I was walking through the mall today when I passed a store I hadn’t seen before. It’s called Garage. The sign is neon pink, but with a cool name like Garage, I thought there might be some interesting clothes inside. Or maybe a good place to park my car. A quick glance at the mannequins in the window and the customers inside told me everything I needed to know; I wouldn’t be shopping there today, or any other day for that matter. That’s because Garage sells clothes for girls. I don’t see why they would need clothes, but I guess if some sort of emergency arose, they could get them there. I was pretty disappointed.
 
Upon further, and quite accidental, research, I learned that Garage is a Canadian brand. The store in Towson Town Center is their first ever in the United States. Supposedly, Towson Town Center is a popular mall for new stores looking to launch their brand. The first Apple Store was there, as well as the first Nordstroms. But to choose Towson as the first international location, that really says something. And it’s only getting bigger, with a Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s moving in (or so I’ve heard).
 
The University and the mall have a lot in common in that sense. They’re both expanding, there’s nowhere to park at either place, and both reek of Hollister cologne. As it turns out, school administrators and mall owners have been collaborating for years on a shared business model.
 
Mall executives are involved in talks about being adopted as a branch of the University and renamed “Career Services.” If you’ve ever worked there you know that more than half of the employees are Towson students. It works out because over half of the customers are Towson students too. Towson Town Center is like its own little self-sustaining economy. The money never leaves that place, it just gets recycled.  Said University President Bob Caret, “We saw how well TTC was doing, so we decided to borrow a page from their play book. We realized that by hiring students instead of outsiders for on-campus jobs, we could save money while simultaneously distracting students from their studies. Everyone wins.”
 
The similarities don’t end there. Towson Town Center has a handful of rival malls in the area, just like TU has rival schools. University-Mall Liaison Mike Goff explained it as such: “Arundel Mills is easily compared to University of Maryland College Park. It’s huge, expensive, and just far enough away to make you not want to visit. White Marsh is just like Goucher; pretty solid in all respects if it weren’t for the bizarre people that go there. Hunt Valley is essentially the same as UMBC. The layout is such that you probably won’t ever go there without a specific purpose. If there is such a thing as a commuter mall it’s Hunt Valley. Security Square is obviously Morgan. We use these rivalries to create brand loyalty and also to sell more sweatshirts at football games.”
 
The best things about Towson University’s campus are the surplus of beautiful girls, the Chic Fil-A, and not being there (not necessarily in that order). Similarly, the best things about Towson Town Center are the surplus of beautiful girls, the Chic Fil-A, and not being there. Goff writes, “The last thing we want is for there to be competition between the two entities. If one can offer something that the other can’t, then we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. The similarities are certainly on purpose. Do you really think Baltimore produces all these beautiful girls? We have them shipped in from as far away as Anne Arundel County.”
 
Goff had no comment when asked if it’s a coincidence that the most disappointing part of both Towson University and Towson Town Center is the Garage.