In Japan in the early 1990s, my most vivid memory is entering a shopping Mall when they first open in the morning. You are formally greeted by dozens, or hundreds, of employees. 🙂
Visiting the Riyadh Gallery Mall was interesting, too.
During Prayer — 5 times a day — all shops must close. Every customer — mostly women — mingle in the common areas. Or go to the Mall Mosque.
It’s a good time for (discrete) people watching.
SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN:
Saudi Arabia is a conservative Islamic country with no movie theaters, bars or discos. For that reason, Saudis tend to spend a lot of time hanging out at the mall. But for all their Western-style glitz, malls also reflect Saudi culture … sexes remain largely segregated. …
Shopping in Saudi Arabia offers a glimpse of the strict cultural codes that govern the entire society. Here, a Saudi woman passes mannequins in the Kindom Center in Riyadh that are legal because they have no heads. RIGHT: Because Saudi men and women are only permitted to work together in hospitals, all the sales people in Kingdom Center’s mixed floors are male foreign workers, such as this man helping two Saudi women who are shopping for a watch. …
Rick McCharles 