re: #57 Dr Lizardo

One of the malls here - Avion Shopping Park - is actually owned by IKEA, the Swedish furniture and meatballs store. Which, for IKEA, is a great idea…..the next closest IKEA is 95 kilometers away in the city of Katowice, Poland. There’s two IKEA’s in Prague and one in Brno for a total of four in the entire damn country.

Not too many people are willing to drive the 95 kilometers to the next closest store. There is, however, an outlet mall (which I’ve never been to) not far from here across the border in Poland, and I know a few people who do go there for big-ticket item shopping; apparently, it’s considerably cheaper.

The Chinese mall model is a glitzy high rise with lots of brand name stores, chain restaurants, a playground/arcade, multiplex, fitness club, and a Western restaurant like Pizza Hut (not a fast food joint, but a sit-down casual restaurant). There will also be a large supermarket on the lower level. There are no “anchor stores,” as in the US model.