Here's the exact letter I sent to Willowbend (as if it will do anything, but I still had to send).Hello. This past weekend was the first time I had been to Willowbend in a few months. I knew the play area had been redone, but I didn't realize it would turn out how it did...
Don't fix something that's not broken.
This is only my opinion, but the play area took a turn for the worst- I don't understand why they installed a huge flat screen TV. I'm assuming based on the note below the TV that it's a way to up-sell DVD's. Yes, it's my responsibility as a parent to keep them from it, and my choice to bring my children there, but kids are drawn to that TV immediately. If I wanted them to watch TV I would have kept them home and turned it on as their "babysitter". There was a large group of kids lounging around in front of it, the energy level was low and it was a different vibe than before.
Some of the new features are neat for older kids, but you can't see around the installations now and there's not as much free space area for the kids to run around.
I will not be bringing the kids back to partake or to shop in the near future. Huge disappointment considering before the holidays we frequented the mall at least once every week or two.
2 comments:
NOTE: FROM WILLOWBEND (Received in a matter of 10 minutes, so I wouldn't rule out this was a copy/paste, but the reply is much appreciated).
Dear Nicolle,
Thank you for taking the time to send us your recent comments to
shopwillowbend.com. The management team appreciates your feedback. Our
main goal here at The Shops at Willow Bend is to ensure that each and every
customer has an enjoyable shopping experience. I apologize that you are
not pleased with our new play area.
As you are aware, the play area is designed to be a fun place for small
children to play with the supervision of an adult at all times. The
sound-chip technology and the television were added to complete the Looney
Tunes experience. In the future, the television will feature health
related programs (i.e. proper hand washing, etc.) in addition to the
cartoons. A lot of time and money were invested to bring this unique play
area to our shoppers. It is one of only seven Looney Tunes-themed play
areas across the country.
Please know that we were very careful to keep the same size and scale of
the elements when designing the play area. We worked closely with
PLAYTIME, the market leader in the soft play area industry. PLAYTIME is
dedicated to offering our customers safe playgrounds that are designed and
manufactured in accordance with the highest industry standards and safety
guidelines. All PLAYTIME play elements are soft, squishy, and surrounded
with padded safety flooring.
I appreciate you taking the time to notify me of your experience and hope
that you will visit The Shops at Willow Bend again soon.
I agree--I'm not crazy about the TV either. I'm guessing they've gotten other comments about the same thing since they responded in 10 minutes.
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