With only one anchor store remaining, the Wausau Center Mall needs to bring in some new businesses. Some popular suggestions have been stores like Forever 21, H&M and Sephora, but I think we're thinking too standard. Why not draw in more revenue thanks to the curiosity of people all around? Here are 11 ideas of attractions and stores we could fill the mall with to boost our community and save our shopping habits.
1. Leonardo DiCaprio Theater
Many people have voiced their desire for another movie theatre in Wausau so they don’t have to drive all the way to Rothschild to see a movie. What if we have a movie theatre right in the Wausau Center Mall? Or better yet- a movie theater that ONLY plays movies that feature Oscar winner (!!!) Leonardo Dicaprio? Dang, I’d be there every weekend.
2. Clam Petting Zoo
Every child has fond memories of visits to the zoo with the family. Usually these trips included petting goats, gawking at birds, and watching gorillas roam around their pens. But what about clams? Clams act as water filters and play a key role in the ocean’s food chain. We don’t appreciate or see them enough in northern Wisconsin. Let’s change that.
3. NASA Extension
I was devastated when I heard that NASA doesn’t plan on making any more trips to the moon. Charles Bolden, the Chief of NASA was quoted saying that their reason was “We can only do so many things”. Let’s take on the task as a community! Let’s start a volunteer astronaut department based in the old Sears, and send people up to the moon. What a story it would be to tell our grandkids.
4. ANOTHER bouncy house (for adults)
We already have a Jump On It and a Children’s Museum in the mall, why not add an adult version of the two? We want to have fun, too.
5. Goldfish Graveyard
Why do these poor creatures all live with the toilet as their fate? Let’s lay our quiet, slimy friends to rest the right way with a proper community goldfish graveyard. Death is hard. Let’s give our friends and children the closure they need when the time comes.
6. Library
Except fill it just with books by Stephanie Meyer. Basically I’m saying let’s buy 10,000 copies of Twilight and keep them in the old JC Penny.
7. Birds
Let’s take a ton of birds - and I mean a ton - and recreate them in paintings, drawings, sculptures-- oh, wait...
8. ANOTHER Subway
Because we are totally NOT overrun by these sandwich shops as it is. Yes, I know there's already one in the mall. Why not throw in one more for good measure?
9. The Lint Emporium
A store with items made out of the belly button lint of famous people.
10. Build-a-Trump
Forget Build-a-Bear. Let’s teach the kids about the wonders of racist politics by opening the world’s first Build-a-Trump workshop. The mouths on these stuffed critters are large, the hands small, and the heart non-existent. (Brain is optional, but not recommended for a more realistic experience.)
11. Wax Museum of famous Wausau people
Dave Calloway, Sean Caldwell, Cyrus C. Yawkey, the 199 ride guy, Mandy Wright… Let’s remember our city’s greatest folk by implementing a wax museum to honor our favorite friends and neighbors.
Sources:
Kramer, M. (2013, April 8). NASA Chief Says. Retrieved August 18, 2016, from http://www.space.com/20557-nasa-moon-missions-bold...
Deep In The Ocean A Clam That Acts Like A Plant Science Daily, March 2 2007.
