American shopping malls struggle to survive

Since the 1950s shopping malls became a fixture of the American landscape. But with the growing popularity of online shopping, malls across the country are struggling and even shutting down. Mark Strassmann reports on how one entrepreneur has found a new way to reel in consumers.

[@peterdaniel66]

Ironically I just watched a CBS video from 1982 lamenting about how the old time way of shopping was dying BECAUSE of the mall.

[@keyurpatel503]

That is life and how the times change !!

[@itseveryday8600]

lamenting is main mode of narrative that journalists use, i guess.

[@billyb6001]

Link?

[@the_gilded_age_phoenix8717]

@Norbero Fontanez Go to parts of the remote Midwest...remote parts of Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. Of course, you'll never be far from a big Lefty stronghold in those states...but there are still a lot of conservative pockets in them. Montana is another option...and it's mostly conservative, outside places like Missoula (trendy college town).

[@camaderrygoat1314]

I live in Ireland and shopping malls have wrecked our towns and villages. No life in them anymore, as we all grow lonelier

[@ChesterWolf]

No middle class equals no shopping malls people are literally living paycheck-to-paycheck they don't have money for anything extra.

[@stanlee7635]

ChesterWolf The Griffin I don’t know about that...Economy’s at an all time high. Unemployment is at an all time low. The middle class is just shopping online.

[@warking2915]

Hey Chester, speak 4 yourself 😁

[@Virgo-zx3ez]

Stan Lee the economy is most certainly NOT at an all time high! This is the worst I’ve seen it in a long time! Prices of EVERYTHING are going up, yet pay remains the same. The gap between the 1% and the 99% continues to get bigger. Almost everyone lives paycheck to paycheck... unless you’re 18 and live off your parents 😉

[@Crazyuncle1]

Virgo 11 Jeez! Stop playing the victim. Get off your a_ and get in the game. If the place you live in is so depressing move to a place with a strong economy like Texas. No one is keeping you down but yourself.

[@iloveamerica53]

Virgo 11 I completely agree with you!!😢

[@mr.perfect8746]

What I HATE about "Malls" today are the small vendors in the middle of the isles who harass you. You can't walk around in peace and window shop, they are always trying to "give you samples". I don't go because of that.

[@billolsen4360]

Yup that sucks

[@NicholasLittlejohn]

They pay $4k a month and more to sell trinkets. It's a huge scam. I hate malls so I like that they ruin them.

[@kylehill3643]

Weird. There's never anybody there when I want to see one. I didn't know anybody worked at the small vendors.

[@theuglykwan]

A vendor once grabbed me and dragged me to her stall. She was an old granny but god she was strong. I was like WTF and everyone was watching. She forced me to taste a free sample of something before letting me go.

[@fan4life34]

Then you are very shallow, I kinda feel sorry you have a depressed life. Let em try to make a living or simply ignore them for Christ's sake.

[@jayhub1982]

The death of malls has very little to do with online shopping and a lot to do with the declining middle class.

[@runner4life551]

Bingo.

[@Arielrosemusic]

Malls used to have video arcards, bookstores, music shops, nature stores with all kinds of beautiful and unique things - now it's just 'buy and get out' - I loved malls when they were fun and they haven't been fun in a very long time.

[@bighands69]

People do not have the money so many are not working. Think about everything is made in China and shipped into the malls. Me and My wife went out the other day trying to buy western manufactured products never mind American and all we could find was made in China.

[@bighands69]

But why can they only get minimum jobs. The answer the US economy has outsourced its self to China. All the goods in the stores were made in China. And then the people who used to work in the manufacturing centres still needed to buy the goods so they used credit to pay for them in their poor service paid job.

[@niceguy60]

The problem is also malls cater 99.99999% to women, no much of any worth to men. I live by the Del Amo mall 6th biggest in the U.S and it has no electronic retail what so ever not even a gamestop

[@TriforceOfTheGods80]

Because women are the biggest consumers.

[@Sulfen]

Unfortunately the fun stuff went away because it wasn't profitable.

[@jomana4517]

I hate shopping over fhe internet because you cant try on the clothing for size and end up buying wrong size or they send incorrect size. I would rather go to a mall and try it on and ger some excercise while you walk around.

[@tropicfruityangel6414]

I agree

[@leejackson4724]

jo mana when you shop on the internet you run the risk of some 12 year old punk with a cheap laptop draining your bank account no thanks

[@LAlbertSuarez]

Yeah, it s good thing physical stores don't use computers to store their data.

[@muiscnight]

100% agree which is why Im baffled online shopping has made this big an impact I guess people are up to make the gamble of it fitting right

[@fshanks46]

Amen!

[@nocilantro_gack]

I havent been to a mall in 20 years..I get sensory overload in those places...all those voices bouncing off the marble floors...intense fluorescent lighting... bargain shoppers... forget it

[@jumperstartful]

Frankly I don't care for the youth that frequents the mall now days. Online I don't have to deal with it.

[@debracloud2061]

...and don't forget: no place to sit!!! Dubai Mall and others like it have places to sit. But we also need a child minder, a husband/father waiting area where they can do interesting things while they wait for women to shop, plus many other services.

[@MsArtistwannabe]

James Kristoff not to mention the overload of various fragrances

[@perryclouse1]

the death of the mall came when the owners of the massive building got greedy and started charging massive rent increases which the stores had the business to pay their normal rents and make a profit but with massive rent increases they started closing down the same thing is now happening to strip malls if you don't believe me go to a local mall and and talk to the proprieter of the store

[@1USAUSA]

Perry Clouse True, but it wasn't just the rent increase. It also has to do with the INTERNET also. How do you compete with the INTERNET when you can get anything and everything but the perishable items delivered right to your door step in days for almost NEXT to NOTHING COST... It wasn't for the Internet, people would still flock to MALLS even if the prices are too high.

[@solomongrundy1467]

@@1USAUSA Online sales only make up 10% of all retail sales. If brick and mortar stores get 90% of retail sales and still can't keep their doors open, there's something else going on. Even if there were no internet shopping these places would still be closing.

[@1USAUSA]

​@@solomongrundy1467 *Online sales only make up 10% of all retail sales.* Then, I just wonder how JEFF BOZOS is getting closer and closer to being a TRILLIONAIRE... while Lately all the BRICK and MORTAR stores are CLOSING THEIR DOORS and GOING HOME... LOL...

[@debracloud2061]

@@1USAUSA By offering what the internet cannot give: great customer service, free entertainment (roaming parades, fashion shows, ethnic dancing, etc), paid entertainment (cinemas, bowling, ice skating, roller skating, video games, laser tag), government and municipal services (driver license, pay electricity/phone/water bills, etc), banks, and mega supermarkets.

[@juliecastillo914]

I remember when I was a kid and younger teenager if a store closed down in the mall another store replaced it almost immediately. Now my local mall has probably 10 to 15% of the stores sitting vacant at any given time.

[@ibramblebush]

When you have no middle class there tend to be less shoppers.

[@blackworldtraveler3711]

F. Friedrich Kling He must be just waking up in this century.

[@kenrose2523]

That’s what high taxes do

[@blackworldtraveler3711]

Just a place for people spending money they don't have. no big deal.

[@mtpatton1846]

I Bramblebush A conveniently ignored fact.

[@philc1348]

More shopping just happens online

[@Dana_Danarosana]

Well, malls killed a lot of downtowns. Downtowns are now seeing a renaissance in a lot of places.

[@salfordiandy4987]

Dana Danarosana it’s funny how everything goes in cycles.

[@qualqui]

Yeah, I prefer Main Street USA to Wall Street. :)

[@karenyoung7435]

Their not really seeing a resurgence down towns are nothing but coffee shops, artsy places, off beat eateries, Nothing to really draw anybody down town. No old time sears, JC penny's Woolworth 5&dime, drug stores with old time fans hanging from the ceiling. This is a bygone erra that will never be again! I never go down town Johnson City Tn. Nothing there. Most malls will soon be another bygone erra. My father, Horton Young had a little grocery store just a couple of blocks from down town center. I worked in the office in the 5th floor of a Dept store that had everything from fine cosmetics to fine China to men women and children's clothing to furniture dry goods and kitchen wares. You could sit on the mezzanine and eat your lunch while looking down to the first floor and seeing all the hustle bustle. The old grocery store my father owned had wooden floors an old time brass cash register and old timey drink boxes to keep soft drinks cold. It had stick meats and stick cheeses you sliced on a meat slicer and a big glass cooler where they were kept. It had 2 picture windows and in the winter time we sprayed artificial snow and hung pretty colored balls in them, and a wreath with a bell on it hung on the door. We lived 2 doors up in an old Victorian house filled with antiques. The town is gone now, the store is gone. The old timey drugstores with the long ceiling fans and the lunch counters that had great food is gone. Never to return. I wish I had been so much more aware of what I had at the time. Nothing but prescious memories.

[@Dana_Danarosana]

@CHIGGS 58TH Hmm... not my experience... but that brings up an interesting point. Downtown was where the chain stores and fast food was 40-50 years ago... The chain stores like Sears, JC Penney, Woolworths, Jupiter... all downtown in many cities back then. And the old-school diners WERE the original "fast food joints"...

[@wiesbadengera1]

Karen Young WOW, I totally enjoyed your post!!!

[@4793bigdaddy]

Malls priced themselves out of business long before amazon.

[@juliecastillo914]

Not only that but my local mall started treating certain people horribly. I'm 31 and when I was in high school the local mall would have aged curfews. If you are under 18 you couldn't be at the mall after I think 6 p.m. on weekends unless you were accompanied by an adult over 21 ( who had to be with you the entire time). There are also stores that wouldn't even allow you to go in at anytime without an adult if you are under 18. At that point in time I feel like teens had a lot of disposable income. But we were treated like criminals so why would we want to give them our business. there weren't a lot of other options for buying clothing so we would go there to buy clothes but the mall was no longer a hangout spot where you would go and make a couple of impulse purchases just because you were there. So then went online shopping became more prevalent, most of us considered it a better option. Nowadays I go to the mall very infrequently and it's usually because I want to buy jeans which I have to try on at the store.

[@davidlafleche1142]

@@juliecastillo914 A lot of teens were criminals! People in your age bracket went to malls to be troublemakers: they shoplifted, picked fights, and pretty much behaved like punks. You should tell people your age to quit being jerks, and behave like civilized human beings. For example: the city of Cranston (R.I.) recently banned kids from Providence. Why? Because every kid from Providence was a punk and a troublemaker. So the Mayor of Cranston said, "Enough!"

[@theuglykwan]

@Mr. Goodbar Which would totally explain why it is happening in places without many afros....

[@stueygriffith4671]

🙄🙄🙄

[@stueygriffith4671]

@@juliecastillo914 because you punks were nothin' but trouble!!!!!! 🤬🤬🤬 And twice on Sundays!!!!

[@bigdaddycool28716]

The internet is the biggest mall in the world you can stay home and go to hundreds of stores and they are open 24/7

[@kylehill3643]

And never try the product out! OH BOY! Oh and you can't have the product right away. You will have to wait for shipping and deal with returns if it's a broken product.

[@kylehill3643]

We used to always order from the store warehouse. If the store itself didn't have it at the mall they would ship the product and we would get it later and never touched Amazon until we had to.

[@debracloud2061]

...And still not manage to buy anything.

[@jennaladefensora415]

That is a very small percentage of the problem. The real problem is the lack of money in your pocket, because of low wages and corporate greed!

[@hectorrodriguez6843]

You can't try the product and you'll have to wait for the shipping plus the tax and shipping cost, I'll rather go to the store, the products are cheaper

[@alisha4635]

Can't spend money that you don't have

[@rthelionheart]

Actually you could but then it would be a crime instead.

[@bearbriganti5203]

Can't have what you don't spend 😂

[@rxonmymind8362]

People have no problem spending $1,000 on the phone though 😁

[@1USAUSA]

Alisha S Then, you are not an American. In fact, based on your comment I would say, you are an ANTI-AMERICAN. lol... The United States of America runs on DEBT. Without DEBT, America would look like AFRICAN COUNTRIES. lol... About 25% of the companies in the United States is nothing but DEBT COLLECTORS and TAX COLLECTORS. lol... And the other half is made up of companies that wants to PUT YOU IN DEBT for rest of your life... LMAO... Living in DEBT is the AMERICAN WAY of LIFE... Lol...

[@1USAUSA]

phxxr650r Exactly my point... we Americans love to spend the money we don't have... LMAO!!!

[@renaelimburg2510]

folks do not have any disposable income anymore middle class and their jobs are gone for good it is not the fault of the internet

[@michaelbelt8768]

That can be mitigated. I shop at the dollar store for routine items (dish soap, shampoo, desk items, etc,.) and avoid the high cost of retail anyway. I buy items in bulk like laundry soap or dish soap to last me several months at a time , saving trips and inconvenience in my schedule. Most soaps are basically the same; glycerin dyed in similar colors, with similar smelling perfumes. The issues of being 'magical' or more 'sensitive to you', is just so much bullcrap from big corporations that don't even know personally you.

[@PracticalTacticalSheepDog]

Thats just not true... I spent over $3k last Christmas and every single thing I bought with the exception of gift cards and stocking stuffers was bought online. And a large chunk through Amazon... why go to homedepot for a generator when I can order the same exact one on Amazon for $200 less and get free next day delivery.

[@juiceski30]

Online shopping and also we spend most of our money on rent, insurance and energy; a lot less disposable income now.

[@Trodpint-A]

Fox Blue River rent, insurance, phone bill, internet, car payment, lights, gas, gasoline, etc

[@warking2915]

Hey stop trying to keep up with the Jones. Be a minimalist and you'll have alot of extra cash.

[@Trodpint-A]

How are any of those bills considered trying to keep up with the Jones?

[@covertwasp5238]

Massive Immigration

[@leonhenry4861]

@@Trodpint-A Don't need to make car payments, that's a choice same for phones, gas. You can get free internet at the library. okay insurance is a must and rent but even then you can live in an RV and save until you can buy something. I lived in a caravan for 5 years and I've bought 2 homes.

[@tavo5593]

Mall: $799 for a electric range Online: $599 for the same range plus free shipping

[@norbertop.niebres6320]

Of course, you have to pay a sales tax for the purchase either way. Online shopping is no longer sales tax free (unless you live in a state that does NOT charge a sales tax).

[@9852323]

People don't shop at malls anymore because the average American these days is broke and the cost of living is too high. Not because of the internet. The only time I see people buy stuff on the Internet is when they can't find it at a store. People don't want to wait for items to come into the mail from amazon. The convenience of just running to the store and instantly brining that item home is way better than shopping online. it's the fact that people just don't have much money anymore.

[@diegoleerot]

Whatchamajigger half the time the stores don’t even have what I want anymore

[@melaniejonas7084]

That's what I think it is, too.

[@renneedwards9826]

Yup! I’m one of those customers! 😳

[@naychiv9325]

Evan, unfortunately 83% of Trump’s tax cuts go to the richest 1% of the population! The other 99% of the population must share the other 17% of Trump’s tax cuts, which isn’t much! In fact, I didn’t see a Nickle in raises in my paychecks, but I do see I’m paying more for gas, groceries, clothing, and just about everything since Obama left office! So get your facts straight and do some research and close examinations instead of repeating Trump’s lies! Like I tell all those Trump supporters, just because you repeat the same lies over and over again don’t make them true!

[@javierjaime9386]

Speak for yourself

[@KEPHALLE]

Yeah, go ahead blaming on line shopping, completely overlooking the economical tragedy we all are experiencing and the low quality/high prices of the goods, mostly made in the extreme east (china, vietnam ecc.).

[@pamelablake7037]

+KEPHALLE You can blame our government for that with free trade. That's when we lost all of our back bone in this country manufacturing. It was cheaper to go over seas and make an item.

[@ad356]

+KEPHALLE no more jobs or at least decent paying jobs, not more disposable income, no jobs for kids at the mall. its gone to hell. manufacturing dies everything else too will slowly die.

[@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823]

KEPHALLE I just returned Avia shoes with a hole on the toe after 2 months. They were an insane 109.00

[@nikkiboo3184]

KEPHALLE defiantly

[@lillyie]

the reason malls are dying because there's no more reason to go to the mall anymore. wanna buy something? online shopping exists, wanna play a game? video game consoles and online games literally killed arcades.

[@lesliechan31]

This is SO depressing. I miss these days. I miss my youth. Wouldn't trade it for all the smartphones and technology in the world.

[@yahwehsonren]

Katty Koo agree

[@TallMama321]

Katty Koo I was at the mall where I moved to and the macys and sears were both gone. I was like omg this is so sad....its like a ghost town. Everyone is all about technology now

[@BriTanuki]

Technology is the future, adapt or you'll be left behind

[@gabriel-contentwriter5578]

I agree, man. I was a teenager in the 80's...best time ever.

[@johnrflinn]

I like seeing old movies that don't have people walking around with smartphones.

[@murkrow2316]

Women being interviewed at the begining is at Woodville Mall, Northwood Ohio. A one time owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins owned Woodville mall in its hay day in the 1980's,We were allowed to play Nintendo at the Woolworths there for up to 20min or so for free!! when Nintendo first came out.

[@wvben]

You can make a mall succeed if you provide an experience that can only be obtained by going there.

[@californiabrotherhood8114]

wvben like the latino mall in there

[@RetroCheater81]

If I had the money to invest in a dying/dead mall Id put a lot of indoor activities in there instead of the usual retail stores. Mini Golf, a pool, go carts, arcade, jungle gym/bouncy house, theater, even some amusement park rides. Like the video said, give the people a reason to come. Hard to make it with just retail stores anymore.

[@LethaWolfStudios]

Exactly

[@bighands69]

It would make no difference. People simply do not have the money to spend. Music sales are down, cinema numbers are down, car sales are down and many other things are down. There is +97 million Americans out of work and that is almost a third of the population. Think about that.

[@RetroCheater81]

bighands69 Music sales are down because people can buy the song they like instead of buying a whole album for it. Car sales have been holding steady for about 5 years now and there is about 40.5 million americans not employed. Your numbers include people in between the ages of 16-24 and everyone over 65, not to mention disabled people.

[@iPolitely]

bighands69 bro you are dumb af if you think 97 million Americans don't work. That is almost the ENTIRE US work force ffs

[@asdfasdf4345artsdfg]

Cinema numbers are down because people are spending on Netflix, not the movies; car sales actually hit a record high in 2015 (although, IDK if that accounts for increased population); and people rely on free streamed music more than they do purchased albums. It's true that people have less money to spend, but it's also very true that they have other ways of spending their money.

[@loneranger6168]

I'll chime in on this one, I'm 61 now. What i have observed is the downfall of the malls is a combination of cultural change, manufacturing industry, the rise of the super centers and internet. Cultural change - I grew up in what was considered an average middle income family. Two parents, 4 siblings, father school teacher mother part time social worker. 1 car, 1 TV, 3 changes clothes for school, 1 for church,2 pairs shoes. Today's families I see around me have so much more. More house than they need, between 2 - 4 cars in drive way, TV in every room, 1or two children with closets full of clothes. Live pay check to pay check and In debt up to their ears. Have little to no cash flow. My parents never carried credit cards. Manufacturing - I grew up in a small southern town that had 6 manufacturing companies near by. Young people who did not go on to college, married, both worked in manufacturing and made a good living for themselves. Most of our shopping done at the local mall. Manufacturing jobs went away and families incomes were drastically reduced. Super Centers- Rise of SuperK, Roses, Wal-Mart. With money tight consumers looked for more bang for their buck. The malls couldn't compete with the retail giants. If you brought an ad from the mall to Wal-Mart they would give you a 10 percent discount on their competitors advertised price, if they didn't have in in stock they'd order it still give you the discount on their competitors sale price. The final blow, on - line shopping. Again we demand more honey for our money. In today's work atmosphere of work-em till they drop who wants to spend the time and energy on their precious day off on a half day of mall shopping. Amazon will send it to your door with free shipping and at a cheaper price. Then theirs Craig's list, so convenient, cheaper and stress free. Good bye malls of America

[@lavapix]

The only thing you forgot was the hand-me-downs from older siblings. Grew up during that same era and middle class.

[@mojoe3012]

Yes sir. We only need small closets then. Those were good times

[@theuglykwan]

Lone Ranger "3 changes clothes for school" Me and my siblings only had 1 school uniform each which we washed at the weekend. That makes me wonder how it didn't stink back then.

[@justrandom8766]

Sameday deliveries. Get out of bed . open the door. Open your parcel. I remember going to shops , it was a nightmare😧

[@norbertop.niebres6320]

I would not exactly trust Craigslist. I do not want to risk life and limb.

[@southernmom7906]

Mall's are way to over priced ..who wants to buy a pair of jeans for 120.00 not me

[@crankiefrankie1]

that the store tenant, not the mall itself.

[@howey935]

Thats because shops have way more overheads than an internet buisness

[@UCiWrMgES50tlUhV3l6NqjNA]

@@howey935 yeah, nobody's gonna pay more for those overheads. find a real job solution that doesn't monopolize just one single company but instead factors in the whole community. focus on free services, like transportation, wifi services, producing basic necessities if you can't find a more developed solution.

[@altha-rf1et]

I will go to a Goodwill store buy the same pair for $5.00 with tag still on them

[@isaacalvarado7656]

And You can’t fit Clothes On Amazon And At least you don’t have to pay for shipping, Wait For Many Days To Arrive And even sometimes porch pirates

[@emilphoryew9436]

Looks like George Carlin got his wish, the shopping malls are disappearing.

[@cattysplat]

George Carlin would be rolling in his grave at the state of the country and the media failing the nation. Never before has life been so fake and full of lies in America.

[@RCmack]

@@cattysplat I can imagine the jokes Carlin would be telling about a Trump presidency!

[@FriendofDorothy]

am pretty sure he would have a lot to say about social media and the internet as well...and it would be criticism that is brilliantly and savagely on target.

[@ThePoreproductions]

if you go to the mall, you can go shopping, get something to eat, do all sorts of fun activities, and basically make a day out of it.

[@ThePoreproductions]

***** I know of a mall, that has not just restaurants, shops, and the food court it also has a carousel, a playground area, and some arcade games. No movie theater though.

[@carlosek]

ThePoreproductions but I like deals. the only store I go to is tjmaxx and I use their sisters company Sierra Trading Post website for sick deals. I got a pair of Wolverine Thousand Mile boots and Frye Logan jump boots for $100 each.

[@Vendzor]

Carlos Ek X-Men fan?

[@ahandbaggirl]

ThePoreproductions i

[@beevezeepe6615]

You obviously haven't been anywhere else.

[@chiil034]

Fun fact: Dixie Square Mall was already a dead/shuddered mall in the south suburb of Chicago when Blue Brothers was filmed back in 1979.

[@NicholasLittlejohn]

What's there now?

[@chiil034]

@@NicholasLittlejohn Search for "Dixie Square Mall" in Google Maps. It's a big empty field now in Harvey, IL.

[@signalfire6]

Another fun fact: The Blues Brothers ending credits runs for a full six minutes, and they totalled 100s of police cars in the process of making it. Great movie, I miss John Belushi!

[@linda1lee2]

jalopnik.com/the-story-of-the-trashed-mall-from-blues-brothers-483083293 has more info about the mall including this. "Of course, that was just Hollywood magic, and once the crew left (the mall in a disastrous state that was never repaired, despite a lawsuit that was ultimately tossed): the mall was briefly used as a school, then left to rot from 1981 onward. From there, it was a heavy crime magnet, with gang activity and vandalism taking over for the first 20 years until photographers began documenting and exploring its bombed-out shell, starting around 2003 or so."

[@norbertop.niebres6320]

@@linda1lee2 The Documenting of the Dead Dixie Square Mall actually started in 2001.

[@Bhethar]

I love malls but the key thing many of them are missing is offering you other things to do apart from just shopping. The best malls get you to stay for food, cinema, live music, arcade games, drinks.... Most malls today have just depressing stores selling overpriced stuff. The Mexican mall idea is just genius! Would love to visit it !

[@markjohnson5276]

I haven't been to a Mall in years. Who can afford that crap.

[@ThePoreproductions]

Well, If you have a little money, you can go to a mall and buy whatever you can with that money. even if it's not much.

[@IcouldBNE1]

Internet shopping seems to be getting blamed for the death of malls in this video, but what about the glut of stores outside the malls that weren't around 20 - 30 years ago.

[@neetrab]

John King internet shopping is to be blamed? Yeah...I believe it.

[@websuspect]

John King 2 Dimensional thinking. Roving Gangs, Urban Blight, Illegal Mexicans driving people out of the malls and onto the internet where its safer.

[@neetrab]

websuspect yeah, because it's always the minorities fault, right? smh... Is there any proof to anything you just said? People see internet shopping as more convenient. They don't do it because it's safer. Maybe some do, but definitely not the majority of folk.

[@arianasilver]

websuspect Implying that your safety is at risk because you're "the only white person" is bad enough. Using racial slurs makes you a bigot. Also a jackass.

[@neetrab]

websuspect Dude, you said "spic" at least 3 times..lol! Do you have amnesia? And where are you from because they aren't getting robbed or stabbed at the malls around my way. Maybe you should move since it sounds so dangerous where you live.

[@betunia98]

I wish they would point out the fact the reason why people don’t shop as much is because they’re very busy having to work a lot more hours I don’t have as much free time

[@waranle961]

Or money

[@bradc7882]

Versus being a bum under Obama?

[@charleslong5373]

The malls I’ve visited recently have intense security guards, very threatening signs around, and many warnings that if unaccompanied teenagers are apprehended, they will be prosecuted for trespassing.

[@RoniKnell]

Gosh, where are you?

[@thesnare100]

Yeah where are you, North Korea? I went through malls slone when I was 10! I mean a parent was elsewhere there and told me where to meet at them a certain time, but even when I was pre-teen I didn't need to accompanied by an adult, in the US.

[@BRuane-pw6xq]

The amount of retail space per capita was absurdly high. It is being taken down to a proper ratio of shopping space per capita. Malls too old and too many. Market is fixing itself. Trump failed miserably in Atlantic City because he was told that market could accommodate 8 Casinos. He ignored that and city got up to 14 , 4 of which were his. All his casinos failed as did others. Now 8 casinos and all are doing well. Cspacity of market is key factor. We just had too many Malls.

[@neetrab]

Some people still want to go to the mall because they want to go out... not be couped up in the house shopping online. And certain things they don't care to purchase online. Like clothing or shoes. They want to go to the store and try them on because they don't trust what websites say as far as sizes.. Medium and large could mean something totally different when you try it on for your body type.

[@oldteenager6850]

I grew up going to the arcades and to the movies with my friend at the mall. Playing Galaga, Dig Dug, Centipede, Ms Pacman, Defender, Donkey Kong etc. Afterward, we would go to the theater in the same mall and watch Gremlins, Empire Strikes Back, Ghostbusters, Revenge of the Nerd, Police Academy, Indiana Jones, Back to The Future, Madmax etc. I would not trade those memories for what we have today. My children says they would give up what they have today just to experience my childhood. Thank you AMERICA for giving us the best in the world.

[@BloodyBay]

I'll miss the arcades till my dying day. Going to your local Aladdin's Castle and meeting other kids over pick-up four-player games of Gauntlet (or, later, Quartet, Cadash, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons games) sometimes resulted in picking up a new friend or two. Nowadays, all the kids are sitting in their living rooms playing X-Box Live, never once seeing a single human face to go with the voices of their in-game allies and rivals. Home console gaming isolates us far more than it socializes us or brings us together. My family owned an Atari 2600 back around 1982. I never had any idea that the Atari 2600 would one day lead to _this._

[@Observant_Introvert]

Old Teenager I was an 80's kid (Born in 1975).. All the movies you mentioned and the Arcades..... man that takes me back. I am the same way as you, I wouldn't trade those memories for what we have today as well. I don't know how old your kids are but last year during Black friday weekend my friends and I went out to do some black friday shopping. In one store I went up to the counter with some blu-rays and one of them was Super 8. Well the guy behind the counter that was ringing me out (about 22-23 years of age) noticed it and started to talk about the movie and how it reminded him of the show Stranger Things and how he would of liked to have been a kid/teen in the 80's. I told him I was an 80's kid and he kept telling me how lucky I was to grow up in that era as a child.

[@kylehill3643]

MAGA!

[@a.y.7738]

Sounds like my childhood! I loved the record store and picking out a rock poster for my bedroom.

[@theuglykwan]

I loved the 80s and 90s but I couldn't go back to it. Without the internet I'd be staring at the walls bored.

[@wm.d.nelson4912]

Give us wages that we can afford to enjoy our life a bit and we just might drive to the mall.

[@1USAUSA]

Wm D. Nelson It is easier said than done, buddy... Everybody wants to give you LESS but EXPECTS MORE from you. However, if you want more for hardly any work done or no work at all, then you should work for the gobermint... LOL...

[@wm.d.nelson4912]

@@1USAUSA I hear you on the bud.

[@JeffSpehar-ov1cn]

Get an educations and earn a good job

[@1USAUSA]

@@JeffSpehar-ov1cn That's easier said than done, bud. Not everyone in the country can afford EDUCATION.

[@m.montero1303]

Wm. D. Nelson You have just said it👏🏼. Compare how high the cost of living has been getting since the late 80‘s (rent, medical ins., food, gasoline etc.etc.) and salaries have gone up very little in comparison. The decline of the middle class is staggering while the 20% super rich in the whole world have gotten richer. Poverty is increasing everywhere hence the mass discontent of the working class. No middle class no commerce. Rich and famous people who can afford everything don’t need to spend their money on clothing, jewelry etc. because they get it for free to make free advertisement for brands. Everything is backwards this days🙄

[@knightrichson8031]

problem is too. just cant buy what you need at a mall like bestbuy never has pc case's or pc part's i need so im forced to shop online

[@wowzer107]

This story puts all the cause for the decline of shopping malls just on the growth of the internet, but the fact is we've had mail order catalogues since the nineteenth century, and that didn't stop the growth of shopping malls. The other factor in the decline of suburban shopping malls, which is not being mentioned enough in the media, is the growth of the places that the shopping malls took shoppers away from: the old suburban main streets, the inner city shopping districts, and the big city downtown shopping districts. For decades, these traditional shopping districts, which usually had their original heydays in the 1920s, were in serious decline as people flocked to the suburbs and the suburban shopping malls. Nowadays, we see enormous growth in inner city neighborhoods and big city downtowns as young, educated and affluent people return to these once declining areas, as well as, suburban main streets that are being fixed up to attract these same people back to the suburbs. It's come full circle, which could be a harbinger for the dying shopping malls. These malls may again thrive by catering to modern retail trends, adding residential and office space, building adjacent parks, and conforming to modern transportation trends, like connecting to rail transit or having more bike lanes and bike parking and reducing the size of their ugly parking lots. There are always trends in the economy, technology, and development patterns that cause winners, and cause for optimism, and losers, and cause for pessimism and gloom and doom predictions.

[@samhouston1979]

wowzer107 growing cities...ugh

[@kathyclark8274]

Light rail is wave of the future!

[@stevenwilliambaylessparks3730]

Shopping malls killed downtowns and local businesses and the community life that went with them; they've been a curse on American life.

[@p52893]

But the mejecanos seem to know something that us americanos have lost, la familla . Never lose your family

[@ES-mc3cc]

At least people can't shoplift from online retailers. Keeps prices down.

[@VegasX900]

Now they steal them off the front porch.

[@tubevideos187]

Have you ever wondered where are all those jobs that helped to create the base of the middle class in US? Well, take a look on China, they have created a middle class with all those jobs they stole from US, jobs stoled whit helped of politicians and businessmen corrupt. They want manufactured in China, great, but they should pay a huge amount of tariffs to export to american market, making impossible to sustaine of that business model and force them to retutn, or create new companies on american terrotiry, restore the american manufacturing, create jobs and restore the economy. And China? who cares, not me. Without middle class in the US economy will fall and the nation will collapse, it's time to say, NO MORE, Along side with Europe, the time has come to stop China.

[@germanher7528]

China didn't steal those jobs, American corporations did, they took those jobs to China so they could increase their profits by cutting costs

[@paulb7207]

Some of these jobs were moved by american corporations to my country (Poland). There is a GM factory in my hometown. There is Intel office. There are so many others, like Rockwell. And yes, such a BS, they say it's because of online shopping. There is online shopping in poland too. And nobody bothers. People prefer to go to the malls. They keep building them. Not destroying. Building new ones. Each year there is a new one opened in the area where I live (about 4 milion people). These are not american companies, they are international and they could care less. Automation is the next step. They won't need any workers at all. American or Polish or Chinese, doesn't matter. And then what?

[@BarBlue12]

Malls don't have the stores we want. It's that simple.

[@1USAUSA]

And the stores we want in the malls CAN'T AFFORD to STAY in the mall and still MAKE the PROFIT they are expecting to make, because the RENT IS TOO HIGH... So, really it is the GREEDY LANDLORDS fault...

[@jess4metoo]

I used to go in the 80’s to watch music videos. It was the place to be, now I avoid malls .

[@coym5452]

Good court

[@SVGIN]

There to dangerous to many thugs hanging around the area ....

[@theangryitalian7922]

I can’t watch this, as a 32 year old I remember when the mall was the place to be.. now the malls are just dead.. sad.. but it’s all part of the plan.. soon there will be no jobs in retail period.

[@ad356]

people do not have the money anymore when they do require to buy something they will simply to go to the avenue with the least expensive goods, which is online. people cannot afford retail anymore. the jobs are gone. thanks free trade and nafta

[@bighands69]

But the thing is none of it is actually free trade. US goods face very high taxes when entering China and Europe.

[@joeb5080]

"US goods face very high taxes when entering China and Europe." False "thanks free trade and nafta" Protectionism would push up your prices. And if you can get things cheaper online, why are you mourning the loss of the mall? It's capitalism doing its job.

[@kylehill3643]

Thanks George.

[@jorgerivas8494]

@Arch Stanton oh really how come progressive radio is also a dying format, genious? Remember Air America with sexual harrasser Al Franken?

[@iJosiLoren]

I prefer malls over online any day!

[@courkey8466]

yeah the main reason is shipping. fuccck that.

[@josephstalin9139]

Just Josie Yes!!!

[@dvferyance]

I hate online shopping. Earlier this year I ordered and book and guess what It never came. Should have just gone to Barnes and Noble and bought it. I will never buy online again if I don;t have to.

[@nbvlogs4617]

Same

[@shammydammy2610]

Malls don't carry the goods I want to buy. So I don't go there.

[@marksanchez6580]

We're all broke no dinero.🙊

[@JeffSpehar-ov1cn]

Malls are dying all over. predict non in 10 year

[@nickyoung630]

I don't like online shopping, like when i wanna buy a pair of shoes i like to go to the store and try them on and see how they fit and if i like walking in them and i can buy them and take them home the same day, but if i order something online i have to pay for the actual thing and pay shipping and wait for about 2 or 3 weeks for the item to get to my house malls are a lot more convenient.

[@bravefearlessswift2997]

I'M WITH YOU!

[@felix121984]

I think your feet stink or at least I have better smelling feet than you !

[@felix121984]

I know your feet stink !

[@felix121984]

You have smelly dockside boat shoes !

[@felix121984]

I study feet smell and white males usually have stinky feet !

[@carlosgarfias4744]

well sears is now closing about 150 stores Macy's is closing 68 stores Macy's had to dismiss 10,000 workers. fast food restaurants are doing well. Any mall that is not dead has fast food restaurants, that is the only thing that is keeping a mall from dying.

[@0Imtheslime0]

But.. why go to a mall getting fast-food when you have drive-throughs everywhere..?

[@RCmack]

@@0Imtheslime0 Even Donald Trump has to go somewhere to get has fast food hamberders!

[@JamMaul]

If anything food is always needed they should turn malls into where all restaurants meet and compete instead of these empty buildings go to waste

[@JamMaul]

@@RCmack if Donald Trump had to name a burger it would be. Buildawallburger

[@RCmack]

@@JamMaul Buildawall berder??? LOL!!!!

[@enriquelandaf]

All it takes is good old Mexican families to go out with family and have a good old time. internet can't provide

[@jaylenbrownfan2112]

2019: Malls are turning into indoor flea markets and gaming centers.

[@norbertop.niebres6320]

Gaming Centers: Do you mean video arcades, like games made in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s?

[@dampergoldenrod4156]

When Goodwill's started popping up by the early 2000s it was evidence money was becoming tight

[@user-er4nt4dp6q]

SmellyFish Pooh Yep , They are pricey !!!

[@Gluluman]

My aunt lives in California when ever I visit I see a new 99 cent store, Dollar Tree, Dollar general , Family Dollar,not to mention over two dozen Chinese style discounts

[@catluva74]

I remember when dollar stores would only last for no more then a year. Their owners got a good deal on overstock and other cheap odds and ends and would close when they sold of the space or the plaza owner found a long term tenant.

[@jojosaylor8996]

Goodwill is over 117 years old it's just like Macy's and has been here forever goodwill has not just popped up Goodwill has been around for decades.

[@obfuscated3090]

No, it's evidence their very profitable business model works. Remember "non-profit" DOES NOT mean the CEOs don't make bank!

[@NickSalvation]

Yet they still build these malls everywhere in Illinois. Hundreds of half vacant malls stretch the landscape.

[@felix121984]

@C caymer You a white guy ! Let me smelly boat shoes feet.

[@FriendofDorothy]

I'm from Illinois but haven't lived there in years. Every time I go back it's the same. The churches and malls are the social hubs.

[@Velo1010]

Tear them down and build green spaces.

[@crankiefrankie1]

I think in some cases they could be re-purposed while still having a shopping area part of it. in many cases in the seattle /puget sound area many of the malls have lost large old school tenants like sears. those spaces could be re visioned to include housing in those spaces (saw youtube vid about that, an old downtown mall type space had been split up with retail and housing)and the surrounding area of the huge mall parking lots to incorporate housing.

[@hollywoodartchick9740]

@@crankiefrankie1 I have been thinking the same thing. Some of them were constructed well. They have plumbing. They have heating. It would be pretty cool to live somewhere you can take the escalator downstairs in the morning. We need affordable housing, and surely this can be experimented with. Why have a growing tent city population when there is available space?

[@_Wai_Wai_]

Andrew Yang proposed using these malls as public spaces, instead of just tearing them down.

[@burquenomadrid]

lmao

[@dynamicsolution8166]

Brilliant idea, you buy one and tear it down first

[@ther1rida]

Not one customer in that Latino mall was on their phone.

[@alfandeddie]

Gangs and teens helped

[@Justme-fh3qi]

Right, my favorite mall closed down in the early 2000's because of the gang activity. 😞

[@billolsen4360]

useless young people should be rounded up and forcibly conscripted by the government to clean highways, scrub off graffiti and clean up disaster areas without pay.

[@jtube1981]

These malls were deliberately built to attract teens!

[@Choices2aa]

I remember the malls and how everyone wanted to go to the mall that was the place to go and I would go to Sam Goody, Kemp Mill Records, and the malls had everything and shopping malls started in 1956 and now its 2017 and now malls are dying and there is no business and I work at OLD NAVY at the mall and our business isn't doing well! I miss the 80s and 90s when everyone hung out at the mall and we had great stores back then and everyone had jobs and the American Dream was alive back then! Mall Of America is the biggest mall! I remember TOWER RECORDS, VIRGIN RECORDS EVEN BLOCKBUSTER! Now its all gone now and I miss Tower Records that store had everything! My favorite store! Now Mall is dead and its depressing and sad at the same time! The internet is the problem and everyone ordered everything online! I am sure I will loose my job at OLD NAVY Sears, JC Penny, Macy's, Payless are closing and even Norstrom is gone! Our business is bad! I miss the good old days when things were jumping! The new generation has no clue how good the 80s kids had it!

[@tanya4534]

Ahh yes. Good ol video stores. Back then there was a reason to go out to the mall.

[@osky529]

I shop at thrift stores 😂😂😂 every special occasion i will buy a designer piece

[@-trinity-8059]

Oscar Santiago I shop at thrift stores as well..I found a Vans flannel(those are around 40-60 bucks) that I got for 4 bucks,perfect condition..Can’t beat the much lower prices and nice items you can come across👍🏾

[@natalie8212]

I grew up in Miami FL. and spent my teenage years bouncing around 4 or 5 different malls. Only one that I had frequented went out of business. ( It was largely because it was an "open" aka no roof outdoor mall and it rains a _lot_ down there.) Big cities still have thriving malls. Smaller places are where malls are dying.

[@jmjfanss]

I just hope they redevelopment the malls into something else.

[@gorbachev-1986]

It seems as if that the elephant in the room is being missed on this one. Being British, I can remember my grandparents and indeed my parents were in awe of the American standard of living. We had no comparison. The American middle/working class was the envy of the world. Yes, internet shopping has had an impact on mall retail sales. That is a given. Nevertheless, there was no mention of the decline in middle/working class disposable incomes over the past thirty years. Well paying jobs were off-shored to China, India etc and unemployment rose. Any gains in employment were replaced with basement paying, usually un-unionised jobs. Surely, this was going to have an inevitable impact on retail sales. The way I see it is that the Americans had this virtuous cycle. You provide your workers GOOD paying employment, they will be richer for it. What do they do after getting their house and car? You bloody well go to the mall and spend it! The malls get richer, provide jobs and thus the next generation does the same and so on. Forgive me for my over-simplification but that was the basis of American prosperity. It saddens me because I love America but now it is gradually being replaced by a growing Chinese middle class. China is getting wealthy on Americans spending products that were made in China. Where were they originally produced? Mainly America. I went to Tenby in West Wales for a holiday last week in the first time for years. It is only about 60 miles down the road from where I live. I can remember as a kid (early 90's) the place being inundated with Americans! The past week? I would have been hard pressed to have heard an American accent. Do you know what surprised me? The phenomenal amount of Chinese in the town. Wow! Don't get me wrong, China has a growing economy and a growing middle class. It was to be expected eventually. But the lack of Americans? That's worrying. Perhaps I am wrong and going into a sort of moral panic.. I am oversimplifying the economics of it all and you are welcome to disagree but it is worth thinking about. I also thought it would be a change to make a meaningful comment on KZbin rather than being subjected to insults and half-witery. Feel free to comment and if you are interested as to where I got most of my ideas for the aforementioned, I recommend a book called 'Who Stole the American Dream?' by Hedrick Smith.

[@Me-in2yy]

You are right. PLUS the rise of stores like Walmart that squash all mom and pop shops.

[@JesseKagarise]

Exactly. The drive to maximize profits for the lowest costs is what is destroying our country economically. Make a quick buck now, the middle and working class be damned. Paying them a decent wage now is risky, and doesn't look good to shareholders. Previous generations wonder why home buying with millennials is in a free-fall, its because we simply can't afford it. If you went to college, your already up to your ears in debt, offsetting the wage increase, and if you skipped it, you will struggle to find a job that pays a decent wage. Its a catch-22. We make less money than previous generations did, given the same age. And if this continues, our children will be even worse off. Economies only work if there is a steady flow of money all around. They collapse when it all collects at the top. The irony is that we will become a nation on welfare, because people refuse to increase minimum wage as they believe its a form of welfare.

[@buddyanddaisy123]

Absolutely correct-Henry Ford realized that by paying his workers a decent wage, he would vastly expand the market for his cars. Now, all the wealth is siphoned off by the financial industry (now over 18% of GNP), so the former middle class has no money to spend. hence the contraction of retail.

[@soundbite290]

I never remember wales being inundated by Americans lol. Daytona beach perhaps.

[@paulbroderick8438]

Just too many malls built, period. The 'built it and they will come' mentality just doesn't work anymore. Malls used to promote social gathering and you could almost guarantee running into somebody you knew. The grab the greed the got to have it now is fast disappearing perhaps per consumers not being willing to be regarded as deaf, dumb, blind and stupid anymore. For me, I will always seek out a live retailer ahead of an online search. I immigrated to the USA, from the UK, in 1975 right at the end of the period you reference as being in awe of.

[@LethaWolfStudios]

That brush thing at the end with the dollar bills you have no idea how much that pissed me off!!!!! Why not give it to someone instead of ruining it

[@MadTrump]

we still have a mall where i live. half the space is empty. only about 10 years ago it was full

[@YouKnowWhereYouWentWrong]

Same here. The mall 10 miles from my house has one 'anchor store' left (when there was at one time 4) and an occupancy rate of about 10%. The multi-plex was renovated about 10 years ago and it breathed a bit of new life in it, but even that struggled and closed around 2015. I grew up in the 80's when going to the mall was an all day thing. Meet your friends, see movies, play in the video arcade, hang out in the record shops to hear new music, eat junk food. Good times.

[@superjeffstanton]

Atlanta, Georgia 2019 "Everything you would find in a Mexican Village" Haha.

[@carultch]

I don't even live in Georgia, and I'd like to visit that mall someday.

[@theuglykwan]

I'd visit that mall if I lived there. I wonder how long it can last though. It seems to be for hispanics that might not be that tech savvy. Their kids likely won't go as much and then it will be game over for those malls too.

[@Tippy2forU]

@@theuglykwan : It isn't your typical mall. Like the guy said, it is more like what you would see in a village. It has a dentist, doctors, an insurance company, toy store, crafts store, market, funds transfer place, etc. It is more like a Mexican village. It is a very smart idea. That is a fantastic idea. Hispanics and Latinos are third in spending power. They create for their own. I can see the same thing happening with Asians and blacks but they have a tendency to want to assimilate rather than have something just for themselves.

[@ginam6691]

Makes me want to move there just so I can go to that mall with my family

[@NotaPizzaGRL]

@@Tippy2forU If you've been to metro Atlanta there are plenty of shopping centers and smaller malls that cater to various Asian groups (ex. see Duluth these days - plenty of Korean businesses). As far as businesses that area has a big Black middle class (maybe the largest in the USA) so if you go to say Stone Mountain, Lithonia, etc. you'll see businesses that cater to Black people from around the world. It's not just Latinos and Hispanics. However, what did in malls was the advent of online shopping, mismanagement (hi Simon Group and whoever took over for Gwinett Place Mall), opening too many malls in the same area, companies being taken over by corporate raiders (hi Sears), and stagnant wages. Can't shop till you drop if you don't have the income unless if you like being indebted to creditors.

[@davidhutchinson5233]

Convert to micro apartments and micro business hubs. Of course helping to solve the housing crisis would make too much sense right?

[@debracloud2061]

No. Go the opposite way, like in Dubai: Malls should have a hotel, apartments, mega supermarket, dentist, library, hospital, copy shop, government offices, plus a lake or outdoor activity center, free entertainment, paid entertainment, etc.

[@leannestrong1000]

I prefer shopping at the mall or a store that is not in a mall over shopping online, because at the mall or store, you get to look at the product and examine its condition before you actually purchase it. Plus you know that this is the product you're actually going to get.

[@bighands69]

There is nothing wrong with online especially for hard to find things but nothing beats going into a store and feeling the product in your hands. "Do those shoes fit sir"

[@lianafedha1228]

I love the indigenous people (Latina) getting their own space. Soon you'll have to be bilingual to live in this country! Love it 😍

[@Vednier]

"Everything dies". Malls emerged, evolved and deprecated. Circle of life, thats all.

[@selftrue670]

Precisely correct. Their time came---and went.

[@bonafide1972]

It is NOT the internet shopping, it is the economy. There are a lot of things that you should not get online (most clothing, most computers, musical instruments, tools, toys, workout equipment, bikes, cars, etc.), so if the malls are dying...

[@Larkinchance]

All the Malls in the US have locked out local or regional business.. This is why they are all so boring or why they are closing. You know that these commercial structures are relatively inexpensive to build.. Why don't they retro-fit them to deal with affordable housing? A large, closed down Walmart would become a small town that may even trigger grass roots commerce. There are anti-competitive reasons why they don't do this.. Most people want to work.. Just not as a greeter at HomeDepot..

[@DarlingNikki2]

What is interesting to me to observe where I live are all of these smaller size mini-malls (or strip malls) that are popping up on nearly every street corner. They basically take the typical large mall and break it into pieces, putting popular stores closer to neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the large mall situated on the outskirts of most neighborhoods is dying a slow, sad death.

[@MrThenry1988]

I'm 50 and rarely went to the mall. Just to many people for me.

[@annies6566]

Tim Henry I’m 20 and I feel the same way. Also customer service in some stores is so bad it makes you not want to buy anything.

[@gerardogrillo5848]

Im 52 and hate malls

[@MrThenry1988]

@@gerardogrillo5848 crowds of people looking at the same crap I'm looking at makes me think I'm looking at the wrong crap.

[@MrThenry1988]

@@annies6566 I don't get that far. Lol.

[@AJ627]

Reason why malls where so big is because of Tax Shelters and building malls was seen as an investment so they built more than needed. Now that Malls fix the tax loophole, companies stopped investing in them. But with the fall in malls, theres now a rise in outdoor shopping area's that are more of an experience which is what the hispanic malls are all about

[@sectec25blog]

A.J. Gutierrez no one seems to catch that one, I'm not entirely sure but real physical buildings had some sort of lower tax or preference, even today you can be an American citizen by investing one million dollars but only in a physical space, no commodities/stocks. I think this is what you mean?

[@TylerMusicBoi]

I think it's several factors besides online shopping. Because, believe it or not, people still buy stuff at stores. Especially when you're down for convenience and getting your item immediately versus waiting on it in the mail for a week or so. For one, A LOT of malls have not updated their interiors in years. There's quite a few malls that seem as if you're stepping back into like 1987 or something. If malls were more appealing to the eye and modernized, perhaps that'd help. It would also help if they'd not put such a focus on stores like Sears or JC Penney that are failing and most people don't shop at department stores anymore unless their names are Target or Walmart. Your best bet is to open Targets or even grocery stores like Whole Foods where these Sears stores are and also open stores more geared toward the millennial generation like The Apple Store, Hot Topic, Lush, H&M, Rue 21, Bath and Body Works etc. and close these other stores that aren't appealing and feel as if they're luxury stores. Most people are looking for cheap and affordable. We're no longer interested in places like The Sharper Image because frankly a good majority of us can't afford to shop at places like that. I can see how malls have taken a downturn due to the economy. That's most likely the main reason why.

[@johnmitchell4769]

It’s sad for me to see the era of the shopping mall coming to a close. In the 40’s and 50’s, most shopping was done on Main Street USA. Pretty much every city had a shoe store, clothing store, appliance store, etc. When the shopping mall era started in the 60’s, shopping locally pretty much died out. The advent of the internet and online shopping have now made the mall obsolete. It’s still nice to be able to go into a store and look at actual merchandise but it’s easier and cheaper to buy online. The shopping mall put all your favorite retailers under one roof. The internet put all your favorite retailers under your finger.

[@Robert-dt3is]

If deadmalls did not exist, we would not have deadmallseries/Dan Bell.

[@hardcandy7112]

Malls are drying up just like cinema ,because good paying jobs ,don't pay what it used too .

[@juliadennehy]

Coming soon to a mall near you... tumbleweeds.

[@jaddy540]

Very funny! Thanx!

[@user-er4nt4dp6q]

juliadennehy 😂 😂 😂

[@mwdca7810]

I've got the money, but I NEVER go near a mall...depressing dumps. Bravo to the guy in Atlanta who turned a dying mall into Fiesta and brought life to the place---similar happened in suburban Washington DC when a dead shopping centre become a thriving destination for various Vietnamese and asian foods and restaurants..the place is packed.

[@andrewarmstrong7310]

The malls started what Wal-Mart would finish, the death of downtown shopping. For centuries before the mall even came about, everyone went downtown to shop.

[@theanswer7354]

There is a time and place for everything. You have to adapt to changing times. That's life!

[@thesnare100]

It's too bad most or nearly all of the changes are one I DON'T like. I'm in my 40's so I'm not an old windbag/old bag, they are for the worse not better so many things I wanted to still be around aren't. Of course, there are changes I've liked but the ones I haven't greatly outweigh them. Is it just me? Or do I have unpopular opinions?

[@wonderjh]

It’s reminding them of their own home! That is why it is successful! Americans would never go to that.

[@artdeco64]

When I was growing up (puberty and high school) in the 80's all teenage networking was done in the mall and on the [mainly] Friday and Saturday night cruise; at stoplights you'd hop from one car to another spreading the latest gossip. And about seventy percent of all teenage jobs were held in the mall too. Back then we didn't go online, we went to the mall.

[@stevengrimes3723]

Malls/shopping centres(in Britain) are now a huge system under one roof whos intention is to part you from your folding stuff in exchange for cheap tack at absurd prices, as quick as possible !

[@missnycsparkles]

Its so sad to see this. Malls or shopping centres in the uk continue to thrive. Go to a westfield shopping centre and its ridiculously crowded all the time.

[@schwenda3727]

St. Louis currently has a total of 7 indoor malls fully occupied, mid tier as well as a couple being very upscale! Westfield bought at least 66-75% of those malls in the area 15-20 years ago and HEAVILY remodeled, as well as expanded them in the early-mid 2000's, adding more retail space (I'll come back to that!), then sold ALL of them to someone else. At the same time, three area malls either started to, or were already in decline and were all shuttered between 2011 & 2014. Two of them were owned by Westfield at the time of the other malls' remodeling (they were hanging on perfectly fine before then, but they never got a Westfield revamp!) The big issue with failing malls is there was PLENTY of retail space occupied at one point, then brand new development comes in more convenient or well to do areas, rendering some once proud malls obsolete and useless practically overnight! It happened with American downtowns, then malls and it will eventually hit outdoor/lifestyle centers the instant there's too many to go around! What I'm getting at is Westfield probably severely screwed over the majority of remaining mid-tier malls in the entire area since lifestyle centers are still VERY rare in the area, but when they legitimately open up here, at least half of the Westfieldized malls will be done for in just a few years!

[@supernovax6867]

More than half of the middle class in America is gone, people are getting poorer.

[@buddyanddaisy123]

Excellent comments..what i do not understand is the mentality of retailer executives. take the Mall of America-the largest mall in the USA. i visited it once on a business trip to Minneapolis-just wanted to see it. It is like any American mall-just 4X as big. instead of one Macys store there are 4-do you get 4X the sales? Doesn't make sense to me.

[@AmandaDuncanEditor]

I still love malls, online shipping is so boring.

[@claudiuspereira3194]

This is FANTASTIC news . I as a small business owner can now start again. The Malls KILLED off the small specialist retailer--reality has come full circle

[@sararegato471]

I LOVE THE OLD MALLS , I HAVE A LOT FUN THERE, THE SALES, THE STORES ,THE CONNECTION WITH THE PEOPLE, ETC.its a shame.

[@normbograham]

Where are the future senior citizens going to go for their morning walks.

[@VegasX900]

Where ever you want.

[@Miakitty4233]

The mall WAS a place to find many shops in one location. Wages and cost of living have greatly contributed to its downfall. It's the poor and the dying middle class that kept it alive and thriving. If the cost of living keeps you struggling to pay for housing and electricity, nothing else is important. Rent used to have control, now it's out of control. There was a time we even had renters credit at tax season, that also is gone. Wages remain stagnant compared to the rising cost of living. Every year more and more costs, taxes and surcharges are added into the Bill's we pay and they wonder why malls are becoming a thing of the past. I remember a time the dollar store wasn't a store of choice, today it's a necessity. Can anyone say transparency in city, county, state and government spending. Or how about online open access to see where our money is really going and to what organization and how much. Or count for yourselves every 5 to 7 dollar bridge toll times the millions who commute across the California bridges alone to figure out something is very wrong and at the expense of the tax payer. Make a video on that and tell me where is the money going so I can better understand why the toll is that high. And that's only one example I'm using.

[@michaeIaa]

3:07 “no new enclosed mall has been built since 2006” not accurate because they opened one the next town over from where i live back in 2014

[@JMOKarter]

Online shopping killed the mall. People now don’t go out because everything can be delivered home making people lazier and stuck at home.

[@yellowbird5411]

I would love to see all the land used for torn down malls turned into beautiful parks, or gardens. But those don't bring in taxes/revenue, so that probably won't happen.

[@arman757]

Lynn Proctor yeah, more man made creations

[@keithwilson6060]

The first mall in my large city was an outdoor court-style mall, and it was wonderful. Covered walks and transits, there was shade and sun, and numerous water features.

[@yesman2755]

Shopping malls took out the small traders and independent stores. What goes around comes around. At the end of the day, it’s all down to greed.

[@gc3k]

The post WWII decades were fun and prosperous, but it's a new era, and the old bloated American lifestyle isn't sustainable anymore. Many malls are abandoned and unsafe and they should be torn down if there isn't any use for them anymore

[@cattysplat]

Oh the bloat is still there, it's filling your CEO's and wall street stockholders bank balance with billions of dollars stolen from the now extinct middle classes....I hope you enjoy the third world because it's coming to America if things don't change.

[@MissAmazanda]

The guy who turned the mall around and attracted a lot of hispanic customers did what I've been saying for years. You have to make a place like a mall a great fun experience, not just stuff to buy. Back in the 80's my local mall would have WWF wrestlers visit, baseball card shows, they had a theater, antique, toy and video game shows, trick or treating for kids on Halloween ect. There were so many reasons people would visit the mall, some would come from out of state just for the special things they had. There is a major amusement park close by where i live and it gets so busy with people that they don't ever have to worry about going out of business. The reason is there is so much to do, so many special days and activites like daredevil shows, movie nights ect. They probably have 35-40 special events in one season, that's the way you have to run a place.

[@farwayout]

NAILED IT!😃

[@johnrogers3546]

The internet sales account for 14% of total sales. People in the lower 85 % are broke and haven’t had a raise in 10 years and everything they pay for has tripled in cost!!!

[@rileylawlor1034]

They were never updated. They got disgusting