[nabs-l] mall travel and shops

[Arielle Silverman]

Some malls have online store directories. If you google the name of
the mall, you can usually find a list of all the stores in the mall.
Even if you don't get location info from that list, it's helpful to
know the names of all the stores so you can decide which ones to look
for instead of just randomly browsing. Sometimes the directories are
divided into categories, i.e. men's clothing, women's clothing, shoes,
restaurants etc.
Arielle

On 3/5/12, Nicole B. Torcolini at Home <ntorcolini at wavecable.com> wrote:
> JMHO, it is best to know the layout of the mall before you go. I find
> tactile maps helpful. I usually plan what stores I want to go to. I then try
> to go in that general direction and I ask for help if needed. Using floor
> texture is not reliable, especially if you are using a guide dog and not a
> cane.
> If you don't benefit from tactile maps, you could ask someone to write down
> the locations of stores. For example, if you come in door X and turn in
> direction Y, the first store on your right is A, the next is B, and so on
> with details like A has N number of entrances.
> One thing that you can sometimes use is music. Some stores play really
> distinctive music, but that does not always work, especially if there is a
> lot of noise, and it certainly does not work around Christmas because *all*
> of them are playing Christmas music.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 9:46 PM
> Subject: [nabs-l] mall travel and shops
>
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> So I figured malls are a fun place to be with all sorts of things to buy
>> and eat and you can practice travel skills there in a safe closed
>> environment.
>>
>> What tips do you have for mall travel? How do you find the stores and
>> escalators? Are escalators generally in a  middle part of the mall? That
>> seems to be the case where I’ve been and the up escalator is opposite the
>> down one.
>>
>> I know you can just ask a random person where store x is, but that is
>> limiting as you do not get the layout and if you go to only store x you
>> might miss stores y and z since you were traveling to only store x. Hope
>> that makes sense; like if I went to Bloomingdales only and did not know
>> the other major stores I passed, I would miss say CVS and Foot locker.
>>
>> I cannot always read signs. Once I find the store, do you remember its
>> location by associating a landmark to it? How do you identify it other
>> than asking someone? Some stores have smells and I’ve used that as a clue;
>>
>> although it can be misleading as major department stores have different
>> smells. For instance, I can smell shoes, but this might be just a shoe
>> store or a shoe department of a larger store. It can mean two things.
>> Another idea I thought of is using the texture change of each store. Is
>> that a reliable clue or are stores so alike you cannot rely on it? I was
>> thinking you could say stores A B C have a wood surface with a carpet at
>> the entrance. Then stores D E F have smooth tile and small squares making
>> up the tile.
>>
>> Have you found it helpful to get a map and ask a sighted person to
>> describe and/or make a tactile picture of it for you?
>>
>> And, how do you know when one store ends and the next begins? They have
>> multiple entrances sometimes. thanks!
>>
>> Ashley
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ntorcolini%40wavecable.com
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>