Death of American malls

[Zebo]

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jun/19/-sp-death-of-the-american-shopping-mall

These pictures are so surreal like out of "dawn of the dead" or something. I used to love malls... hang out all weekend with my brothers and friends. Watched Star Wars and Raiders of Lost ArK like 4 times on one ticket. We used to skip between movies before credits rolled and ticket guys would be watching. Hey I was 6-7 aint going to jail just kicked out. Great place to meet girls from other schools....got my first girlfriend at 13 from a mall....just awesome pieces of Americana disappearing.

Since this is P&N.. yep disappearing middle class, wal mart, online shopping you name it it's a cause for their demise. Sad though. Much more social experience than current shopping is. At least when you're young. I dont go to malls today unless dragged there.

 

[dank69]

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jun/19/-sp-death-of-the-american-shopping-mall

These pictures are so surreal like out of "dawn of the dead" or something. I used to love malls... hang out all weekend with my brothers and friends. Watched Star Wars and Indiana Jones like 4 times on one ticket. We used to skip between movies before credits rolled and ticket guys would be watching. Hey I was 6-7 aint going to jail just kicked out. Great place to meet girls from other schools....got my first girlfriend at 13 from a mall....just awesome pieces of Americana disappearing.

See? They went out of business because you didn't pay for your movies!

 

[JManInPhoenix]

A good time wasting website on dead malls.

When I was growing up in the 70s, malls used to be the nexus of teen life. Everything was there, everyone went there. Now I hardly ever go to a mall.

 

[Genx87]

Most indoor malls have been dying for over a decade. I know the original indoor mall here in Minneapolis(Southdale) is looking like a ghost town as well. Lots of vacancies.

I think our shopping patterns are changing. As well online retailers are hurting them. And with consoles there teens may be staying home more than hanging out at the mall.

 

[Moonbeam]

They can't die fast enough. They destroyed Main Street and small shopkeeping, which is still alive but dying in England too.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Indoor shopping malls are dead.

Outdoor mixed-use shopping malls are booming, office over retail with adjacent condos/apartments. "Live work play" all in one retail center.

 

[squarecut1]

An increasing number of people it seems don't want any social interaction, even if it is just shopping, hence online shopping. You see this thinking quite prevalent here on this forum as well. There is a bigger reason in increase in online shopping than just mere convenience / lack of time.

 

[halik]

Still don't understand how malls were even an efficient way of buying anything. If i gotta go to radioshack or something, I don't wanna park half mile away and then spend 30 minutes trying to figure out where the freaking place is. It's just terribly inefficient.

 

[IronWing]

Strip shopping centers require less walking than malls. Americans don't like to walk.

 

[halik]

Indoor shopping malls are dead.

Outdoor mixed-use shopping malls are booming, office over retail with adjacent condos/apartments. "Live work play" all in one retail center.

About this.

 

[boomerang]

The internet and fast delivery methods will kill off most retail eventually. If you're interested in opening a business in retail space, make it one that can only be done through brick and mortar methods.

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

 

[squarecut1]

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

 

[Attic]

I've noticed this too, but come holidays I still find malls pretty busy.

Non holidays is pretty shockingly empty though. Death combo of declining discretionary income for majority of Americans plus Amazon and online shopping.

Retail has been hurting for awhile, and Brick and mortar is getting hit the hardest.

 

[Jaskalas]

You don't need a mall to have social interaction.

 

[hal2kilo]

Always hate/hated malls. I do what I call strategic shopping if I have to go in one.
Know what store you are going to, go to the closest entrance to get to the store, make, purchase, then get the hell out.

 

[nehalem256]

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

 

[squarecut1]

Strip shopping centers require less walking than malls. Americans don't like to walk.

The other day I was going with a friend somewhere. On the way, he stopped the vehicle in front of the mailbox. He got back in the car after getting the mail and was going through / sorting the useful mail from the junk in the car. Meanwhile this lady pulls over in front of him from the opposite side, wanting to get the mail. As he was going through the mail, she honked at us to move, so she didn't have to walk one car length to the mailbox. My friend quickly pulled away. I am not making this up.

 

[Thebobo]

Always hate/hated malls. I do what I call strategic shopping if I have to go in one.
Know what store you are going to, go to the closest entrance to get to the store, make, purchase, then get the hell out.

Yes sir! Amen Brother!

 

[LookBehindYou]

I guess it depends on the location. There are two malls in Louisville (Mall St. Mathews and Oxmoor Mall) that are literally next door to each other. Both are huge malls that seem just as busy as ever whenever I've been there. One just had a new theater put in recently and if a store goes away it is very quickly replaced by another. One is a little more higher scale than the other (even offers valet parking) but both always appear busy.

However, on the other side of town, the Bashford Manor Mall (I used to skip school and hang out there) is long gone...

 

[Texashiker]

An increasing number of people it seems don't want any social interaction, even if it is just shopping, hence online shopping. You see this thinking quite prevalent here on this forum as well. There is a bigger reason in increase in online shopping than just mere convenience / lack of time.

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.

 

[boomerang]

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.

But they can't and that's why they won't survive. I'm very aware of the cost of leasing and maintaining retail space. You absolutely cannot compete with an online presence that can sell the same product. It's never going to happen. Loss of income to communities through vacant retail properties and localized job loss is a serious issue. But our nation is faced with a shit ton of serious issues. Prioritizing them at this point is IMO an impossibility.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The other day I was going with a friend somewhere. On the way, he stopped the vehicle in front of the mailbox. He got back in the car after getting the mail and was going through / sorting the useful mail from the junk in the car. Meanwhile this lady pulls over in front of him from the opposite side, wanting to get the mail. As he was going through the mail, she honked at us to move, so she didn't have to walk one car length to the mailbox. My friend quickly pulled away. I am not making this up.

Walking has little to do with it -- I'd be pissed at your friend too. I hate when people block mailboxes, roads, driveways, etc. while they're doing other things like making calls, sorting mail, etc.

 

[Texashiker]

But they can't and that's why they won't survive. I'm very aware of the cost of leasing and maintaining retail space. You absolutely cannot compete with an online presence that can sell the same product. It's never going to happen. Loss of income to communities through vacant retail properties and localized job loss is a serious issue. But our nation is faced with a shit ton of serious issues. Prioritizing them at this point is IMO an impossibility.

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.

 

[Thump553]

Good riddance. Malls killed 95% of the US downtowns and they are hyper-controlled Disney-like environments. Now they are bloated wastelands in the suburbs killing their tax base. In a city near me a mall was getting to the stage where it needed remodeling, so what did they do? Build another mall right next door and let the first become a vacant ugly blight which finally gotten torn down about a decade after the last tenant left.

 

[Strk]

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.

You also have all-inclusive stores that are cheaper like Walmart and Target, as well as club stores like Costco, BJ's and Sam's Club (yeah, the latter is still a Walmart store).