Mall analysis blows up mailbox

Are we cheerleaders for local businesses? Yes.

But are we also journalists obliged to present the truth? Yes.

And in fact, that second statement not only outweighs the first, but it’s the basis for everything we do.

I’m making that distinction today because an entire digital mailbox has filled since publication of last week’s column about the struggles of the Silver Lake Mall. The reality, that the SPi CRM call center is pretty much keeping the mall alive, seemed to rev up everyone differently.

We heard from the proprietors of a couple mall businesses, angry that we were “abandoning” a critical Coeur d’Alene enterprise — and “driving another nail” into the mall’s supposed coffin.

One of those messages accused us of shooting a photo (of the mall’s deserted main concourse) early on Monday morning so we could imply there were no shoppers. That photo was taken at 2:30 on Tuesday afternoon — and we didn’t have to “imply” that the place was nearly empty. It simply was.

Let’s back up for a second, though: I wrote in the very first sentence here that we are huge backers of local business. Why wouldn’t we be? This is not the Los Angeles Times.

We’re a community newspaper, telling the truth but also wishing the best for this area we call home — and clearly, we root for the business community within it.

In the end, that’s how all of us make a living, and pay for life in our slice of paradise.

So I’d love to write that the Silver Lake Mall was booming.

And believe me, I wasn’t kidding about all those messages that poured in after the column was printed. Many of them lamented the state of the mall, and several added recollections of better days. Fun times.

READER Peggy Sorenson took a different approach, insisting that there are plenty of reasons why the rush to online shopping should only be part of our purchasing habits.

“I realize I may be a bit old-fashioned, because for me shopping online does not have the appeal that it has for others,” Sorenson wrote. “Obviously, the internet provides way more choices because stores will have limited amounts of inventory. But most of us find it important to try on clothes for proper fit, and to see if it flatters us.

“Live shopping also involves getting off our behinds, getting out of the house, moving our bodies and walking,” she continued. “A mall can be a great place to meet with friends socially — face-to-face — and catch up on what’s really going on in each other’s lives, not just the stuff posted on Facebook.”

There were others with messages similar to Sorenson’s.

We also saw a few opinions that were, well, out in the ozone — like a couple that suggested the call center would be staffed exclusively with “foreigners.” Seriously?

Despite these varied thoughts, only people associated with the mall itself accused us of wishing them ill.

We’re only stating what we see in front of us, folks. And hey, we’d love to see the mall stage a terrific rally, but... I’d like to win the lottery, too.

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Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

Email: [email protected].

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