Cart Wars: Dollar Stores, Big Boxes, And Buying In Bulk

The cart says more about us than the receipt. We pulled together our Fab Five to map the real world of shopping right now: where we go, what actually feels good, and why some stores become habits you can’t quit. From Dollar General’s convenience to Dollar Tree’s unbeatable card aisle, we compare the dollar store trifecta with honest logic you can use on your next errand run.

Then we zoom out: one grocery store we trust, the best place to buy a new TV, and the unexpectedly strategic role of store layout in what lands in your cart. Parents will relate as we break down the “Mario on hard mode” that is shopping with kids—plus how free samples, coffee stops, and smart aisles can turn chaos into calm. We also settle a modern classic: Target’s clean consistency versus Walmart’s raw, late‑night energy, and how both win for different reasons.

Memberships matter too. Where Costco exists, loyalty follows; where it doesn’t, Sam’s Club delivers with selection, outdoor gear, and those clutch samples. We talk gift cards without the guilt—when they’re thoughtful, when they’re lazy, and how to make them land well. Finally, we rebuild the struggling mall with experiences people will actually leave the house for: a fitness anchor, a proper movie theater, hotel‑event spaces, Dave and Busters, jump parks, even a destination sneaker spot. The theme is clear—design for daily life and shared moments, and the shopping comes naturally.

If you’re navigating online vs in‑store, raising little cart captains, or dreaming up a better mall, this one’s for you. Listen, subscribe, and leave a quick review to tell us your dollar store ranking and your must‑have mall pick—we’ll feature the best takes next week.

All music brought to you by former guest of the show Speedo

Subscribe for exclusive content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1530455/support

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Tactical Brotherhood
The Tactical Brotherhood is a movement to support America.

Dubby Energy
FROM GAMERS TO GYM JUNKIES TO ENTREPRENEURS, OUR PRODUCT IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE BETTER.

Shankitgolf
Our goal here at Shankitgolf is for everyone to have a great time on and off the golf course

Sweet Hands Sports
Elevate your game with Sweet Hands Sports! Our sports gloves are designed for champions,

Buddy's Beard Care
Buddy's Beard Care provides premium men's grooming products at an affordable price.

Deemed Fit
Be a part of our movement to instill confidence motivation and a willingness to keep pushing forward

Webb Western
Webb Western is for those who roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to get the job done.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

Welcome, Sponsors, And The Fab Five

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants Podcast. This is your special guest host, Fiddy, filling in today for Mike Bono on the ones and twos as we bring you the all things shopping episode to end the month of January 2026. So last uh episode of the month, starting out season six here in the first month of the new season. Make sure you peep all of our sponsors in the pre-roll and the post-roll as all our small business owners and their great supporters of the show. Speaking of great supporters of the show, check out all of our guests on their individual shows on Ride Home Rants over our six seasons here. And the Fab Five will introduce themselves shortly. Make sure you're also supporting all your local small businesses, as just as our small businesses support us, make sure you're supporting them out there as well. So plug for the small businesses as we talk about the all things shopping episode. As we go into the show today, you're gonna hear a lot of great things about a lot of different topics about shopping. So whether you are a shop to you drop type of person, a shopaholic, or you hate shopping, a little bit of everything in here for you today. So without further ado, I'm gonna have the guests introduce themselves and everyone, I need your name, what you had for dinner tonight, or what you're going to have for dinner tonight, and what is your favorite muffin flavor or flavor of muffin, however you like to word it. So, Stephanie, let's start with you.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Okay, thank you, Johnny. Um, so I'm Stephanie Nunnley, and today I'm for dinner, or I haven't had it yet, but I'm ordering sushi after this um because I'm one of those people and I just had a taste for it. And then you said my favorite muffin. Uh obviously blueberry, because it's far superior to any other muffin. Just saying. Okay. Uh Andrea.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Uh hi, I am Andrea Preferado. Um, I had Chick-fil-A for dinner because I didn't feel like cooking. And uh to piggyback off the blueberry, I agreed, but I like the one that has the cinnamon like crumble on top. That one's good.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Okay, Brandon.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

What's going on, everybody? This is Brandon Wiley. Uh, for dinner, we had uh turkey, collard greens, and mashed potatoes. Um fire mill. Fire meal. Uh my better half made it, so it was with a touch of love. And my favorite muffin is chocolate chip. Okay, Lando.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

What's up, but what's up, everyone? This is Matt Landowski. Um, just I think I had a little Mississippi pot roast for dinner tonight, and I'm gonna go with chocolate chip also for a muffin.

SPEAKER_05 7:34

Okay. And Chris? Yeah, Chris Marsco. Um, I'm currently eating Taco Bell in between my talking bits and uh my muffin choice. I'd probably have to go banana nut. Chocolate chip would be second for me, but I'm I'm a good banana nut muffin guy.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Okay, very interesting. Uh, tonight for dinner, I had a taco bowl. Uh, we made homemade um taco bowls last night, so we had leftovers tonight. I also had a nice tomato on the side with um some salt and pepper on it. You marinated it, let it soak for like 10 minutes. You know, that Italian part of me really had that go tonight. You know, Andrea's over there shaking her head. You know, the Italian people on the show understand. And then my favorite muffin, I love a good cranberry muffin. Cranberry muffins are awesome. And I had this same discussion with Chris on another episode about cranberry bagels from Giant Eagle. Outstanding. Outstanding. Chris and I had the same conversation a while back on one of the other shows. We're not here to talk about muffins, although we could do a show talking about breakfast food. That could be actually pretty interesting. Who doesn't love a good breakfast food uh topic? Um, but we're gonna dive into some questions here, okay? Um, Stephanie, we're gonna start with you on this one, and then we're gonna go Andrea, and we're gonna go Brandon, Lando, and Chris to round us out as he eats his Taco Bell. Um, you can't buy Taco Bell from these places, but we're gonna see which ones you guys like the most. So, how would you rank these three stores from your personal favorite to your least favorite to shop at, regardless of whatever you have to buy? Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Oh, you already know. Least to favorite, favorite to least. Favorite to least, um, Dollar General. Um, probably the other dollar one, and then Dollar Tree is last. I definitely don't like Dollar Tree.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Okay, so family dollar is second. Okay, Andrea, how about you?

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Um I I think if I'm getting it right, I I like Dollar Tree the most. There's so many things for a dollar, they moved it up to$1.25 now, but like I've really gotten some nice stuff there, I guess, for like random things. I don't really shop much at the other two, but like Dollar General, it's not like generally a dollar, there's like some expensive stuff in there. So that's why I don't like that one. It's it's sneaky, and then I'll put the other one below that. Dollar Tree for sure, number one. Okay, Brandon.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

How about you? Well, there's a dollar general everywhere, it's like in your face constantly. So I have literally one down the street, so I'm there quite often. So I gotta go Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar. Okay, Lando.

SPEAKER_04 10:15

I'm gonna go Dollar General since there's about five in my hometown here. And then I'm gonna go dollar or family dollar, and then what's the other one? Uh Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree. Yeah, we'll go Dollar Tree last.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

Okay, Chris, round us out on this.

SPEAKER_05 10:36

Yeah, so I'm gonna agree on Dollar General is first. I I think they're around a lot, the the accessibility from at least where where I'm living at. I Dollar General's first. Then I'd say Dollar Tree. I agree with Andrea. I feel like that there's actually kind of fits the name at least, nonetheless. And then uh I put family dollar third.

One Grocery Store To Rule Them

SPEAKER_03 10:58

I would go Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar. My reasoning is Dollar Tree has outstanding cards for holidays. And if you have to buy a lot of cards, right, for Christmas or any holiday you celebrate, you can get a lot there for$12, right? You can get like literally nine for$12. So I do put that second. Not a fan of Family Dollar. I just feel like it's just always messy in there. It's crowded, like I don't know, there's boxes in the aisle, like you're falling over something, you know. So I don't really like it. And I love Dollar General. Um, I just love Dollar General. I think you can get great stuff there. You can get vitamins, you can get milk, a case of water, some napkins, and a and a new Christmas decoration. Like it's a great, great thing. So I love me a Dollar General. Um, and whoever is the CEO of Dollar General has has made that monopoly and done a great job with it. So um, all right, we're gonna move on here to question number two. Stephanie, gonna start with you. If you had to recommend one and only one grocery store that is your go-to for shopping, which grocery store would you recommend for someone to shop at?

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Oh my gosh. Okay. So I don't know. I'm gonna say Dave's. And and the reason is is because, yeah, Dave's market, there's just a lot of them in Cleveland. I mean, they're pretty local, they're a family business here in Cleveland. Um, and they're more reasonably priced than like all the other grocery stores. So well, not all of them, but most of them, like Hynens and stuff, they're too expensive. Okay, Andrea, what are you saying?

SPEAKER_01 12:38

I feel like I have to I've jumped on the bandwagon of Myers because we just got one in Austin Town. But like I feel like it is it's definitely more expensive, but even for like the Meyer brand stuff, it's still quality and it's cheaper. There's just so many more pros compared to like Walmart or Giant Eagle. So I feel like it's a good middle ground. But before I would have like shamefully said Walmart 100%.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

All right, Brandon, what about you?

SPEAKER_02 13:06

I love me a good Aldi's run. It's kind of like my my foundation, that's where I jump start. But I do have to plug this in. I know you just said one, so a really close, close uh to Aldi's for me is Wegman's. And that's because Wegman's is is is incredible, but Wakeman's is extremely expensive. And today's economy, bump that. So uh Aldi's is definitely the superior store.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

Okay. Wegman's is uh Wegman's is a good good store. It's a good store for Erie. I do I do like when I'm in Erie and I have to get a random something, I'll go into Wegman's. I'll go on that Wakeman's off of Pete Street too. So I can go up the street and get gas at the get-go. That's gonna get a coffee or you know, hit them all up too. So, you know, I I love me a good Wegman's. Um, Lando, what about you? What's that one and only one grocery store that you go to that you would recommend?

SPEAKER_04 13:56

I'm gonna go with um our hometown grocery store, uh Sprankles, down here in Leechford, Pennsylvania. And they have good prices, good meats, all the good stuff.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

So okay. All right, very cool. And Chris, let's round it out with you on this.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

So I was originally gonna say Aldi's, but I don't want to duplicate what Brandon said to offer a little variety. So I'm also a big giant eagle fan. And you mentioned Git-Go earlier. I know giant eagle is a little pricey sometimes, but they're consistent and you know what you could find there, and it's a wide variety. Um, so yeah, I'm I'm gonna go the big bird, giant eagle.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

You know, it's funny because, like, you know, the grocery stores we all named, right? Some are big chains and and some are smallers, right? And some are more local and regional and stuff. But like the one thing I'll say about Giant Eagle is I don't know if they're actually crazily priced. And here's why I say that, right? Like, if you probably look at it like pound for pound on meat or whatever, it's probably all the same. I think where Giant Eagle gets you is the way the store is laid out, right? So, like you walk in and you have to go through the bakery, and you're like, oh my God, that looks so good. And then you like pass the flowers, and you're like, oh, I'm gonna buy my significant other flowers. Oh, there's a gigantic toiletry section, and there's vitamins and all this stuff. Great. Now I just spent like$50 on that, and now I'll actually let me go into the grocery store. And then wow, there's a million different fillets, you know, to choose from for steak. And, you know, there's porter house and there's all this and all that. So I think it's actually just because the volume that they have and the way they lay it out, I'm pretty sure that's how they get you on spending$400 for you know, two people going to the giant eagle. But my favorite store um is what was called Mennor Family Foods. It's now Mennor Fresh Foods. Um, mom and pop shop around the corner from us. I love it there. I think Stephanie's heard me talk about this place before. Um, it's great. You walk in, they got the oldies playing like the 1950s, 60s, 70s on the loudspeaker. It's always um in and out with relative quickness. They've had a ton of people uh or have a ton of people working there. So you're it's always stocked, it's super awesome. I just love it there. Got a chance to meet the old owner. He was a fifth generation owner of that business, and his family didn't want it, so he ended up selling it on. But really cool place, love supporting the uh the small businesses. All right, so this one's just for Lando, Marsco, and Brandon. Okay, so guys, if you're going to go buy a brand new TV and you could pick anywhere you wanted to buy this TV from, what store are you picking it from and why? Let's start with you, Lando.

SPEAKER_04 16:44

I'm gonna go with Sam's Club.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

Sam's Club. Okay. Because I feel like you can get a real good.

SPEAKER_04 16:51

I feel like you can get a real good deal maybe on two TVs. Buy them in bulk, you know.

SPEAKER_03 16:56

So you might, you might, and 12 pounds of kitty litter right after that, too. That's it, man. That's it. You know, um, that's that's funny. Uh Marsco, I know you made uh you look like you were like, yes, you made the fist pump there. You gonna club as well?

SPEAKER_05 17:11

I thought I had that on wraps, I was like, there's no way either of them are gonna say Sam's Club. I'm gonna say Sam's Club. I I've bought three TVs from there in my life. I I think the price is great. You got a wide selection. People there are typically knowledgeable that got at least somebody with the TVs knows what they're talking about. If you got any questions, and they got them all on display. They sucker you in again, like you said with Giant E. Well, they have it laid out, they have it laid out just like you're at a Best Buyer, one of those other electronic stores. So I I gotta go Sam's Club.

SPEAKER_03 17:42

Okay, and then um, Brandon, what are you saying here?

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Uh I'm gonna I'm gonna go Walmart just in like just kind of the same thing, you know? Like there's always the electronic section when you're walking past and they have that big, big TV just right in the aisleway there. It just catches you every time. And I always think to myself, I could use another TV, but then I'm like, don't I really? I got like three of them, four of them. Do I really need another one? But it always tempts me every single time, and it's like a 70-inch, and the price is crazy cheap. And I'm like, man, I could really use this. I don't know where I'm gonna put it right now, but I could find somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

Okay, it's funny if you guys said that because you just mentioned two stores, but yet they're sister stores, so it's like one store, it's like one gigantic monopoly. So whether you're buying it from Walmart or Sam's Club, I'm pretty sure Walton's still getting rich. So that's the bottom line on that. Now, this one, this next question, right? Okay, where is going to be specific for Brandon and then Chris? All right, so you guys are parents of children at various ages. Now, you both have a little one, but you both have one that's just a little older than that. So, whether regardless, it's grocery shopping or going to the mall or whatever it may be, truthfully, for all the guests on here and for all the listeners out there, how hard is it to go shopping with children given your experience as parents? Chris, let's start with you.

Best Place To Buy A New TV

SPEAKER_05 19:06

It's extremely challenging because of the unknown. You cannot successfully predict or forecast exactly how the trip's gonna go, who's gonna throw a tantrum, what they're gonna see at the store that's gonna set them off one way or another. Um, you feel like you could control it as you get to know your kid a little bit better, but there's so many variables that you that are just out of your control. So um, I mean, I love it still because that that's what I chose. I think it's a blessing to get to have some of them problems, but uh it really is a challenge. If you want to test your patience, take young kids shopping with you anywhere, grocery store, mall, like you say, anywhere. Just it creates different layers of challenges that you uh I don't know, it's like playing Super Mario sometimes. You need power-ups here and there. You know, hitting a Starbucks or something is a blessing sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 20:03

Chris, how old are your kids now?

SPEAKER_05 20:05

Uh three and one.

SPEAKER_03 20:06

Okay, okay. Now now, Brandon, how about you? Because you have um two kids, right? One's a little bit older and one's a little bit younger, right? So, how old are your kids? And then what's the answer to this question?

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Yeah, so my son is uh eight years old, and uh my daughter is a year old, she's like 15 months. Um it's same thing like like Chris said, it it's like rolling the dice. You don't know what it's gonna land on. Uh so when you just when you decide to step out and venture out, you're just like, we're gonna see what happens. You know, like I have an objective, I know what I need to get to some degree. I'm gonna go in and I'm gonna try to successfully complete the task. But uh also what Chris said is it's a blessing, you know, to be able to go wish your family to the store and walk around and have those moments. And, you know, even though there's tantrums and my little my little girl, she's very uh she's very high strung and she's very boxy. So she's usually the one that's like, you know, you put her in the cart, you set her down, she'll look around for a while, and then she might start freaking out because she wants to get out and run around the whole damn store. So you just never know. Um, you sometimes it's it's smooth, and you like I said, just rolling the dice, but nonetheless, it's always a blessing.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

For sure, for sure. You know, it made me just think of this uh when you were saying that. Now, I'm sure probably all of you can attest that we've done this at one time or another. But do you remember like when you'd go shopping with your parents and like you were probably real little, and you'd run into the clothes rack and like hide in the middle because they had the circular like clothes racks? Does everybody like remember doing that? Do kids still do that? Do they still run and hide in clothes?

SPEAKER_05 21:54

My mom was right, whoop my behind. I acted like I didn't know her the one time when I was running in and out of them, and people started looking at her. I I got bad memories with running in and out of clothes racks. I I I had to push it to the limit every time, and I I didn't go good for me when I got home.

SPEAKER_03 22:11

You know, uh, you know, Andrea, I'm sure, right? You ran into closed racks, right? When you were little.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Oh, yeah. Oh, for sure. That was like the highlight of going to the stores like, can I get this one? Can my mom find me? Like, heck yeah.

Shopping With Kids: Chaos And Joy

SPEAKER_03 22:23

You know, and I feel like because probably we all did that, in some way or another, we're all gonna get punished one day because we did that, because we've sent our parents into a panic, probably looking for us. So um, I remember this, and I remember this from like a commercial. I don't know if anyone remembers this. I think it was like maybe a Bud Light or Miller Light commercial, but there was like a guy he was shopping with his wife, and like he just happened to hear like a noise and he went into like a clothes rack, and there was like a guy sitting in there, like drinking a beer and watching TV. I don't know if anyone remembers that, but I just remember that commercial, like, and I was just always laughing about it when I would think about it. Because I'm like, man, is there really a guy like hiding in between the clothes? Like you're like drinking a beer and watching TV in there, like when you go shopping. I don't know, maybe so. So, Stephanie and Andrea, this question is for you. So, better shopping experience, just better shopping experience, Target or Walmart and why. Andrea, let's start with you.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

I feel like Target, I I don't know. Like, I just feel like it kind of like the way that you described one of the dollar stores. Like, every time I go there, there's just palettes of stuff that they need to put away. Like, I swear I could go on a Wednesday and there could be everything there, and I go the next day, and I'm like, oh, I needed one more of this, and every single item is gone in the thing that I needed. Every time I find a snack that I like at Walmart, the next like when I run out and go to buy it again, their Walmart no longer carries it. Like, I swear it's like perfect timing. So I don't know. I like Target, I think it's cleaner. I think that they're you know, their app is nice. I know Walmart has one too, but I just feel like I've always had a better experience personally.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Okay, Stephanie. I think that's like a hundred percent accurate. I would totally agree, except for my like scale of like experience. I want to see the shenanigans. So like going to going to Walmart, there's never a dull moment. Like whether it's the weirdo who shows up pantsless or like the person who's mad at their job and just decided to stock everything completely wrong, like I think it's never a dull moment. So I would go with Walmart just for the for the memes.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

You know what? I think like going to Walmart on a Friday night at 9 p.m. Like there's you see some wild stuff in Walmart at 9 p.m. on a Friday night. So if anyone's ever feeling froggy and you want just to go people watch, like you're at like Cedar Point, just go in the Walmart and maybe just sit on a bench in there, just a random bench that they have and just people watch that. Um, so yeah, very uh very interesting, that is for sure. All right, so all of you here, and you kind of brought it up before, but we're gonna start with Stephanie on this one. Um, do you have a membership to either or or both Costco and Sam's Club?

SPEAKER_00 25:19

And if so, which do you prefer? So this is weird. I do not have a membership, but I have a friend who has a membership, and so I utilize their membership. I love Costco better. Um, we've been to Sam's Club and Costco, but Costco feels better to me. Okay. Andrea, how about you?

SPEAKER_01 25:42

So I don't have a membership either, but I feel like if at any point I got to a point where I had a family and I needed to go by in bulk, I'd probably go to Sam's. I think I don't think I have a Costco around here. But like I've had a good experience at Sam's when I have gone with other people, so I'd probably pick Sam's.

SPEAKER_03 25:57

Yeah, I forgot you guys don't have a Costco around there. I think your nearest one is like I think Mayfield. Yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Yeah, I think we used to have a Costco's and now it's a Gordon's.

SPEAKER_03 26:09

So oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. Brandon, how about you?

SPEAKER_02 26:14

Have a Sam's Club membership. We don't have a Costco's, so I never been to a Costco's. So Sam's Club's gotta be the default. Okay. Uh Lando?

SPEAKER_04 26:24

I'm gonna go Sam's Club. Um, not sure if if there's a Costco's around in Pittsburgh or I never been to one, but uh Sam's Club. Uh they have a really good selection of uh outdoor stuff, so I like going there.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

And TVs. You can buy you can buy your TVs in Balkan, you know? Yes, you can buy your TV. He's in bulk. Chris, how about you?

SPEAKER_05 26:51

Sam's Club membership, but much like you said, kind of biased because there's not a Costco near me. Everything I've ever heard about a Costco is that they are A1, like awesome. So I kind of feel left out of the Costco conversation because I feel like it would be a really strong competitor, but they're nothing wrong with the Sam's. I mean, we've kind of highlighted they they're they're versatile. They're I feel blessed to have one near us, really.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

So, you know what I never was like a bulking shopping type of person. Now we went to Sam's Club when I was younger. We used to go to the one um in the Niles Howland area. So we used to go to that. Now we recently just went to Sam's Club up here. It's been a number of years, but like I like you forget, like they sell TVs, they sell jewelry, they sell lawn furniture, they sell the biggest three-pack of chicken you'll ever see in your whole life. Like the biggest bag of strawberries, like a case of water that a whole army could drink. Like you forget, like when you're not in one, how much you can get there, you know, for stuff. Like I wanted a one loaf of bread. Everything was two loaves of bread. What am I gonna do with two loaves of bread? You know how fast bread goes bad, like and you're gonna eat two loaves. You know how much carbs that is? It's like terrible. It's like terrible.

SPEAKER_05 28:13

They do do the samples. There's nothing like going timing it up, getting a little free lunch, just walking around eating samples. They do do samples.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Now, here's the question though, Brandon and and Chris: how would you think your kids would behave going into uh Sam's Club with free samples?

SPEAKER_05 28:34

I think that's a great scenario to take your family shopping.

Target Vs Walmart: Experience Matters

SPEAKER_02 28:37

That's if it's if it's seafood, my son's in. He's with he's the pictiest eater you'll ever meet, but he will eat crab legs, all the types of seafood. So if it's a seafood fan, he is he's in there like somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

Okay. All right, so next one. As we all know, shopping for the holidays can be a hard experience to buy people gifts, and I think it gets harder as we get older, right? With that. So, what are your thoughts about giving someone a gift card to the preferred or you know favorite store that they have for this holiday gift? Is giving someone a gift card to go shopping really appropriate and heartfelt? Stephanie, let's start with you. You're on it.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

Sorry, so like it depends, I would say. Um, I love gift cards personally, but then I also am a big regifter of gift cards. So it's kind of like, oh, this is so nice, thank you. And then I usually give it to somebody else. Um, but I would say maybe, depending on who the person is. Some people really love them, and it's like, sweet, you just saved me a bunch of bucks on some later purchase, and I get to pick my own crap, um, versus the other way around. So I would say maybe. Okay. All right, Andrea, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 29:55

Yeah, I agree. I think it's definitely knowing your audience, it's about everybody's perspective personally. If somebody gets me anything, I think that's just a nice gesture. But I have a friend that, like, if I were to get her a gift card, she'd be like, Are you for real right now? Like, I put a lot of thought into the gift that I got you, and you got me a gift card. But me personally, it's like, well, I didn't want to get you something you didn't like. So I think it's about perspective, but I love giving a good gift card because I still know you, like, I still know what gift card you like. That's so thoughtful.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Right, right. And nothing worse than let's say you're going to shop and you're like, oh, I'm gonna buy my friend this shirt, and you get him a shirt and it doesn't fit. I'd rather give you a gift card to get the shirt that fits you without looking like an idiot for getting you the wrong size. That's my thinking behind it. Um how about you, Brandon? What are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 30:44

Yeah, I think it's like, I think it's situational, you know. I like for some people uh that I like to that I know what they like or what they might like. You know, it's it's intentional. So I mean it's yeah, I think it's a situational thing. And then like I said, I have I have some nieces and goddaughters who were just like, just give me a gift card to Amazon or Target, and I'll be good. And that's like the most amazing thing for them. So it's just it's it just really depends.

SPEAKER_03 31:12

Okay, all right. Lando, how about you?

SPEAKER_04 31:15

Yeah, everybody's different, and uh, so like I I have no problem giving a gift card, you know. So this year it's kind of a funny story, you know. We all agreed that we were gonna give each other gift cards between the couples and all that. And my brother calls me and he goes, Don't give me a gift card for Christmas. He was he was so mad, you know. So, I mean, I'm thinking to myself, a gift's a gift, though, you know. So everybody's a little different, you know.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

So Chris, what are you saying about this?

Costco Or Sam’s: Bulk Life Choices

SPEAKER_05 31:46

I want to first acknowledge my stances that I love I love giving them, I love receiving them because it allows the freedom of choice. Like, hey, I know you enough that I know this is something you'd like to go do that maybe you wouldn't spend the money on, but it's in your interest, and a gift's a gift, like 75 bucks, 75 bucks. Like, I don't that'll always carry weight, but I also have to be cognizant that it's not as thoughtful as you could get. Like, I'm thinking back to when I was courting my wife to be interested in me, like probably not a gift card situation. Like, you want to be a little more thoughtful with something like that. So, kind of like what everyone said and got to know your audience, but uh I think, especially now that you know I'm having I have a family of my own, and you're in some of these gift exchanges and whatnot, still, and it's like, okay, I mean, like, we're at the point now you want something to go out and buy it for yourself. But uh, you know, I I'm in favor of gift cards, giving them and getting them, but uh time and place, situational.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

So here's what I would say too. Now, before when Stephanie and I worked together, we did a white elephant at our uh Plain's business, and I gave a dollar general gift card, and I think I can say, and I don't know if Stephanie would agree or not, that was one of the most taught-after gifts in the white elephant exchange with that gift card. And I think Stephanie actually even got it.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

I did, it was fabulous. It was the best thing I got the whole time I've ever played that stupid white elephant game, and I totally used it. I bought toiletries and all the cool stuff from Dollar General. I love Dollar General though, so it would have tracks.

SPEAKER_03 33:32

See, so that there we go. So we're about talking about gift cards. All right, two questions left. Now, this is gonna be a fun question. Now, the beginning of this isn't fun, but the the topic itself will be fun. So, as we know, indoor malls are slowly being phased out due to online shopping. Now that's not fun, but this next part is fun. Now, if you got to oversee an empty mall, you were the manager or owner of an empty mall, and money was not an issue, what three stores or businesses or things would you put in that mall to start it out? Now, you gotta think balls have a lot of different things, and I mean you can pick really any of these, right? They have targets attached, big box stores, movie theaters, planted fitnesses, medical facilities now, like urgent care and things like that. Churches, you know, community churches are attached to malls now. You know, they have uh indoor bowling and a lot of different things. So if you were doing this though, and you only could pick three things to go in there, and it can be any of those things or anything I didn't mention, what would you pick? Now I'm gonna let you all think about this, and I'm gonna start out and give this answer. So I'd put a planet fitness in there because it's it's a great way to just fill a space, right? And then you attract people there uh throughout the day. Second one, I'm gonna put it as a movie theater because I think again, that will attract a lot of people there. And then the third one I would put in is I would actually put in like a very nice restaurant, like something people want, right? Not like a McDonald's or a Burger King, but like a Texas Roadhouse, maybe that's not that nice, or a Lone Star, or something maybe a little bit farther up, so you can generate foot traffic for people wanting to go to eat or go to the movies, spend date night there, you know, maybe even do the Planet Fitness thing as well. Those are my three things. I actually probably wouldn't even put in any stores. But I'm curious to hear your guys' answer on this. Stephanie, what three things would you put into an empty mall?

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Um, I definitely would put a movie theater in the mall. Like I think that's really cool, and it definitely drives traffic, especially if you get there early, you're waiting, you walk around, you buy other stuff. Um, what I've seen at the last mall that I was in that I also really liked was there's always like those little random stands in the middle that sell like fancy chocolates, like the Dubai chocolates or whatever. And they get me every time. Like I always wind up buying some sort of little bonbon. So I would definitely make sure those were like peppered throughout. And then I also agree with you too, a restaurant that is like a banger that maybe like one of those where they make the big flame. What is that, like Asian restaurant where they make the flame and like the diet guy does all the chopping the food and trying to do it? A box. Yeah, like like one of those. I think those would like definitely drive in. I think about like Miner Mall or Great Lakes Mall, and they have like that kind of stuff there. So that really drives any traffic. Plus, I just would just eat at that place all the time and go watch movies. Like that would be my thing.

unknown 36:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:34

Uh Andrea, what what is your answer to this? What three things are you putting in an empty mall?

SPEAKER_01 36:39

So um, I feel like, like you said, how they're getting like bigger stores now too. I feel like addicts, sporting guns. Um, I feel like that's always a good option. Like people are always there, and addicts is never gonna go out of business. There's a need for it, youth to adult. Um, I'm gonna get a little specific with the restaurant, specifically like in the Youngstown area. I don't feel like we have any different like types of restaurants. Like we have nice restaurants with Aquapaso and whatnot, but like I would put them in like a Texas neighbor's own, something that's kind of like an experience a little bit. That's not anything that we have down here. Um, and then third, I feel like I would put something that is um like another experience. So we just went to activate in Strong's Mill recently. I don't know if you heard of that, but it's like a life-size arcade type of game. So you have like these wristbands, and it's like you like go up to the door and you scan it, you can go in and you can play this game. Like you're in the game as a as a player. Um, again, and Young Sound, like we don't have a lot of stuff like that. So I think that those would be three good things that would work in our mall down here at least.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

Okay. All right, Lando, how about you on this?

SPEAKER_04 37:46

Um, I was thinking something along the lines of like a wedding venue. Because that would generate a lot of money, right? Consistent money if you're owning the you own the mall, right? So maybe something along the lines of like a Dave and Busters in there. Um like uh maybe like a restaurant. And I'm trying to think, maybe something else, I don't know, like something fun, you know. I maybe like a hotel type of deal too, so you can stay there too.

SPEAKER_03 38:22

So all good ideas on that. Chris, what uh um what about you on this?

Are Gift Cards Thoughtful Gifts

SPEAKER_05 38:30

For my answer, shout out to the Eastwood Mall. It was kind of on life support when I was in high school. Now it's it's a happening place. Like when I was in high school, we used to go down the Southern Park Mall, and that was like superior to the Eastwood Mall. And now, being being from Warren right in my backyard, I'm about five minutes from the mall where I live, and it's on its way back in a big way. So shout out to the Gafaros in Eastwood Mall. But I'd kind of model what Lando said a little bit and kind of what they do, like a hotelslash event center. I'd kind of view that as one entity because hotels have an event center within them. So I'd say having something like that where you could host a wedding or have people overnight where, you know, going to anything around there is gonna be cool because that's where you're shacked up for that definite period of time. So I'd say the hotelslash event center, I'd say a target, something where, you know, it's it's gonna attract people just because it's a target. Like, oh my God, you see the target at the bottom of our hotel, like we gotta go check it out. For for no even specific reason. I think it would have good foot traffic. And then uh I love the idea Lando had of a Dave of Busters. It's food, it's fun for the family, you could do it as a date night. Um, those would be my three. I I think you get the most foot traffic out of those, and then they would kind of you know foster other things branching off of that.

SPEAKER_03 40:00

Okay, Brenton, how about you? Oh, go ahead, Andrea.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

I was gonna say you and Lando should go into business together because they just put Dave and Busters in Eastwood Mall and they did the Eastwood Hotel and Events. So that is part of what I feel like is getting the Eastwood Mall back in bumping. So yeah, you guys should open up the mall together. Maybe take over something for Mall Morgan.

SPEAKER_05 40:21

What about you, Brandon? Matt Lando. Let's get on this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:26

I'm gonna say uh for sure, and I have a shoe store, like a vast shoe store. I love shoes, I love sneakers. So I want something, something that you know we can you can get nice shoes, dress shoes, just everything, almost like a Ryers, right? But better than Ryers.

SPEAKER_03 40:45

So, Brandon, you know Ryers moved to the Eastwood Mall.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

I I I I just heard that. I just heard that. Well, I mean, they were it was struggling where it was at downtown. I mean, even the shoes were subpar. Like it was not, they weren't getting in a lot of good stuff. That's just my personal take. So I would do something even better with that. I haven't been in Ryers since they moved to the mall, so I don't know what they got going on. Um, so I can't I can't speak on that. The other thing I would do is a tattoo parlor. I put a tattoo shop in the mall. Um, and then a kids jump park. Jump parks, we have a couple of those here in Erie, and they always are are extremely popular. We have one not in the mall here, but it's on the mall grounds, so it's kind of like off. So, but it it obviously brings a lot of traffic. But I would put that in, I would put that in my mall.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Okay, you know, and I think those are all great ideas, right? And I think the key, and I was having this discussion with uh someone, I don't remember who it was, but like I think the key to malls, indoor mall survival is adapting and putting in things like people want. Like it's no longer about like Claire's and Foot Locker and you know, Sears, and you know what I mean, and pennies. Like people don't really care about that stuff anymore. I think you need movie theaters, you need, you know, live action um games, right? You need Putt Putt, you need jump park, you need Dave and Busters or a hotel attached, like you need other stuff to drive other people. Uh you know, you need Planet Fitnesses attached, you just need other things, right? You have to really truly be creative because you have to generate regular foot tracks with restaurants, you know, all that, all that stuff. Because as, you know, Andrea can probably attest to this, and Chris and Brandon when you and I were younger, like the Eastwood Mall and the Southern Park Mall were very different malls. And now they flipped and they've become very different malls because one's really adapted and the other one's so so adapted. And Stephanie could definitely probably speak of this more. There was a lot of malls in Cleveland at one time. They didn't adapt, and now they have you know turned into nothing, literally torn down or they're vacant because they just did not adapt. So I think to be successful in the mall business, you know, uh you have to you have to just be creative. But is there anything, any, before we move on to the last topic, any malls anyone wants to shout out is their favorite mall? Well, that is as a bonus question. So, Stephanie, any mall you want to shout out is your favorite or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 43:23

So, like you said, in Cleveland, there's like hardly any. But again, I would say I usually go out to like Great Lakes Mall or somewhere. There's a mall we go that has a big movie theater in it. Or Wayne, maybe it's like an outdoor space. Um we usually go to Pinecrest and just walk around there. It's kind of outdoor mall, so it kind of is a cheat. But they have a movie theater, they have all that ice cream and stuff like that. So I like that. It's fun to be. Andrew, any place you want to shout out in particular for you?

SPEAKER_01 43:52

I'll give a shout out to Eastwood Ball, but I do want to say I miss Kahunaville.

SPEAKER_03 43:56

Kahunaville was great. Kahunaville was so great.

SPEAKER_01 44:01

That's like the original Dave and Busters. Like, if you didn't get to experience Kahunaville, I feel bad.

SPEAKER_03 44:07

Yes, it was it was awesome. It was definitely awesome. Uh Brandon, any place you want to shout out in particular?

SPEAKER_02 44:14

Um, I'ma keep it, I'm gonna keep it 814. Shout out to Mill Creek Mall. And fun fact about Mill Creek Mall, if you look at the map of the Mill Creek Mall, it's in the shape of a gun for some of you who may or may not know that. And that was because two families were battling for for land and property. One family won, and they they designed the mall in the shape of a gun towards the family that lived on the on the other side, so as a as a big, you know, F you to them. So fun fact about the Milk Creek Mall, big mob influence around here.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

So that is a hundred percent um correct. Brandon, I was gonna say that if you didn't. Um that is 110 correct. Um, you should look up the picture of the mall itself. Uh Chris, any place you want to shout out in particular?

SPEAKER_05 45:03

You mentioned the Eastwood Mall, and I got a lot of family members who work there, and I'm great place. It's really I made a comeback, but uh I'll also give a shout out to the Beachwood Mall. Like if if there's a mall worth driving to, like I had I'm I'm cool making the trip to the Beachwood Mall. There's there's enough there in the way of you know, stores that you can't get otherwise, and and food options, and I think it's a good bang for your buck if you're within driving distance.

SPEAKER_03 45:30

Okay, Lando, round us out on this.

SPEAKER_04 45:32

I'm gonna go local, Pittsburgh Mills Mall. Good restaurants. The mall's kind of losing a lot of stores right now, but the restaurants are still keeping it alive, like the Applebee's chili, stuff like that.

Reinventing The Mall: Three Big Bets

SPEAKER_03 45:46

So, yeah. Okay. I'm gonna shout out um I'm gonna shout out because I think I just have to and I'll say why. I'm gonna shout out to the Erie Mall. Um, just because every time I go in there, I go into the pet store, and it's like the most awesome experience, no matter how bad your day is, to go see the animals in there. But then if you really think into it a lot, your day gets even worse because there's animals being sold there in that pet store. Um, but but we're not thinking about that, but it is a really cool place. You get to see and see the dogs, play with them. You know, it's a cool experience. That's why I have to shout out that one probably more than uh than anything. All right, guys, we're gonna round this out. Chris, did you have something?

SPEAKER_05 46:29

Yeah, real quick, I don't know if this counts as a mall, but it's all things shopping. I feel like it was pertinent to say because you kept saying PA places, Grove City Outlets. I don't know if that's considered a mall. That's another one worth driving to. Like, I think that's a pretty cool spot. Unique. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:46

Yep. I would I would agree with you on that. All right, so let's round out the all things shopping episode with this question. We're gonna find out how much you guys do of this. So, how much shopping do you truly do online compared to in person? So, Stephanie, let's start with you.

SPEAKER_00 47:03

A stupid amount is like I just like ordering stuff and having it delivered to me like I'm a king or something. I don't know. Um but yeah, I would say like probably 70% of like stuff I buy is online. I think I got this online, and then the rest of it is like usually from like Burlington or like TJ Maxx or like somewhere like that. So yeah, lots of online shopping though. Okay, Andrea, how about you?

SPEAKER_01 47:33

All right, so I would say I'm I probably shop online 75% of the time, but I want to like challenge the stores because I used I don't really like buying clothes online, but I do it because I can't find clothes that I like in the stores anymore. So I want to challenge the stores. Like, I will totally buy in stores, but I need more of a variety. I can go to any store and get like a t-shirt in any different color, every single different color, but like nothing else. I don't know. I I want more variety, and then I would love to shop back in stores.

SPEAKER_03 48:01

Okay. All right, Brandon, how about you on this?

SPEAKER_02 48:06

It takes a lot for me to go shopping in general. So, I mean, I I uh I mean when I go, don't get me wrong, I like looking at my fits. Um it's for me, I think it's a little like it's a little 50-50 because especially with clothes, I like going to stores and trying things on. I don't like rolling the dice and kind of guessing what I'm ordering. So um the shopping that I do, um, you know, it's it's it's probably a bit a little mixed pack to me. Like I like being in person and I and then of course that quick stuff, especially around Christmas when I need some quick gifts and things like that. I I you'll see my percentage online shopping go up quite significantly. Okay. Lando.

SPEAKER_04 48:51

I gotta say, most of the stuff I buy is I I gotta go to the store because I gotta see it. Like if I got if I buy clothes, I gotta try it on. I gotta I just gotta see what like I'm buying. You know what I mean? So like I'd say like maybe like five, ten percent of what I buy is online, I would say.

SPEAKER_05 49:13

Okay. Okay, Chris. I'm old school. I I gotta go see in person. I I got real issues. Like I don't get me wrong, I do shop online and I'd say I'm probably a true 50-50 person. I'm hesitant to buy certain things online over a certain dollar amount. Um I'm just old school like that, but I probably shop in store more than any other person in their early 30s, late 20s around here. Like I just like Lando said, I gotta touch it, I gotta see it, I wanna take a peek at it, you know, look at the apps on it, just like the TVs we talked about. I want to go through what's the home menu like. I you can't replace the old shopping experience. You know, there there's a convenience that comes with shopping online, but there's there's a I don't know, they're almost a nostalgia for me going to the store. Going to the mall is cool to me. I just I have fond memories of going with my mom and grandma, and maybe that's why I like it a little more because I'm a nut, but sure.

SPEAKER_03 50:17

No, hey, you know what? You know, whatever is good for someone is is good for them. It doesn't mean it have to be good for the next person. You know, for me, I'm probably like 99% shopping in person, maybe 99 and a half percent for people that know me is probably you figure it's probably be that high. Um, just because, like, one, like I need to touch stuff, I need to fill stuff, I can't buy clothes online, right? Because I'm gonna order a pant pair of pants, you know, online. I'm like, oh great, these are gonna fit me. And I put them on, and I look like Pee Wee Herman, right? Like, I'm not trying to do all that. Like, I'd rather go in person and you know, get that. So I'm more about just making it nice and simple and going in person. So that's just kind of how I am with that. So, but that is actually gonna do it for this week's episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. I want to thank all of our guests coming on. Andrea, Brandon, Chris, Matt, and Stephanie. Thank you so much for coming on and talking about all things shopping. We hope everyone enjoyed this episode and can check out some of the places that some of the guests shop at and some of the shout outs that they gave. As always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend and tell a friend. If you didn't like the show, tell them anyways, because I bet they like it just because you did it. This is Vidy signing off, and we'll see you next week.