The other day, a few friends and I went to David which is about an hour from us. A friend was looking for a few items, so we decided to stop by the new mall. We had never been there before, and it was quite shocking inside.
You see, the mall was built right before lockdowns happened in 2020. It was set to open early that year and was supposed to be filled with a food court, stores, and people. Sadly, none of that happened...
We went straight to the food court so we could eat something. They were supposed to have gotten a Taco Bell which I was pretty excited about, but I guess TB pulled out of the deal. Now, there is only a McDonald's, Sam's (Panamanian food or combo meals for kids), and a Domino's. We all had McDonald's as we don't have that in our town.
There was a kid's carrousel there that looked brand new. Not sure if it runs on weekends. Maybe more people attend then? We hardly saw a handful of people outside of the sad food court. There was also blow-up obstacle course and bounce houses right outside of the food court.
More than half of the food court still had plastic on the tables and caution tape around it so no one would go in the area. I wish this area were a bit more populated and busier so we could have better food options!
There are a handful of smaller shops in the mall, but really there aren't many. Most of the stores are these huge three-story department stores - clothes, housewares, grocery - one on each floor. I found a new one that I really liked and bought a few things, but we had parked on the opposite side of the mall, so we were loaded down walking to the car. Ha!
Anyway, it is good to have the option of this mall here and I hope it doesn't completely die, but it was so sad. Everything was shiny and new, but it was also almost completely empty and sad.
How very sad indeed! Covid not only took lives but also killed many economic activities, one cannot begin to calculate the losses suffered!
Let's hope the vision of the developers eventually is realized!
Sad is a very apt description @apanamamama.
Yes it is! I sure hope it bounces back. Otherwise it's a huge empty shell of a thing.
Hopefully the restoration of political sanity and the prosecution of the deranged profiteers on genocidal GMO jabs will also restore the economic vigor that made the development of that mall, and so much else that is good and holy in the world, advisable and beneficial to humanity.
Thanks!
That would be good. It's such a huge empty space right now! I hope it will bounce back soon.
I was at that mall a couple months ago. El Costo and El Fuerte had some costarican shoppers. Other than that, it was pretty empty. Malls are packed full in Panama City these days.
I bet they are packed in Panama City! We haven't been there in a while, but I just love going to the malls! Good to have another Panama-living Hive Friend!
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