Readers respond

What will make this new mall successful? Shops, restaurants, etc.

that are a destination. Contrary to the opinion of the senior planner of

the project, visitors without a shopping objective may not consume enough

to keep the new stores in business. Or we’ll end up with a mall like The

Block where young people not spending much money are just hanging out.

Perhaps they are under the impression that tourists from the beach will

wander up.

Unfortunately because of the close proximity of Westminster Mall and

South Coast Plaza, there aren’t too many stores we really need in this

mall. They might want to approach Trader Joe’s. That would be a benefit

to both parties.

DEBBIE CURNUTT

Huntington Beach

Successful Mall? First of all I sure hope that they are not planning

the Italian theme. It just doesn’t fit our area. That was a loser idea

I think.

We live near the ocean and are casual beach people, so therefore, that

should be reflected in the type of the building architecture that’s used

for the mall.

If they can use the existing mall structure, I would suggest that they

remodel or rebuild the interior and exterior so that both the inside and

outside of the mall can be used -- we don’t always have beautiful

weather. That way no matter what the weather is, rain, hot, cold, windy

etc, we can always go and visit. For beautiful days and sunny weather, I

would design the outside perimeter of the buildings with a beautiful

curved walkway on which to window shop, with lovely shade and palm trees,

shrubbery and lots of places to sit. Perhaps an outside restaurant to eat

at and play areas for children, gathering places for senior citizens to

have meeting. Make sure that they are not next to each other. Store

window displays also would be a must around the outside. Have other areas

large enough to have musical and other local events on a regular weekly

basis. These different events, such as the Rose Society Car shows etc.

will keep us interested in coming back. All of the shops should not be

expensive. There should be some stores that you could still get a

bargain, as everybody is not rich.

Some of the big movie chains have gone out of business lately and more

people are viewing movies at home so I wonder at the thought of having so

much invested in a large movie theater. Perhaps it should be scaled down

a little bit. Last time I went, the theater was empty. I don’t think they

should rely so much on the income from the theater. High definition

television will be bigger in the years to come, and I think there will be

less people actually going to the movies. They will rent them and stay

home.

But I am tired of waiting, so I hope they get this thing started as

soon as possible.

CAROLE CHERCGIAN

Fountain Valley

Suggestions on how to make the mall consumer friendly:

1. One of the movie houses should be for art/foreign movies. I’d like

to see two, as many of us go to Irvine or Santa Ana for now.

To encourage a wider audience, how about a movie club for this.

2. Have one or more community rooms that can be used by nonprofit

organizations for meetings at a low cost. This is very badly needed.

These same rooms can be exercise rooms in the mornings for seniors.

3. Fashion Island is a model for what is needed. Plan fairs once a

month or so -- maybe it would be a garden club, or ethnic clubs, such as

the Russian fair held this past weekend at the Capistrano Mission, which

was very successful.

4. Make sure that all buses going to and from the bus terminal have

the mall as a route stop.

5. Have kiosks

6. Have restaurants in all price ranges.

I do hope the mall owners will experiment with these ideas. They want

traffic at the mall, and I, the consumer, want a fun/enjoyable place to

visit.

SHIRLEY SEROTA

Huntington Beach