mall.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Sergio Garcia