Not everything that movies show us about the American culture and lifestyle is true… but some things are. One of them is a ridiculously high amount of huge shopping malls. No, not just regular big shopping malls that you can find in bigger European cities as well, I mean h – u – g – e. The individual stores inside the mall are about as big as the whole shopping center in my home country.
No exaggeration here. So, if you do not exactly know what you are looking for and you do not have a lot of time, do not go there. Because, you know, shopping is addictive. You have probably heard of stores such as Walmart and Costco, so I am not going to describe them. Instead, I am going to write about a big shopping mall just outside of the city of Dayton, called the Dayton Mall.
How to get there?
To get there, you either need your own car, go there by taxi or carpool (which is very common in Ohio, but since I have my own car here, I cannot tell you if it is reliable because I have not tried it yet), because Dayton is not a city that should be very proud of their public transportation system. I am guessing this happens because most of the people have cars and drive on their own in the United states of America.
The Dayton Mall is situated on the Miamisburg - Centerville Road, and it is surrounded by other big stores. If you want to check all of them out, you willl need more than a day to do so.
When I arrived to the parking lot, I had to use the GPS just to find the way to the right part of the mall. As I said, it is enormous. So I am giving you a friendly advice – try to remember where approximately you parked your car. Because, speaking from my personal experience, it is really not funny to look for your car on a huge, nearly full parking lot. First time I went there, it took me twenty minutes and a few tears to find the car. At that time, I did not yet know that my phone has the 'find my car' option.
As I have already mentioned, it is useful to know what you need to buy, so you can park close to that store. Yes, the mall is that big - it takes about ten minutes to walk from one end to the other! Or, if you just plan to wander around, you can park anywhere. When I go there with an intention of window shopping ( also known as not buying anything, just looking at the store displays ), I usually park in front of the store, called Elder Beerman, because it is situated at the very end of the mall. In this case, you do not have to walk through the same part of the mall several times, and it saves you time and pain from walking.
A virtual walk through Dayton mall
The Dayton mall consists of two floors, and you can usually find most of the stores on both floors. The ground floor usually hosts female clothes and the first floor hosts clothes for men and kids, which is similar than some stores in Europe that I know.
One more important fact – the mall has a shape of the letter T, and for easier orientation, let me tell you that the Elder Beerman is on the top right side of that T. If you are visiting this place for the first time, I recommend you to visit the Elder Beerman first, and then continue on the top of the T and eventually circle the whole complex.
So, the first store that I usually visit, is the Elder Beerman. The first time I saw it, I thought it must be a clothing store for older men, and I just passed it. After all, the name somehow suggests older people. But then, after I got home, I googled it and noticed that the store is actually pretty awesome, because it sells brands such as Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and others. Yes, it can be expensive, but the clothes and countless accessories they are selling, are just awesome.
Other big stores inside the Dayton Mall, that are worth mentioning, are JCPenney (I am in love with that store and once you visit it, I am sure you will feel the same), Macy’s (you know that one), Dick’s sporting goods (cheap sports equipment) and Sears (clothes, clothes and more clothes).
There is a ton of smaller stores (which are still big for European standards), and most of them are very interesting. And, what is even better, pretty cheap. The first interesting store that you will notice when circling the complex, is, believe it or not, H&M. If you are from Europe, you definitely know that store, but prepare for much lower prices in this one! It is worth mentioning that this store is big, and usually pretty crowded. Honestly, I cannot imagine coming here in time of, for example, black Friday sales.
The next one on my list of interesting stores in the Dayton mall (I am not describing the ones that are not interesting for me) is Forever 21. This store is getting more and more popular in Europe, but when I used to live there, I did not visit it many times. The style is pretty similar to H&M, but for some reason, I like Forever 21 much more.
After you almost empty your wallet in Forever 21 (and trust me, you will not even feel sorry about it because their clothes are so awesome), you can proceed to Pac Sun. Honestly, I have never heard of that store before, but on my first visit, I found the most awesome VANS shoes. They have flamingos on them!
Aren't these the cutest shoes you have ever seen? Of course I had to but them!
Besides awesome shoes, you can also find clothes in that store, and it is not as expensive as you would expect – you can buy basic VANS shoes for 30 to 40 USD. Then, you can visit Old Navy and Rue 21, which are both selling clothes. Rue 21 is a cool store and the prices are usually very low even outside the sale times.
Another good store inside Dayton mall is GAP, and you can also find it in Europe. And of course it sells clothes. Awesome clothes, to be honest, and therefore, the prices are not so awesome. I mean, most of the things here are still way cheaper than in Europe, but… I guess I need to ask my boss for a raise.
Guess what, another amazing store awaits you after Old Navy and Rue 21, and it is called Payless Shoe Source. Long story short, in this store, you can buy great shoes at extremely low prices, and they are even selling some brands.
The catch is that they do not have many sizes available, and this is probably the reason why it is so cheap – sometimes it is impossible to find nice shoes in your size. But trust me, it is still worth trying! Because where else can you find brand new NIKE shoes for 19.99 USD?
You can also find the VANS brand at Payless shoe source.
The Dayton Mall is full of surprises, and another one of them is a store, called Charlotte Russe. It is quite similar to Forever 21, just cheaper, and it has awesome clothes. In this store, you can buy your next party outfit, your new everyday clothes or even choose a new outfit for the gym.
My neighbor told me that they usually have clearance sales once in a month or two, and I was told that it is worth going there and waiting in line even for an hour to get the clothes, it is that cheap! I will definitely go and let you know how it was. Also, every single time I visit this store, there is a rack of clothes with 20% off to 50% off discounts, or BOGO sale (by one, get one free).
On the other side of the complex, you can find heaven, called Venetian nail SPA. It is, however, super expensive. But I got a gift card for my birthday and I only paid a fraction of the price (and it was still expensive!).
However, it is totally worth going. Everybody is going out of their way to make you feel comfortable, and yes, you get a free drink. I did the gelish nails, and before they actually started doing that, I got something they call a ‘nail bath’, and after they finished my awesome nails, I got a palm massage. The before and after procedures are all included in the price. And, last but not least, they play great music in there.
In case you are looking for a funny birthday present, or even party accessories, you can head to Spencer’s. Spencer’s is a store that sells gifts, and the big part of the store is dedicated to T – shirts. You can choose a design and they will print it on the T – shirt for you. But beware, most of the designs are pretty awesome, so you might have a hard time choosing just one of them.
Even the entrance of the Spencer's store looks super cool.
You probably know Foot Locker, which is the next store on my list. It is smaller than you would expect, but still worth checking out. They sell branded footwear, and the employees there are super friendly and will go out of their way to find that perfect shoe for you.
After you leave Foot Locker, you will probably notice a great smell, and after a couple of meters, you will discover that it is coming from a tiny store, called Yankee Candle. This store is now my favourite place to buy anything scented. They are not selling just scented candles, but also car scents and room air fresheners.
The problem of this store is definitely the price of everything they sell. A medium – sized scented candle can cost even 15 USD and a tiny car scent 10 USD. But I guess it is worth it. To be honest, every time I go there, I buy something. Now that’s what I call the irresistible smell!
Guess what, we are not done yet! The next one in line of the awesome clothing stores is Aeropostale. It is very cheap and their clothes are awesome. And every single time I go there, they have a different sale going on.
And yes, Dayton Mall has Victoria’s secret store! And it is not a secret that everything in there looks great. Oh, and costs a lot. But you can pamper yourself with something from Victoria’s secret from time to time, right?
And, last but not least, there is a store, called Bath and Body Works, which somehow reminds me of LUSH. And yes, it smells good in there, but it can be expensive. There is always a shelf, dedicated to discounted items (usually the ones that are close to their expiration date), so if you do not feel like spending 15 USD for a body lotion, you might find the same one for 5 USD on the shelf with discounts.
This is a store where you can buy and sell used cell phones. They also repair shattered screens.
After all this shopping, you can head to the first floor to eat something, because they have food court up there. And luckily, there are escalators, because everybody gets tired after walking around the mall for so long. The food court is not very big, but the choice of different foods is still great. And I was surprised that I did not see a McDonald’s there.
The foods I would suggest you to try in Dayton mall, are the following:
Anything from Cinnabon. When I moved to the United states of America last year, I fell in love with cinnamon rolls. And there is no better place to get them, freas and still warm, than at a bakery, called Cinnabon. They literally only sell cinnamon rolls and cinnamon rolls flavoured coffee. So, grab a cinnamon roll and an iced coffee (regular coffee literally takes about half an hour to reach the temperature that will not completely burn your mouth), sit on one of the chairs provided, and do some good old people watching!
A regular salted pretzel at Auntie Anne's pretzels. This little place has some of the most expensive, but also some of the most delicious pretzels in the United states. You cal also purchase different sauces for dipping your pretzels into, if you wish, for only fifty cents.
Great American cookies have the best cookies ever. They also sell brownies and a thing, called cookie cake! My suggestion for you is: Grab five different types of cookies (do not forget the Domino - it has Oreo cookies in it!), a slice of cookie cake, and a cookie dough brownie. Do not everything on the same day because you will overdose on sugar (Is there such a thing?)!
Go to Sweet sensations for fudge, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered bacon (it tastes totally gross, but you have to try it just so you can say you tried it), vintage candy and basically anything else that is sweet. Their fudge is cheap, but mouth watering, and they sell it by the slice.
Credit cards and their discounts
What I found interesting, not just in this particular mall, but in several other stores as well, is that a lot of stores in the United states of America offer their own credit cards for customers. For instance, you can apply for one in the clothing store Forever 21 (which is one of my favourites, and if you have ever been in one, you probably know why).
And every time you pay with their card in the store, you get either cash back rewards, different discounts and also a birthday bonus. I have not looked into this offer, at least not yet, but I think it might be pretty useful. Well, you probably have to have a steady income (which I have) to apply for it, but this is what you need for the majority of credit cards.
A few words for the end...
Dayton mall is definitely a great place to visit, whether you need to buy some new clothes, just stroll around and do window shopping, or need ideas for birthday gifts. It can be busy at certain times of the day, but it is definitely one of my favorite shopping malls I have ever been to.
The only thing I find annoying about the Dayton mall is salespeople offering their flyers and services when walking through the mall. You will notice several booths when walking through the mall, and I am targeted every single time, even when I put on the resting b*tch face.
