Many may already be aware of the newest edition to the Mountain Lakes shopping scene: Waterview Marketplace. The shopping center opened on November 6 to many eager customers who were ready to try the eclectic and almost inhumanely efficient food at Whole Foods and the infamous Double Shackburger from Shake Shack. Mountain Lakes lacks any significant downtown area, so since its opening, the new shopping center has been a popular spot for MLHS students to hang out and relax. Although many are already infatuated with the crispy fries of Shake Shack and the never-ending aisles in Whole Foods, what does this mall actually mean?
For starters, the shopping center is in very close proximity to Mountain Lakes and Boonton—a ten-minute drive, at most. But besides the highly-anticipated Whole Foods, you can also swing by the beauty store, the shoe store, the Paper Store, Shake Shack, and Home Sense. Of course, because the mall opened little more than a month ago, there are currently a limited number of stores; hopefully, though, more will be added over time.
As is the case with most of these new shopping centers, the target demographic is upper-class consumers. Thus, it comes as no surprise that each and every store—especially Whole Foods—has outrageous prices. Though it may shock you that a medium salad from the Whole Foods salad bar costs upwards of $20, the name brand markups are even worse. You could be paying twice the face value of most name brand items, because the goal of the company is to make the shopper feel good for buying “conscious” snacks. Everything is marketed to seem green and fresh, which “justifies” the price.
Additionally, taxes for this shopping center will be distributed to Parsippany entirely, despite the fact that it was designed to appeal to Lakers. This comes as a blow to Mountain Lakes, partly because the town protested the construction of the mall. In order to make way for Waterview, a large stretch of vegetation and trees between the two towns needed to be cleared.
Another facet of the mall that has drawn considerable attention is the massive parking lot. Even on the busiest days, more than half of the parking spaces go unfilled. Either the stores aren’t garnering enough attention, the customers aren’t staying long enough, or the shopping center is too large for its own good.
As a result of all the anticipation, however, customers are flooding the stores, making it difficult for the workers to keep up. They are still adapting to the environment, which is difficult when the stores are seemingly always busy. After a few months, the hype will die down and the stores will be able to adjust, so the issue will essentially resolve itself. Still, don’t expect your shopping experience to be ideal before that happens.
Recently, up-scale grocery stores have begun sprouting up in suburban areas to capitalize on upper-class shoppers. Notably, Wegmans opened a massive new store in our area late last year. This is an indication of the rise in “convenience” consumerism, in which companies make it as easy as possible for buyers to spend money. This explains why all these stores are located so close to Mountain Lakes and Boonton, or why they all offer delivery of their products. Companies have realized that the lazy consumer would rather order food online and pay delivery fees than drive out to the store and get it themselves, hence Uber Eats. That business model is dominated by companies like Amazon (which, unsurprisingly, owns Whole Foods).
Despite this, no one can deny that it is an extremely efficient way to buy environmentally efficient and clean products. Companies that are in the mall, like Whole Foods, have released their new plans for sustainability, something of growing importance to members of the community. Though far from perfect, the mall marks a step forward in sustainability, something very important considering how dire the climate crisis is becoming. Most importantly though, the Marketplace is incredibly efficient, as well as convenient, for those in Mountain Lakes and Boonton alike.
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