The Block isn’t one of one of the more clever or entertaining areas I’m looking at in this series, but it does stand out a the first shopping area I ever encountered that strayed significantly from the “pleasant shopping mall” norm. The Block strives to be urban, gritty, and maybe just a bit post-Apocalyptic. What the The Block lacks in entertainment value it makes up for with sheer atmosphere. It’s always nighttime here. Daylight is for wimps.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some amusements — the occasional poseball, a freebie/cheapie shop with some very nice items provided by the retailers, and just enough randomness in the layout to make you feel completely lost. A blog keeps you up-to-date on the vendors latest wares.
Mainly, though, The Block seems to attempt to give the resident stores a kind of edgy cachet just by existing in this urban ugliness (albeit a very nicely detailed urban ugliness). For the most part the stores fit this theme. so they reinforce this reality (virtuality?) nicely. Some (*ahem* Desert Moon Clothiers) have great stuff but they stand out as being decidedly un-edgy.
Call the area a pioneer in Theme Shopping, if you will. The only wrong note here is Caffeine, The Block’s pleasant little corner coffee shop. It doesn’t fit. It should be a biker bar, a crack den, or something else as visually unpleasant as the theme requires.
I’m reminded of a mall I used to frequent when I was growing up. They added a new underground wing that they dubbed The New England Mall. The flooring was real cobblestones and all the shopfronts were made to look like an old 18th century village. At the far end of the tunnel a gigantic fake oak tree sheltered a set of park benches, and recorded birdsongs almost made you think you were outside.
In the end it didn’t work. For one thing, there were no 19th century Radio Shacks that I know of. The retailers didn’t match the theme — it was just window dressing. Besids that, we were in New England. We had real oak trees and birds and park benches right outside.
One by one the village facades were replaced and the tunnel became just another part of the mall. But what if someone translated the theme of The Block into reality? A purposely gritty, unpleasant retail world. Would suburban shoppers flock to the novelty? Would edgy wannabees haunt its stores?
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Varado/80/128/31
[...] Airship Outpost is brought to you by the same folks who brought you The Block. As such, there isn’t much here in terms of entertainment and oddities… except for the [...]