Maybe teens should boycott
Rude or right? Fancy Dallas mall bans hoodies, visible undergarments & teens atnight
In Dallas, a city that loves to be fancy, NorthPark Mall likes to think of itself as the fanciest mall in town. The mall boasts over $1 billion in sales per year and is the only place in Dallas to find high-end retailers like Cartier, Valentino, Bottega Veneta and Oscar de la Renta. Employees like to say there are 10 billionaires living within a five-mile radius.
Only one thing is holding NorthPark back from champagne wishes and caviar dreams: roaming packs of loud, obnoxious teenagers, with their boards for skating and their rock music. (Full disclosure: I have never met a teenager.)
Here's a crazy thought: If you don't want teenagers in your mall, don't rent out space to stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, Forever 21, Betsey Johnson, American Apparel, Charlotte Russe, Delia's, Hollister and Urban Outfitters.
The solution? No more teens under 17 in the mall after 6 p.m. — you know, when the grown-ups with real jobs roll in to spend that hard-earned cash — except teens working at the mall, going to the movie theater inside or accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The policy is part of a larger code of conduct now being instituted that also bans loitering, fighting, yelling, offensive language, loud music, smoking, climbing on the artwork or rails, littering, and inappropriate clothing.
The policy about "dressing appropriately for a family-oriented shopping center" includes a couple dog-whistle prohibitions on "visible undergarments" and "hoods or other clothing that obscures the face," though spokesman Mark Annick told BusinessWeek that the code is due to growth, not any ethnic or racial group.
The curfew is one of several methods malls across the country have instituted to cut down on teenagers hanging out. Other shopping centers have installed devices called Mosquitos that emit a high-pitched screech that can generally only be heard by those under 25. Other public areas have found a more pleasant sound that deters teenage loitering — classical music.
Here's a crazy thought: If you don't want teenagers in your mall, don't rent out space to stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, Forever 21, Betsey Johnson, American Apparel, Charlotte Russe, Delia's, Hollister and Urban Outfitters.
Catering to a certain clientele is the right of any business, but taking people's money and then telling them to get out of your mall? That's just rude.
