Mall of America - Minneapolis - Our chew chew trains take hordes of non paying scum to hang out and cause trouble. I've hated it since it's conception displacing our beloved Met Stadium.

Oh that felt good.

Large Mall near me shut down . Amazon bought it and is about to tear it down and build a three level distribution center . Plenty of jobs when it's all said and done . Better than sitting there empty .

I used to like malls, when I was a lot younger. But with the advent of internet, and online sales, I’ve rarely been in a mall since then. Some things I like going in person, and it was nice to be able to do shopping in one building for different things, when you have to try things on for fit. But lately, online is working better, and I still get it quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig209:
disappearing? no way

there will always be the physical / social aspect of shopping. especially for younger people more fashion conscious.

Mall developers who are ahead of the curve have focused their efforts on 'new urbanism' designs. These are outdoor oriented malls that mimic a neighborhood, where each store front appears to be standalone building lining a narrow street along with a handful of side-streets; think Downtown Disney or, Universal City Walk. The buildings are mixed use, the street level is retail and dining, the upper-levels set up for residential and hotel and the basement levels for underground parking. These designs are becoming more common around suburbs, where the majority of middle-class Americans live; corporate offices are nearby for business travelers and most residents don't want to travel all the way into the city to do their shopping but, 'a city look still appeals'.

The only local mall near me is like malls mentioned . In decline. First Sears folded, the JCPenney. Dunham's is still there, along with regional Belk's. Some other smaller national chain stores, but the rent is sky high, so very few new tenants move in.

I seldom go in. Maybe once a year. But my shopping habits have changed alongside the mall's demise. I'm finding I don't really need the things I use to shop in the mall for anymore.

I’ve always disliked malls. To me it’s a place to be drug around by Mom, a Sweetie, or kids needing something on the other end. However, if the food court had a Great Escape I didn’t mind so much.
At least most of the stores had areas to try on clothes. Hard to know how something fits on line.
Overall, unless I was watching the tenderonies, I am glad something making money is taking their place.

quote:

Originally posted by Browndrake:
Our local mall is just a shadow of what it once was. I was just having this conversation with the guys in the barber shop yesterday morning. The employees at both JC Penny’s and Macey’s are under standing orders to do nothing to stop shoplifting....Don’t even call the police. One of the managers at Penny’s says that about twice a week a gang of people will just walk in, take a bunch of stuff, and walk out. It’s the same basic group of people. The employees know as soon as they come in the door what they are there for. Apparently, these companies say it is cheaper to do nothing...I don’t get it at all.

It used to be a respectable, and enjoyable place to shop. Now there are almost no stores I care about, and roaming groups of thugs running around. This won’t have a happy ending.

Which mall? What area do you live in?

Department stores are an old retail model from 100 years ago that are dying. But they are the anchor stores for malls and when they go the traffic dies down enough to affect the smaller stores.

I can't stand department stores. The prices are always too high and they have stupid "sales" all the time. Just give me good consistently fair pricing and I'll buy, but I will not deal with the overpriced "list price" with 50% off sales every other week, except the day I want to buy something, coupled with "bonus bucks" that expire quickly and every other gimmick they use. And the store design that prevents me from taking the most efficient path to the thing I want to look at, and then putting tables of junk in the aisles I have to walk around.

Sure, the marketing people have "proven" that making you take a circuitous path through the store so that you see lots of other stuff on the way to your intended items, coupled with frequently moving things around to make you search for them generates more impulse buys of things you weren't shopping for. They've also "proven" that the stupid high list prices with deep discounts and other sales gimmicks work. Except on people like me, because I just won't shop there. Seems these old ideas are working so well they will soon be out of business, probably because customers are tired of it.

There's a mall that looks fairly new on the outside just a few miles north of Casa Grande on the I10 freeway.

Usually 3 cars at the security building but other than that it's a ghost town.

Makes me wonder what happened.

Just Prior to Covid, I visited Sarasota and hadn’t been to Sarasota square mall in about twelve years when there was a Sears there. Wow! The place is like a ghost mall! Huge parking lots so empty that you could now land a Cessna in. The interior is mostly used by seniors enjoying air conditioned walks.

re: "Movie Theaters: I think they will bounce back somewhat even with streaming and the advanced availability of content available from a plethora of sources. People still WANT to get out"

I recall only 2 or possibly 3 efforts to 'go to the movies' in the last 20 years. Apparently my demographic tastes have changed, as neither the package wrapping nor the contents nurtured my gleeful return patronage.

Malls for me have been largely replaced by such as WalMart if absolutely necessary, Amazon or other on-line shopping. Home Depot/Lowes are largely unsatisfying as well. Smaller local hardware stores usually have most of my in-person shopping needs.

kids/thieves ruined it, thugs killed the malls lol

Several years ago, my Son and I went to Wolfchase Mall in Memphis. We walked down a very long hallway to go to the restrooms. Right beside the restroom at the end of the hallway was a door leading outside. A number of older teens were hanging out there, cursing, playing music with graphic lyrics, going in and out the outside door with no supervision. As we went into the restroom, a couple of the teens followed us in. Once inside the restroom, these two made no attempt to use the facilities. They seemed more interested in us. Using non verbal communications, I made it clear they needed to find an easier target. We left without incident.
Malls should be a place for everyone and family friendly. Because of political correctness, none of this is being addressed.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Think about all the jobs and careers those failed malls once provided for the local community.

Those same jobs and careers were once provided by the Mom & Pop stores on Mainstreet that the malls destroyed.

It's funny to read the comments from people reminiscing about their memories of going to various malls over the years. People use to reminisce the same way about strolling down Mainstreet.

At my closest Mall, the anchor store is GameStop and there is only one food place left in the so called food court.

Well I do miss Spencer's and Camelot Records, The same can be said for F.W. Woolworths.

quote:

Originally posted by Lord Vaalic:

quote:

Originally posted by Browndrake:
Our local mall is just a shadow of what it once was. I was just having this conversation with the guys in the barber shop yesterday morning. The employees at both JC Penny’s and Macey’s are under standing orders to do nothing to stop shoplifting....Don’t even call the police. One of the managers at Penny’s says that about twice a week a gang of people will just walk in, take a bunch of stuff, and walk out. It’s the same basic group of people. The employees know as soon as they come in the door what they are there for. Apparently, these companies say it is cheaper to do nothing...I don’t get it at all.

It used to be a respectable, and enjoyable place to shop. Now there are almost no stores I care about, and roaming groups of thugs running around. This won’t have a happy ending.

Which mall? What area do you live in?

I’m talking about Crosstown Mall in Portage, MI.

quote:

Originally posted by .38supersig:
Well I do miss Spencer's and Camelot Records, The same can be said for F.W. Woolworths.

Oh, I remember Spencers. Gifts and Novelties galore. Such as, a "License to Fart" which a few of us had. Loads of fun with those.