A few weeks ago, I went into the city with my friend, Nick, a photographer, for a photoshoot. After venturing out of the Bronx, we had worked up an appetite. We decided to get a quick bite to eat before we started shooting; a photographer and his subject need energy if they want to make magic happen!
We wound up entering a mall located across the street from the One World Observatory located at the World Trade Center. After scoping the place out and realizing we couldn't nearly afford any products from these, we hiked upstairs to the cafeteria. I noticed how classy and clean the eating area of this mall was compared to the mall I would visit back home. I guess being a shopping center located in Manhattan must come with a lot of expectations to uphold.
After scouting around to see what food they had to offer, I decided to order two slices of pizza. I also ordered a bottle of water because I was parched. I can't remember if Nick ordered a drink (knowing him, he probably ordered some iced tea), but he ordered a small tray of sushi for his meal.
When I went to sit down, I looked around to scan the eating area; I couldn't get over how neat it was. Obviously, the aesthetic had a lot to do with the big windows displaying the Hudson River, letting the beauty of New York shine through. But when it came to the interior of the dining area, ignoring the city view, the atmosphere was so simple and tidy yet trendy. You could tell the place was very well-kept.
I thought about my mall from back home and shuttered when I noticed the difference in ambiance. The dining area in my mall was much bigger but a lot more crowded and chaotic. You could barely hear yourself think, let alone try and have a conversation with someone while attempting to enjoy a mediocre meal in that dirty mess hall. In this eating area in such a pristine shopping plaza, I was able to clearly hear Nick without him competing for my ears.
The luxury milieu of this eating house has to be one of the reasons why the meals are so expensive. Two average-sized pieces of plain cheese pizza along with a bottle of water was about $20. Nick's meal was even more costly because he ordered sushi. I could've ordered two slices of plain cheese pizza and some water back home in my shabby shopping plaza for about $10.
The topic of our conversation during our lunch break centered around how ridiculously expensive eateries are nowadays. Nick gave me a quick run-down of some economics: the more a product is demanded in a particular location, the more a business can sell it for.
Because there are so many people growing hungry after breaking their bank accounts as they shop, there is a huge demand for eateries. Everyone needs food, and this is why businesses can charge so much for meals; if someone is hungry, they'll pay whatever the cost to eat something.
There is also a convenience factor that shoppers become subject to. It's tempting for a shopper to hop on an elevator for all of thirty seconds when they become hungry rather than to leave the mall and venture out into the city to find a place to eat. Shoppers ask themselves, why should I leave the mall to eat when there's food here?
This is exactly what eatery owners thrive on; they can get away with their high prices for mediocre food because they know shoppers are often in need of a quick, convenient meal. It's not until after they order and finally sit down to eat their overpriced meal that customers realize how they've been scammed. With their tummies grumbling, they thought about pure convenience rather than rationally weighing their options.
As a city lover, I encounter these pricey eateries more often than I'd like to. We can't control how businesses set their prices, but we can do things to save our money. We'll give them less business and save money if we bring some snacks with us so we can recharge as we shop. We can also make sure to eat big meals at home before venturing out.
Some small adjustments we can make to our daily lives can affect how much money we save. And, in the long run, these alterations may change the way businesses believe they can charge their customers. I understand the cost of renting an area in a mall in Manhattan is incredibly higher than rent in a small town a few states over.
However, owners must be practical and realize these prices are unreasonable for some. If everyone orders at these costly eateries less frequently over time, maybe owners will wake up and smell the pizza; customers must demand change if they want a difference to be made.
