At the Shopping Mall

Last November, just in time for the Christmas shopping season, a new shopping mall opened down the road from where Alejandro lives.  "Parque Tepeyac" is just two Metrobus stops from his neighborhood, and on Saturday we went to check it out.

 

The mall is quite large and impressive, with three floors of stores arranged around a central atrium.  It is not what one would expect in that rather drab, working-class part of the city.

The mall is anchored at either end by a Sears and a Liverpool, both upscale department stores.  (I have written before that, here in Mexico, Sears is a flourishing chain owned by Carlos Slim, the richest man in the country, and it is much ritzier than Sears in the United States ever was.)  There are also a Walmart and a Suburbia (a less expensive department store chain).

Alejandro and I spent some time browsing through the men's department in Liverpool.  There were plenty of brand names and designer clothing that you would see in better stores in the United States.  Prices were not cheap (the post-Christmas sales were over), but I did buy myself a nice leather belt made in Mexico for about the equivalent of 20 U.S. dollars.

The mall has space for 250 stores.  There are many spaces which are not yet occupied and numerous stores which are opening soon.  However, there are probably around 100 retailers that are now open, and it took us the better part of an afternoon to walk around the entire mall.  

One of the spots which is going to open soon is a passport office of the Mexican government.

Looking out over the neighborhood from a window in Sears

You can see in the lower left corner one of the Metrobus stations.  The location is well served by two Metrobus lines running by it.

What is very exciting is that later in 2023, if all goes according to plan, an aquarium is going to be added to the shopping mall's location.  It is going to be the largest aquarium in Latin America.  There will be a tourist attraction within walking distance of Alejandro's home!  

(images taken from the internet)

Designers' conceptions of what the aquarium will look like.

I suspect that many of the empty spaces in the mall will be filled when the aquarium opens, and more people are drawn to the location.  

I suspect that this mall is going to change the face of the area, and just down the avenue another large shopping mall is under construction.  I asked Alejandro if his neighborhood is becoming gentrified, and he said maybe.