A year or so ago, a mega-mall opened along a busy stretch of Route 77 in Oro Valley. A bait-and-switch, neighbors thought they were getting Redondo Drive and instead were saddled with Walmart. The allotment of acreage versus viable market for Tiffany's and the like should have been the first clue that something was amiss.

The mall is situated in on a broad alluvial plain -- something of a rarity in Arizona -- that is also subject to violent flash flooding (a possible solution?) The tarmac laid from one end to the other assures that the flooding will in fact be exacerbated.

The concrete assures that the run-off now will be siphoned away, instead of percolating into the large aquifer below the plain. (This is a serious issue as water engineers in southern Arizona now admit their predictions about water availability into the future were far too optimistic.)

Back to the Mall -- Driving in, one is shuttled down series of winding narrow one-way chutes that meander through acre upon acre of nothing but parking lots. Sight lines are blocked and there is no signage to indicate purpose or direction. After what seems an eternity of maze meandering, one stumbles by chance upon a remote cluster of buildings housing a series of warehouses masquerading as friendly retail experiences.

So, in a sports store there is literally 10,000 square feet devoted to women's sports apparel with almost no variety from one brand to the next. The shopper is overwhelmed by an unending array of THE SAME STUFF .. shorts that are either mid-calf, short or short-short and tee-shirts in the same five colors, largely made out of some kind of inorganic and one hopes inert fabric. Differentiation -- if any -- occurs in the colored piping that follows a seam or the logo placement. This is somehow meant to generate excitement.

In the next store, whether it be Best Buy or a cosmetics outlet, one finds the same – endless rows stocked with glittery goods that, upon closer inspection, offer little variety. One cannot fail to note, as well, that there are perhaps only two or three other customers in each stadium-sized shop.

On some level, the experience within the stores mirrors that of navigating through the parking lots, one qualified by disorientation, vast distances and the promise of bounty unfulfilled.