Shopping Everywhere

A 13-year-old girl’s hand got tangled beneath the handrail of an escalator at a shopping mall in Santa Ana on Sunday, July 31, and had to be freed by firefighters.

The injury occurred at the south end of the MainPlace Mall at about 6:30 pm, Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Michael Morganstern said.

About eight firefighters worked to free her on the first floor as bystanders watched.

The girl was given medication for pain while rescuers disassembled the mechanism, Morganstern said. Then, a small Dremel was used to grind away remaining plastic and metal binding her hand.

“Sometimes we used the biggest tools we could absolutely have,” Morganstern said. “Sometimes we use the smallest tool in our bag of tricks. … The biggest tool any firefighter can have is their brain.”

The process took over an hour.

Afterward, the girl weeped and called out for her mother with her

Amazon is partnering with select stores that we’re used to seeing in local shopping malls to offer same-day Prime deliveries. For now, this only applies to orders from PacSun, GNC, Superdry, and Diesel, but Amazon says it’s working on offering same-day deliveries from Sur La Table and 100% Pure in “the coming months.”

The service is also limited to certain cities, which include in and around Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Seattle, and Washington, DC. If you’re located near any of these areas, Amazon says you can now browse through and order a curated selection of goods from local mall stores on Amazon’s site.

Right now, Amazon’s selection of stores seems a bit slim. But if you need some vitamins or a pair of jeans in a pinch — and you haven’t hung out at the mall in years — it could come in handy. While it

The biggest shopping mall owners in the United States say retailers are still forging ahead with plans to open new stores in spite of growing recession fears and decades-high inflation that’s squeezing shoppers’ budgets.

Simon Property Group, the country’s largest mall owner, said the pipeline of businesses slated to open up at its properties remains strong. The company reported an occupancy rate at its US malls and outlet centers of 93.9% as of June 30, up from 91.8% a year earlier.

“Even with what’s going on in the world, we really haven’t seen anyone back out of deals,” Simon Property Chief Executive Officer David Simon said on an earnings conference call Monday.

“We’re seeing a big rebound in Vegas, Florida is on fire … California is finding its legs,” he added.

Fueling the openings are a mix of factors, including retailers pushing to snap up limited space and popular online