Amazon Village Shops

Amazon Village is located in a large store that used to be a Builder’s Square. It’s basically a flea market, with vendors showcasing their goods in small boothlike stores.
I’ve been here a couple of times for various reasons and for the most part there is not much to be found. There are a bunch of little stores selling crappy Chinese knock-​off sunglasses. There’s a large dollar store that abounds with useless junk. There’s a horrible excuse for a food court and the whole atmosphere of the place is sketchy. I was scared to use the public bathroom, afraid I’d be abducted walking down the quiet hall where it was hidden away.
The one store that I do like is Citi Bags, a «faux» purse store. The owner carries a large selection of very convincing knock-​off designer purses. I bought a Coach purse that looks like the real thing from her.
All in all though… this place is a huge waste of space!

Horrors in Shopping!
So most people in Florida tend to stay away from the downtown areas of East Colonial drive. It’s not necessarily dangerous, but it is not exactly the nicest neighborhood either. However, I had business in the area, so I figured I would check out the local shopping center while I was in the area. Wow, what a mistake.
The Good:
Keeping you Safe: As I mentioned, this place was in a rather dodgy part of town, but the good news is that there are real policemen doing security (not the fake rent-​a-​cop types) and I felt completely safe the entire time I was there.
The Bad:
Presentation: I am a huge believer in the «hidden gem.» Even if a place is in a totally dodgy part of town, it can still manage to be fairly good, as long as it is presented well, and people who work there care. This place just LOOKS rough, from the moment you walk in there. This «mall» is basically a large storage space with faux cubilce walls seperating «stores»
What to buy? No Seriously.: There is almost nothing here. «stores» are run by locals who look like they brought rejects from flea markets. For instance, the video game store only sold GameCubes and PlayStation 2s and had a short wall of games with maybe forty titles for each console. Clothing stores consist of screenprint resellers, and the food court consists of taco and hamburger stands.
I can’t leave!: After deciding I had enough, I had to fight through an ocean of people to find the mall’s single exit, which is also the entrance. It looked like there used to be a second entrance, but for some reason it was closed off.
Add all this to the bad location, and you’ve got yourself a place you should definetly stay away from.
Overall: ¹⁄₁₀ Don’t stop here