Shopping in Crestview’s Mall
July 2nd, 2008, 3:43 pm · 2 Comments · posted by Brian
A recent letter to the editor of our sister paper, the Northwest Florida Daily News, got me reflecting on a lament sometimes heard around these parts.
The writer pined for “a Target store, a nice mall, a larger theater and some nice restaurants like Olive Garden here in Crestview.”
Strangely, everything the writer equated with “nice” was a chain business. In her mind, our refreshing lack of cookie-cutter chain stores was mistaken lack of growth.
When I blew over here from New Orleans on the tailwinds of Hurricane Katrina, one of the things that endeared the Crestview area to me was precisely the absence of mall stores and and all those chains that each boast all the individuality of a slice of white bread.
Our wealth of homegrown shops and eateries are so much richer in character, value and variety than something punched out of a corporate marketing manual to assure each franchise has the bland sameness.
More interestingly, everything the letter writer wishes she had is already here:
• Target: It’s just a fancier Wal-Mart with virtually the same merchandise, only more expensive and with spiffier merchandising.
• A nice mall: I was shopping in Crestview’s mall recently for a machete to clear brush (I dare you find that in a Galleria!). In other stores I saw a budding beauty queen getting a fashionable gown, observed ladies buying the latest in beauty supplies, eyeballed a few antiques, then was overwhelmed by the selection of food places.
Our mall is called Downtown Crestview, where there is a greater variety of merchandise than a mall could boast, a bigger variety of cuisine than any “food court” ever offered, and the parking is closer to the shops than any mall’s acres of asphalt.
• A larger theater: OK, she has me there. I’m hooked on the Rave’s digital projection system and must admit I wouldn’t mind one closer to home.
But, the Main Street Fox Theatre’s owner just announced he’s about to start renovations on that classic movie house and is considering a digital projection system. It will also provide a venue for live community theatre, something you’ll never find at a mall cinema.
(Frankly, I’d much rather watch a film, especially an old classic, in an old movie house than a monsterplex.)
• Nice restaurants: If by “nice restaurants” the writer really meant “chain restaurants,” we have perfectly splendid Applebee’s, Ryan’s, Beef O’Brady’s, Cracker Barrel and Hooter’s. I have nothing at all against them. When you dine in one you are guaranteed your experience will be exactly the same as dining in the same brand anywhere else in the world.
But if she really means “fine-but-not-stuffy dining,” has she tried the Wild Olive, the Uptown Café or Mia’s?
Has she had hand-tossed New York pizza at the Hideaway? Did she ever gorge herself on Tuesday’s buffalo wings at Uncle Bill’s? Lumpia at Nellie’s? Beef bokkum at Song’s? The awesome chicken-fried steak at the Tropical Palm? An overflowing taco salad (with a side of cinnamon crisps) at Taco Town? A Crestview roll at Bamboo Sushi? A dozen oysters at Ed’s? Barbecue from Possum Ridge? A blueberry fritter from Good Things?
If she had, or will, she wouldn’t be pining for pre-packaged corporate cuisine. I personally prefer our wonderful restaurants that tailor their food for the local palette, not menus selected for me by an out-of-state corporation’s marketing guru.
Someday Crestview will have a mall. It will be indistinguishable from every other American mall, with the same shops and the same vast, inconvenient parking lot. You’ll know at a glance that beneath its vast acreage, a verdant wood or field of gently waving wildflowers once grew.
People who, like that letter writer, equate the arrival of Starbucks with community “progress,” will be happy.
This relative newcomer, however, would like to bask in the personality, hospitality and uniqueness of Crestview’s homemade merchants just a while longer, thank you.
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I wholeheartedly agree. Far too many people are blind to the many opportunities available right here in Crestview. Excellent blog.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Thanks for pointing out the many wonderful shopping and dining opportunities that already exist in Crestview. While I’d love to see a large department store and a bigger movie theater in town, we shouldn’t forget about the many “Mom and Pop” businesses that employ local folks and contribute to the local economy. In these days of $4 a gallon gas, I’m amazed at how many people will still drive all the way to Fort Walton or Destin or Pensacola to purchase things that are readily available at local stores.