OK, fess up: how many times have you gone out for a shopping spree only to return to your house to find that Fido shredded your curtains? Quite a few? Maybe he was just jealous that he didn’t get to nosh on Sbarro too.
According to a recent article in the Columbus Dispatch, Polaris Fashion Place, the newest and largest mall in greater Columbus, Ohio, is fetching shoppers by letting dogs in. While I can’t imagine this is likely to catch on everywhere quickly, it does fit in nicely with the “new” shopping-as-leisure concept that I blogged about yesterday. If people can bring their dogs along for a social stroll, then they’re more likely to go hang out there, right? Plus, anyone who has taken a walk with an adorable pooch in tow (and, for what it’s worth, that’s my pup Wiley in the picture up there) knows that they’re a great ice-breaker and conversation starter; I mean, talk about a great way to really transform the mall into a social center, where you can even meet new people! The Polaris mall management even says that the issue of, um… accidents, isn’t as bad as you might think. It’s fitting that this fashion-conscious city (both The Limited Companies and Abercrombie & Fitch are based here) would lead the charge on something that certainly makes sense as a potential new trend.
The Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, VA has allowed dogs since it opened in 2003. Many of the stores give out treats and water for the dogs, but not all stores allow dogs (those that don’t have small “no dogs” logos on thier doors.
The idea as I heard it was to create a “European feel” to the center, which is anchored by Saks, Dillards, and Dick’s Sproting Goods.
The place would smell horrible.
As of October 2007, dogs are back on the streets again, not in Polaris Fashion Place. Guess it didn’t go over very well.