Death of American malls

[Zebo]

From movies to bookstores to general shopping, it is all been going online / digital.

I really do lament the death of physical bookstores. A bookstore is a special, magical place....

Our lives are being spent in front of the keyboard and the tv. Kids play video games instead of real sports.

The USTA is on record saying that one big reason America is no longer producing quality tennis players is that the youth they have in their academies are too lazy to put in the effort required for the fitness and skills needed for a tennis player today.

It is downright scary how things will be 100 years from now

I remember B&N and waltons books in malls. And yeah kids are lazy as hell today. I used to have a "rule" when mine were young to curtail laziness like they had to be out of house a few hours a day. Hoping they'd go play some pickup baseball or something. What do they do? Go over to freinds and play PS3s.:\ Cant win.

My parents didnt own a TV until 1982 when I was about 11. My mom didnt believe in TV or as she called it vegetable box., Let alone video games. Totally different world today.

 

[boomerang]

Amazon does not spend a fortune on warehouses and wages?

Here is an example magpul pmag:

Academy $15.99 reduced from $17.99 - http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/magpul-moe-pmag-30-round-magazine/pid-728653

Hartatac $12.64 - http://www.hartatac.com/product-p/mgmpi570blk.htm

I go academy I am probably not going to buy "just" that magazine. I might get some ammo, pair of shoes, fishing gear,,,, whatever.

Radio shack is closing 1100 stores. Would it be cheaper to have several central shipping warehouses than 1100 retail stores?

Here's another consideration. Can "Mom and Pop Stuff Are Us" buy stuff at the same cost as "Mega Online Stuff Is Us"? Of course not. The difference between buying 50 a month and buying 50,000 a month means a much lower cost to the retailer. As the small guy, if I buy a widget at $1 and sell it at $2 how do I compete with the big guy that buys the same widget at $0.62 and sells it at $1.35?

 

[KB]

B&M businesses just can't compete as they have to pay higher costs on almost everything. The pay more on retail space than online businesses do on their warehouse space. They have to hire security guards to prevent theft. They have higher insurance costs since the general public walks through the store. They have more employees since you can't use robots around retail space. They can't pack as many goods together as people need to walk around the store. They have to charge sales tax, although some big online retail has too also.

 

[Texashiker]

Radio shack is closing 1100 stores. Would it be cheaper to have several central shipping warehouses than 1100 retail stores?

Here's another consideration. Can "Mom and Pop Stuff Are Us" buy stuff at the same cost as "Mega Online Stuff Is Us"? Of course not. The difference between buying 50 a month and buying 50,000 a month means a much lower cost to the retailer. As the small guy, if I buy a widget at $1 and sell it at $2 how do I compete with the big guy that buys the same widget at $0.62 and sells it at $1.35?

You and I already know the answer to all of those questions.

That is one of the points of a mall, use the big stores to get people there, then give mom and pop shops a store front.

Unless there is a movie theater or a lube shop at the mall, there is no reason to go there.

I used to like going to the movies at a certain mall, then do some shopping after the movie. Then the theater closed down.

At parkdale mall in beaumont the Montgomery Ward had an brake, tire and lube department. My wife and I would have a brake job, tires rotated and oil change while we shopped. Then the Montgomery Ward went out of business.

 

[Zebo]

Why go to the mall to text your friends when you can do it from the comfort of your own home?

LOL - Sad but true.

 

[Zebo]

I live in a rural area. If my wife and I want to go shopping anywhere besides walmart we have to drive almost 75 miles. Where we usually go is Beaumont Texas.

In Beaumont is a gander mountain, best buy, academy, and a small mall.

Gander mountain and academy are so expensive I can buy online cheaper.

Best buy? The last time I tried to get best buy to price match the manager refused. I contacted corporate and they apologized, but it was still a bad experience.

Gander mountain and academy do not price match, so there is no incentive to go there.

There is a mall, but they do not have anything I am interested in.

In the 1990s I used to go to the video game stores and talk to people. Now with steam and online forums, there is no reason to go to those stores.

My opinion, the one thing that is going to keep brick and mortar stores alive is price matching. If best buy will price match amazon, then yea, I might drive the 75 miles on a saturday, catch a movie with my wife, get her a new tech toy and then go home. But like I said, the last time I tried to get best buy to price match they refused.

Academy sports and outdoors has their magpul Pmags are $18 each. I can get those same magazines for $9.50 online.

Why are malls dying? Probably because they refuse to compete in the 21st century. They would rather go out of business than price match.

If I could do my research online, pick an item a local store has in stock, and that store match online prices, sure I would like to have the item that same day.

Big malls and retail stores are going to have to realize there is this thing called the internet and amazon prime.

Not really a matter a not realizing their competition but rather you can't compete with a warehouse in BFE who has low costs of goods sold compared to retail not to mention no tax in most cases. Someday the feds and states will collude to put tax on internet sales but that won't help either because online warehouses will still be so much cheaper.

 

[Ronstang]

The mall in the article is in Akron Ohio, I'm sure that has something to do with the demise. If the local government kills your job base then of course local businesses will fail. While the mall may not be what it once was malls around here are always booming and full of people so I doubt any will close real soon.....this has to do with jobs, or the lack thereof....which has to do with your government meddling.

 

[Texashiker]

Not really a matter a not realizing their competition but rather you can't compete with a warehouse in BFE who has low costs of goods sold compared to retail not to mention no tax in most cases.

Best buy was supposed to start price matching. However the one time I tried the price match was refused.

Frys was supposed to start price matching.

If I lived closer to a frys I would take advantage of their price match policy.

The next my wife and I go to beaumont I might drop by best buy and see if they will price match.

I do not mind paying the sales tax if I can get it the same day.

The last time I went to a mall most of the stores were cookie or t-shirt shops, clothes,,, stuff that I am not going to buy very often.

There are strip centers setting up all around the mall. Hobby lobby, toy stores, book stores,,,, are setting up in the strip centers while the mall is slowly dying. They are not expanding nor are they replacing the stores that leave.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Best Buy and Frys are not going to price match with an online source. They do price match items that are being sold at other B&M stores in the area.

 

[Texashiker]

Best Buy and Frys are not going to price match with an online source. They do price match items that are being sold at other B&M stores in the area.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/help-top...at297300050000

At the time of sale, we price match all local retail competitors (including their online prices) and we price match products shipped from and sold by these major online retailers: Amazon.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, HP.com, Newegg.com, and TigerDirect.com.

We match BestBuy.com prices on in-store purchases and in-store prices on BestBuy.com purchases.

http://www.frys.com/onlineads/0001507075

Before making a purchase from a Fry's Electronics store, if you see a lower current price at a local authorized competitor in-stock, or from an authorized Internet competitor ready to ship, Fry's will be happy to match the competition's delivered price.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Still won't get you a price match on the free shipping/no sales tax deals on the internet.

 

[Texashiker]

Still won't get you a price match on the free shipping/no sales tax deals on the internet.

I do not mind paying sales tax to have the item the same day.

At least taxes go to roads and public service rather than ups and fedex profits.

 

[squarecut1]

Look guys, we all know compared to the European and Asian societies, America hasn't had much of a culture. It is only a few hundred years old society, compared to those ancient ones with their rich heritage in terms of food, clothing, architecture, age old customs and traditions, music, artifacts and so on.

So shopping, movies, bookstores, restaurants etc are pretty much all that have passed for culture in America. And now even all of that is dying. It is becoming a very isolated, very empty society.

The bottom line is that the bottom line dictates everything these days.

 

[Zebo]

US has more culture than any other country. Any major city eat anything served anywhere in the world. Buy anything made anywhere in the world. Not to mention our pop culture infects whole world. US is like united nations of culture since we come from all over. I can't stand Eruotrash elitism.

 

[Fayd]

Best Buy and Frys are not going to price match with an online source. They do price match items that are being sold at other B&M stores in the area.

huh... i just pricematched a couple of harddrives to amazon.com at frys.

 

[soulcougher73]

We got 2 pretty dead malls here as well. Sadly one is not that old, but it never took off.

 

[Orignal Earl]

US has more culture than any other country. Any major city eat anything served anywhere in the world. Buy anything made anywhere in the world. Not to mention our pop culture infects whole world. US is like united nations of culture since we come from all over. I can't stand Eruotrash elitism.

By those qualifications, then Canada is the most diverse country in the West.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tan...st-culturally-diverse-countries-in-the-world/

 

[RampantAndroid]

Wait, malls are dying? Could have fooled me....Bellevue Square Mall is booming. Going there on weekends is awful. I'm usually going there for a single store, which means I spend as much time trying to park as I do shopping.

That said, the outdoor shops at U Village in Seattle seem to be doing pretty well.

 

[squarecut1]

US has more culture than any other country. Any major city eat anything served anywhere in the world. Buy anything made anywhere in the world. Not to mention our pop culture infects whole world. US is like united nations of culture since we come from all over. I can't stand Eruotrash elitism.

You are confusing diversity with culture. Those are two very different things.

 

[zephyrprime]

Malls have been on the decline for decades and young people have far more interest in electronic devices than hanging out together in public.

It's the mobile phones. All the socializing and gossiping occurs over mobile phone now.

 

[K1052]

Wait, malls are dying? Could have fooled me....Bellevue Square Mall is booming. Going there on weekends is awful. I'm usually going there for a single store, which means I spend as much time trying to park as I do shopping.

That said, the outdoor shops at U Village in Seattle seem to be doing pretty well.

Strong well located indoor malls will largely endure. A lot of the crap thrown up with waaaaay too much square footage out in the sticks? Not so much.

In the cities the focus has largely shifted to street level retail. New centers in the burbs are usually smaller "lifestyle centers" with a more diverse tenant mix (better grocery, more varied restaurants, etc).

 

[nageov3t]

the one big mall by me is always jam-packed with Chinese and Eastern European tourists.

god knows why, but foreign tourists to NYC like to come to the Jersey malls to shop.

 

[Victorian Gray]

The future of malls, town centres?

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/01/brentwood-mall-redevelopment-the-amazing-brentwood/

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2014/03/oakridge-centre-redevelopment-approved/

 

[MtnMan]

The fat can't walk through a mall, but they can ride on the Wal-Wart provided powered shopping cart with ultra wide seat all day long.

 

[Slew Foot]

Maybe in flyover country. Here in Silicon Valley, every single mall is constantly jam packed with people buying shit. I avoid them as much as I can but my kids like to go to the Lego store to build shit.