“Isn’t Branson Landing just another Branson shopping mall that is located on the shores of Lake Taneycomo?”
In a recent column the Ole Seagull referred to Branson Landing, Branson’s new $420 million master-planned shopping entertainment development, being built on the shores of beautiful Lake Taneycomo in historic downtown Branson. He ventured his opinion that it will “provide Branson with a tourist shopping, dining, and entertainment experience that is fresh, new, exciting and unique.”
For obvious reasons no one has questioned the “new” aspects of the comment. Some, however, have had a problem with the use of the words “fresh,” “exciting” and “unique.” Why some have actually asked,
“Isn’t Branson Landing just another Branson shopping mall that is located on the shores of Lake Taneycomo?”
Yeah sure, and some might consider a 15 pound Rainbow Trout as just another trout, hearing their granddaughter sing a solo as just another voice, and the Shoji Tabuchi Show as just another show. How many shopping malls in Branson have the blend of national brand retail stores, shops, galleries, restaurants, and ambiance that Branson Landing will have?
May an Ole Seagull suggest that the answer is “none?” In Branson today, to get anywhere near the shopping choices that will be available at Branson Landing, guests park their cars, shop until it’s time to eat, and then get in their cars to go somewhere else to eat. In terms of what Branson currently has to offer, just the combination of the pure shopping experience that Branson Landing will provide and the convenient availability of a variety of restaurants for just about every taste and budget makes Branson Landing fresh, exciting and unique.
Branson aside, do many shopping malls anywhere have an easily accessible and useable 1.5 mile waterfront boardwalk running its entire length that is integrated into its overall theme? How many are built on over a mile and a half of panoramic water front under the natural backdrop similar to Branson’s beautiful Ozark bluffs?
An active marina or an integrated waterfront “town square” big enough to accommodate 5,000 people for community and other special events, festivals, shows, etc. is an integrated part of how many shopping malls? How many have the choice of waterfront dining that Branson Landing will have?
A nightly, synchronized sound, light, fire, and water attraction costing $7.5 million is standard fare at how many shopping malls in the United States? More importantly, is there another shopping mall in all of America, offering all this, plus the depth, variety, and quality of the family entertainment that is “Branson?”
Like most attractions, shows, shops, etc. that have come to Branson since the Lynch family started operating Marble Cave as a sightseeing attraction in 1894 and the publishing of Harold Bell Wright’s book, “The Shepherd of the Hills,” in 1907, the reason that the Branson Landing is being built in Branson is because of what is already here. Just as those coming before did, Branson Landing will add to what Branson already is as it becomes part of that ever changing entertainment experience that is Branson.
Branson Landing is a lot of things but one of them isn’t “just another Branson shopping mall that is located on the shores of Lake Taneycomo.” It is a unique shopping entertainment destination, within Branson, that will provide an experience not currently available in Branson or anywhere else, and give people yet another reason to visit Branson for the first time or to come back again and more often.
