How to lure shoppers off their computers?
With a heap of earth, apparently
THE 25M-HIGH artificial hill at one end of Oxford Street dubbed the Marble Arch Mound opened in July. It was supposed to help lure shoppers freed from lockdown away from internet stores and back to Britain’s best-known shopping thoroughfare. But once the first visitors were allowed on it, it was revealed to be a mess. Rain swept turf off the slopes, leaving bare scaffolding on view. What grass remained turned brown. To Britons familiar with children’s television, it was reminiscent of a shabby, low-rent Teletubbyland.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Over the hills”
From the December 18th 2021 edition
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