When I type "Malls" into google maps, I get 10+ hits, "in town". The
farthest about 10 miles as the crow flies.

I just did a search on Google. We only have one mall in town, 12.7 miles from
my house.

The next closest malls are in Portland; 19.2 miles, 26 miles, or 29 miles
away from my house.

that doesn't include all of the "shopping centers"

Yeah, we do have lots of little strip malls scattered around town. There's a
Starbucks and Subway restaurant in almost every one of them.

There are also lots of specialty stores that are crammed in at
odd places.

Must be nice...

We have probably 4 or 5 different "tire stores" -- not counting Sears,
Walmart, Costco, etc.

We have lots of tire stores around town, but Sears is in the mall. So we can
drop off the car, grab lunch in the food court, and wander around the mall
until the car is ready. At any of the other places you just sit there in
their waiting room. Boring.

In my case, you can't even be sure they will send you the product
that you've ordered!

I guess I've been lucky. I've always received exactly what was pictured on
the web site.

Anthony Watson
www.watsondiy.com
www.mountainsoftware.com