Are shopping malls dying out?

[Archae]

There was just an article in the Sheboygan Press about 4 stores at the Memorial Mall, closing soon.

Including a Hallmark and Sears.

Are shopping malls simply dying out?

[tosh]

1. Yes, nationwide.

I read it somewhere earlier this week. (If I can remember where I'll post a link. )

Here it is: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/business/the-economics-and-nostalgia-of-dead-malls.html

[joeglow3]

2. Have been for a while.

[lpbk2713]

3. I couldn't tell you anything about my local mall.

It's about five miles away from my home but I haven't been there in over ten years.

[JI7]

4. in California they are mostly turning into outdoor type

Shopping centers.

It's still kind of like malls but remodeling and new places ate built so you are outdoors as you walk along to different stores.

[msongs]

5. like they were in the 60's - only fancier and better laid out nt

[KittyWampus]

6. they've morphed into open air malls.

[Ms. Toad]

7. Is this a serious question?

http://beautifuldecay.com/2014/04/05/americas-abandoned-malls/

http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/summit-county/2014/04/29/local-dead-mall-photography/8463297/

[avebury]

8. When I moved to Oklahoma City in 1996

there were 4 mall in OKC. Now there are 2 and we now also have an outlet mall (that I have never been to).

[ND-Dem]

9. Only the monied can afford to do recreational shopping anymore. Thus, malls are less

popular.

[Archae]

10. Internet shopping is taking off too.

[Blue_Tires]

20. People actually go to malls to shop?

Until my mid-20s, malls were for three things:

1. Arcades
2. Movies
3. Chasing girls
(not in that order)

[ND-Dem]

21. you seem to be saying that only teens and 20-somethings are people. I guess that's

how it feels to that age group.

[BeeBee]

11. Yes. n/t

[tularetom]

12. It costs so much to heat and cool the fricken things

The rents are too high for all but the most profitable retailers.

Stand alone big box stores (Costco, Walmart, Target) have captured an increasing market shares from the mall based stores.

Finally, more and more people are purchasing items from Amazon and other online retailers.

Yep, malls are going the way of the horse and buggy, and the American two party system.

[Fearless]

13. The middle class is dying out

That's why.

[trof]

14. The so-called 'factory outlet' malls seem to ne thriving in the south.

We have a Tanger Factory Outlet mall here.
It is huge and seems to be growing.
Charter buses bring shoppers in from the southeast.

BTW, the prices aren't that good.

[Raine1967]

15. I don't go to malls anymore.

I stopped going years ago. They stopped appealing to my senses of wanting to have a grounded feel to where I was shopping.

They also seem devoid of personality.

Malls were meant IMO to be a place where people just shopped to spend money — just because. I go to stores to purchase specific items.

I was younger then, and I don't shop like that anymore. I also don't go to 'all you can eat' Chinese buffets.

If I need something, a mall is a hassle.

[RebelOne]

18. I don't either. The parking is awful and most of the stores are overpriced. n/t

[kcr]

16. I think they are, although for some reason the mall near me is doing really well

It's not a particularly large or fancy mall, but always busy and has a large variety of stores. But that's not typical.

[backscatter712]

17. Malls for the wealthier folks are doing pretty well.

Malls that had catered to working class/lower middle class are the ones that are hollowing out and going bust. Those people had moved to shopping online.

[melman]

22. Yep

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/business/the-economics-and-nostalgia-of-dead-malls.html?_r=0

[MohRokTah]

19. They are very much dying.

More here.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

23. It isn't that malls are dying out so much as many malls themselves are dead

There is actually believe it or not a severe shortage of quality retail space in most major North American markets.

The problem is many of the institutional mall owners invested in their relationships with major anchors rather than the properties themselves and were slow to develop new properties in emerging suburban areas or gentrifying urban ones. So many of the existing properties are rundown and in lousy locations. These are the dying malls.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

24. The low end ones are gone.

The high end retailers like Neiman-Marcus and Nordstrom and Saks, and the designer boutiques, are still located in a mall in an affluent part of town. At least if you have the money and are trying to avoid the Walmart look.