I came to this mall from visiting family at Christmas 2008 in a near-by county in West Virginia to meet up with a new friend I'd made on Myspace (yeah, yeah, say what you will but he seemed--and was--very cool).
Mercer Mall is pretty typical for small-ish southern malls everywhere: it's larger though than some, including a very sad little mall in Statesboro, Georgia, which I deeply pity because my friends there call it a "small" (instead of a mall). Mercer Mall, however, is alright really: I was there at Christmastime so it was decorated and festive but even without all that, it seemed like it was decently busy and there was a good selection of stores. They have a Footlocker, a Pacsun, American Eagle, and an indie skateboard shop which I was really quite delighted to see here. If I can buy a skateboard, new kicks, some tight jeans, and a couple Fox Racing tees in a mall, I am happy, really. Actually, while here, I didn't buy a damn thing though the guy I was meeting did buy me an adorable little stuffed purple rhino! So apparently small neon-hued stuffed varmits are also sold here.
The main department store is JC Penny's, by the way. If you're in the area or getting off the interstate and need typical things you can find in a mall, you'll probably find 'em all here. For the size of the area I was actually impressed with Mercer Mall.
Sometimes beauty and charm really are where you find them: while a mall like this is not the type of shopping experience most of us dream about, there's something very honest and warm about hanging out at a small-town mall with good friends. This is what most of America is like and what many of our youths with like growing up. And there's nothing at all wrong with that. read more