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The rise and fall of the American shopping mall
Business Insider ^ | 1/6/23 | Avery Hartmans

Posted on 12/24/2023 10:56:14 AM PST by DallasBiff

Shuttered stores at Schuylkill Mall in Pennsylvania in 2017.

By the 1980s, the mall had become the center of American social life and accounted for the bulk of all retail sales.

But a shrinking middle class, the rise of online shopping, and the fact that there were simply too many malls contributed to the decline of the American mall.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: amazon; crime; jeffbezos; mall; mallculture; malls; shopping; shoppingmalls; theft
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To: Vaduz
I hate online shopping, and yet in 2023 I’ve done at least 85% of my non-grocery shopping online.

I don’t shop online to get a lower price (I don’t even know if the Amazon prices are any lower).
I don’t shop online for convenience (I would much rather buy something in person at a retail store than online).

I shop online because I got sick of pissing away hours of my valuable time going to four or five different stores in a fruitless search for what I needed.

As far as I’m concerned, limited in-store inventories have done more to destroy traditional retail stores than anything else Amazon offers.

101 posted on 12/24/2023 2:53:12 PM PST by Alberta's Child (If something in government doesn’t make sense, you can be sure it makes dollars.)
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To: BobL

And it’s that thought process, my friend, that people choose to stay home.
It’s that thought process that doesn’t allow for change.
It’s that thought process that gets McConnell, McCarthy and all the other macs re-elected.
It’s that thought process that put us in the position we are in today.
It’s that thought process that needs to change.


102 posted on 12/24/2023 2:53:22 PM PST by joe fonebone (And the people said NO! The End)
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To: ealgeone
In a different vein my area is seeing an explosion of Indians.

That's my area.

103 posted on 12/24/2023 2:53:58 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: DallasBiff

Bezos filled in a missing retail space but he did not kill the malls. They were dead and dying long before Amazon was even a company.


104 posted on 12/24/2023 2:55:12 PM PST by CodeToad (Rule #1: The elites want you dead.)
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To: Chewbarkah
I am familiar with the “bus stop at the mall” issue, as I have worked on a number of retail site development projects over the years where bus stops were incorporated in the site plan.

It’s mainly a function of low retail wages. Shopping mall owners don’t put bus stops on their property to attract customers. They are mainly used because they’re the only way for many store EMPLOYEES to get to a suburban location.

The high school and college-aged kids and semi-retired people who used to work at the mall in decades past have generally been replaced by lower-class urban workers.

105 posted on 12/24/2023 2:59:07 PM PST by Alberta's Child (If something in government doesn’t make sense, you can be sure it makes dollars.)
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To: ealgeone

Used to go to Lenox back in the late 70s. It was very high-end then.


106 posted on 12/24/2023 3:20:19 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man on)
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To: Rummyfan

Yep. Dated a gal in the ATL area back in the 80s. Was a good place for a date. Wouldn’t go there today.


107 posted on 12/24/2023 3:29:47 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: DallasBiff

For me, the nearest mall died when the arcade closed down years ago.

Not long ago I went there and I was greeted with excruciatingly loud hip hop “music”, and I wondered what it was about. It seems that Sears had pulled out and an “urban” clothing store took over part of their space. It was the grand opening, and they had giant speakers flanking the entrance.

I more or less abandoned any hope of buying anything so I retreated to the food court for some lunch. I got my food and sat down, and noticed a group of “yutes” raising a ruckus on the other side of the court. I ate quickly and left.

Recently, there was a person who tried to abduct a 14 year old girl who had been separated from her friends. He was caught and it turns out he had a 28 page rap sheet. There was also an attempted carjacking in the parking lot.

This is why malls are dying.


108 posted on 12/24/2023 3:39:43 PM PST by Fresh Wind (Soros on assisting the Nazis with the Holocaust: "That's when my character was made.")
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To: DallasBiff

Once I heard what it cost to rent in the mall plus the percentage you had to fork over, I was wondering how anyone but the big box stores could afford being there. And then a small shop-owner told me any leaks in their part of the roof was totally their responsibility, I wondered how absolutely insane anyone had to be to agree to that arrangement.


109 posted on 12/24/2023 3:59:37 PM PST by skr (Righteousness exalteth a nation: sin is a reproach to any people. - Proverbs 14:34)
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To: DallasBiff

Most all the retail outlets I do any shopping at today are not in malls. They are either standalone locations or are in a cluster of standalone stores. When you know exactly the kind of thing you are looking for the stores you need are really more convenient if they are NOT in a mall.


110 posted on 12/24/2023 4:37:24 PM PST by Wuli
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To: HonkyTonkMan

“Twin Pines Mall” Featured in “Back to the Future” Looks Like a Ghost Town
https://rumble.com/v434hkt-twin-pines-mall-featured-in-back-to-the-future-looks-like-a-ghost-town.html


111 posted on 12/24/2023 5:06:25 PM PST by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: yawningotter

Are you referring to the shooting at the Columbus, Georgia Peachtree Mall, just two days ago? Shots were fired in the parking lot and the stores were locked down for 45 minutes. The Kay Jeweler clerk told me they stayed in the back with the customers they had in the store when given the order to close their doors.


112 posted on 12/24/2023 5:15:08 PM PST by Monterrosa-24 (Saludemos la patria orgullosos)
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To: DallasBiff
We have a great mall near me in suburban Boston. Surrounded by affluent towns it has high end stores and great underground parking. But today I'd guess that at least one-third of the sales space is vacant and it's hard to see it being alive ten years from now...or maybe even five years.
113 posted on 12/24/2023 5:21:08 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Proudly Clinging To My Guns And My Religion)
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To: minnesota_bound
Wow! A few stray customers in there.

Sad really. I guess students get part-time jobs in fulfillment centers now.

114 posted on 12/24/2023 5:46:49 PM PST by HonkyTonkMan ( )
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To: outofsalt

“I think they may need to put tail-gunners on the back of the delivery trucks soon.”

GPS-based locked compartments

The door to a compartment only can be opened if the truck is in the right area.


115 posted on 12/24/2023 7:09:25 PM PST by Brian Griffin
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To: dfwgator
There are two kinds of malls: The malls the white people go to. The malls the white people used to go to. -Chris Rock


116 posted on 12/24/2023 7:11:04 PM PST by DCBryan1 (Inter arma enim silent leges! - Cicero )
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To: Leaning Right
Then the mall owner made a fatal mistake. He put a bus stop at one entrance.

Yep. Bannister Mall in KCMO had almost ZERO crime for 10 years. Within one (1) year of bus stop from Truman/Troost area ferals, there were 3 murders at or near Bannister mall. Great mall destroyed by the 13% in just a few years. Barren within 3 of bus stop intro.

117 posted on 12/24/2023 7:15:10 PM PST by DCBryan1 (Inter arma enim silent leges! - Cicero )
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To: DallasBiff

Malls are dinosaurs waiting for the final extinction. Their extinction is due to several factors. First the malls were predicated on having large anchor stores as the major market draw. Common anchors were Wards, Sears and JC Penney…all gone or on life support. High end anchors like Macys, Nordstroms etc. found malls no longer financially viable with declining sales and high rents. The small boutique stores, eating places and movie theaters depended on the anchors as a draw for their businesses and without the anchors their businesses declined and eventually closed.

Second, malls originally were located in suburban areas, but as suburbs expanded further from the urban core, the older malls became located in less desirable or even declining areas. The newer malls also attracted the crowds who saw the older malls become dated. Adding to this was the new malls often attracted the anchor stores away from the older malls.

Third, malls became hangouts for young people who were there to meet friends and not to seriously shop. They also became hangouts for young thugs and gang bangers making the malls less than safe spaces and driving away serious shoppers.

Lastly, consumers are moving to online shopping which gives them a larger variety of goods and greater convenience than driving to a mall, hassling with parking and crowds and having to walk long distances to find what they are looking for.

The last gasp for malls are the mega malls… best example Mall of America in the Minnesota Twin Cities. Mall of America is a destination mall and offers carnival rides and other non shopping experiences to lure customers. However, Mall of America is experiencing the same problems of the smaller malls. It is ironic that the Twin Cities where the first mall Southdale Center opened in 1956 might also be the site of the last mall.


118 posted on 12/24/2023 8:49:31 PM PST by The Great RJ ( )
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To: Alberta's Child

limited in-store inventories

Never came across that problem and it’s no extra time for me go to stores you find things that you don’t see on line.

Nothing has destroyed businesses like Amazon has that will never return smaller cities and towns have many empty stores even in many larger cities major malls are spider homes.


119 posted on 12/25/2023 9:24:33 AM PST by Vaduz (....)
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