Scenes from a mall: Weary shoppers push back at kiosk peddlers

By Claire Heininger
The Star-Ledger 01/01/207

They've become as much a part of the holiday shopping mall landscape as Santa's workshops and mobbed return counters: kiosks, the small square huts lining the center aisles and hawking products from hand lotion to cell phones to modeling tryouts. But the ubiquitous booths and carts also have become a source of frustration for many New Jersey shoppers, who say their distaste for kiosk staffers' aggressive selling approaches drives them to spend less, not more. As they hurried to trade in unwanted gifts or to capitalize on steep post-Christmas discounts at malls across the state last week, customers and the kiosks vying for their attention toed a new fine line of consumer etiquette: In a shrine to selling, who's to say when a sales pitch goes too far?

Login | Register Now