Since their inception in the eighties, mall kiosks have sold everything from candles to cell phones to real estate. But now they're increasingly moving into personal care services. The biggest trend appears to be teeth whitening boutiques, but they also extend to eyebrow threading, mineral makeup applications, skin exfoliation, hair extension, henna tattoos, and massage tables.
"People are happy to spend more money on personal care in order to feel good," Laurel Sibert, portfolio vice president of marketing for Simon New England, which owns 18 malls in New England, told The Boston Herald. "The neat thing is that kiosk carts in the mall allow the vendor to demonstrate their services to people walking by while promoting their product."
Aside from the need to be able to perform such services inside a typically ten-by-ten foot space, some watchdogs claim these medical-type procedures are not safe. For instance, many dental experts claim the growing number of teeth whitening kiosks lack running water, are run by improperly trained employees, and can't handle follow up visits.
Others wonder if consumers will be willing to have such procedures performed on them for all mall watchers to see.
"I just saw a woman having her mustache threaded in front of everyone," Carissa Gonski, 16, of Stoughton, MA, told the Herald, while shopping at the mall during a school field trip. "I mean, they should have some sort of wall up. Who would want to see that?"
But Nathasha Alozada, 20, of Dorchester, MA, told the newspaper that she can deal with the stares when getting her eyebrows threaded at the mall if it makes her look good at a decent price.
"It gives the business exposure and it's comfortable," she said. "I don't care what anyone thinks. And I don't think a lot of people do. You should see this place on the weekends. It's so busy."
The arrival comes as consumers increasingly vex about the continued expansion of mall kiosks, particularly the hard sell tactics many use to tempt mall walkers.
Discussion Question: What do you think of the expansion of kiosks at malls selling teeth whitening, skin exfoliation and other personal care services? Has the proliferation of kiosks added to or subtracted from the mall shopping experience? Have kiosks become necessary for mall managers to make money?