Is in-person shopping becoming extinct in Logan? 

 A recent study by Marist Poll showed Millennials continue to be the leading age group in online shopping — and students at Utah State University are no exception.  

“I shop probably about a few times a week — like three,” Lexi Jones, a USU student, said.  

“I shop online about every two weeks,” Allie Vaughn, another USU student, said.  

“I shop online around once a month,” Savana Brown, another USU student, said.  

And there are many reasons why these students choose to purchase their last-minute needs and on-trend clothing online rather than in-store. One being accessibility.  

With a tap of their finger, students can buy everything they need straight from their dorm room. Along with accessibility, many students argue there isn’t enough shopping in Logan.  

“If I need to go shopping, I usually go back home and use the stores there,” Vaughn said. 

Currently, Logan has one mall — Cache Valley Mall, with other retail stores littered around the city.  

According to Cache Valley Mall’s website, the shopping complex has 39 stores, and no anchor stores. The last anchor stores to occupy the building were C-A-L Ranch, Herberger’s, and JCPenney.   

“I mean, mall-wise, it’s not a good mall,” Jones said. “When I went a while ago, I went to that one dress store, Bliss. I forgot what else is in there.” 

Brown described her experiences with the local mall. 

“I’ve only been there once. But I wasn’t there for a long time and only ended up in one of the stores,” she said.  

Other students, like Vaughn, didn’t even know the mall existed.  

Along with the accessibility and endless shopping choices online shopping provides, college students would rather spend their money on food and necessities, making retail shopping in a college town less of a priority.  

“I mostly go to Winco because that’s where I get all my groceries,” Brown said. “I went to Buffalo Wild Wings the other day, but it’s mostly just restaurants and Winco for grocery shopping.” 

A poll by One Class asked 399 students from over 82 schools how much money they have in their bank accounts. The majority of students (23% of respondents) reported having $51-$500 in their bank accounts.  

Students across the country, and in Logan, are generally more concise about how much money they spend in a week.  

The way students are budgeting could also be attributed to the lack of in-person retail shopping in Cache Valley. 

However, where Logan lacks retail shopping, it finds its strength in restaurants and food.  

“I feel like (Logan) offers a good variety of chain restaurants that you’ll find, you know, in other areas, but also it has a lot of cute restaurants that are unique to Logan,” Brown said.  

Students’ willingness to spend more money at food places is also a shared sentiment across the country. 

 In Datassential’s Topical Keynote Report on universities and colleges, it showed while students are worried about money and don’t get a meal plan because of the costs (40%), most students would spend a good amount of money on food products over other items like clothes or electronics.  

With USU students choosing to spend their money elsewhere instead of local retail stores, it could result in the eventual extinction of such stores in Logan. Only time will tell.  

-Alivia.Hadfield@usu.edu

Featured photo by Aspen Marshall