Shopping has always been an integral part of our daily lives.

Earlier, there were shops specialized in

selling a specific type of product. For example, book stores sold only books or related supplies, grocery
shops stocked different grocery items and apparel outlets dealt with clothes. Nowadays, this trend has
been replaced by shopping malls which most people advocate. In this essay, I would put forward my
opinion that small local shops are better than large shopping centers and so it is a negative
development.

To begin with, small shops provide definitive goods that a customer requires. Thereby, a lot of confusion
is avoided when one knows what he/she wants as they visit the shop. The material they keep ranges
from the lowest to the highest, giving the person a scope to choose things according to the budget. The
fruits and vegetables such shopkeepers sell are always fresh and grown using natural processes. One can
even find traditional products made by native people. For example, special snacks or sweets that are
used by people during ceratin festivities like naru (a sweet made mostly out of desiccated coconut)
during pujas. But the advent of large shopping malls has attracted people due to its glitz and glamour. As
a result, these shops are being closed, and people are losing their jobs. The rate of unemployment is
increasing, and it leads to a rise in petty crimes like theft and blackmail.

As the small shops are being closed, the malls have a monopoly in the market. This results in an increase
in the price of different commodities. The huge space and decorations used in the shops and the
centralized air conditioning are appealing to the buyers. But one tends to forget that these factors are
included in the amount that they pay, leading to the excessive cost. There is no option of bargaining in
the shopping malls, and so even if he/she feels the price is unnecessarily high, the person is forced to
buy it. Sometimes, the goods that one buys, especially food items and makeup, are stale. In order to sell
them, these marketing chains offer huge discounts. Furthermore, most of the shopping malls tend to
promote international brands and do not showcase the national heritage of the country. This preference
towards global brands demotivates the local artisans, and in the process, many important crafts are lost.

Nonetheless, shopping malls provide a one-stop solution to all our marketing woes and save time. It also
provides security through guards and CCTVs, and parking space. Unfortunately, just to avail of these few
facilities, serious concerns like unemployment, extravagant prices, loss of ethnic identity, and use of
expired goods are rising.

Thus, in conclusion, I would like to say that although shopping malls present a modern and developed
aspect of our society, a huge amount of risks are also involved with it which we have to handle before
letting it sink into our way of life.