[Alberta's Child]

Indoor malls effectively became obsolete when they were replaced by the “big box” shopping center model in the 1990s.

The big box model minimized or eliminated two of the biggest weaknesses of indoor malls: (1) the enormous cost is heating, cooling, lighting and maintaining common-area corridors and atriums; and (2) casual shoppers who wander from store to store without spending any money.

[T.B. Yoits]

The big box stores also streamlined the delivery process from manufacturer/importer to retail store.

Most mall stores are supported by a "piece pick" operation where staff in a distribution center break open full cases and piece pick the contents to distribute among the mall stores that distribution center supports because most mall stores cannot fit full cases of product after the initial set of that merchandise.

The deliveries to malls tend to be by small box trucks using rolling carts or hand trucks through a normal sized door.

Big box stores, on the other hand, can receive deliveries by tractor-trailer from a distribution center with merchandise mostly shipped by full cases, using one large truck, one driver, and no piece-pick staff. The items are delivered to a back loading dock and unloaded by forklift or pallet jacks.

The big box stores can also run a back-haul program where the empty tractor-trailer swings by one of their suppliers on the way back to the distribution center to pick up a load going to the same distribution center.

versus

[catnipman]

a third issue of ginormous indoor malls that was minimized by big box stores was the YUGE time and distance one had to walk from one place to another in indoor malls to buy some over-priced tchotchke or tinket ... after all, now many scented candles, scarves, or hairbands does one person need?