Why do shopping malls flourish, and over time are ghost malls? Nt

[raccoon]

[tinrobot]

1. All sorts of reasons.

Online shopping has decimated retail.

Kids don't hang out in malls anymore.

Neighborhoods change, people move.

Malls can't afford to update, get left behind.

Lots more.

[MissB]

2. Malls near us don't let unaccompanied kids hang around the mall.

The mall closest to my office is great for walking around in the winter. The owners have put a lot of money into the mall in the last couple of years but they keep losing tenants.

[TheFarseer]

3. Agree with the first poster but want to add

I saw an article the other day suggesting that malls were a middle class phenomenon and now that the middle class is shrinking, malls are increasingly feeling the effects of that.

[Strelnikov_]

12. I think this is as much a factor as the growth in e-commerce n /t

[Roland99]

4. One mall near us is undergoing a massive transformation

Two Orange County Tax Collector Branches, Call Center and Mail Processing Center to Relocate to West Oaks Mall in Ocoee as Part of Yearlong Office Restructuring
https://www.octaxcol.com/news/move/

Here’s what’s eventually coming:

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2017/02/27/first-look-heres-whats-in-store-for-west-oaks-mall.html

Last week, it was revealed that Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBY) plans to build out a nearly 35,000-square-foot call center, known as the Florida Call Center, bringing 500 jobs to the area, as previously reported by Orlando Business Journal.

Prior to that, the 70,000-square-foot SunPass Centralized Customer Service Center, operated by Xerox Corp., opened last year in a portion of the former Sears, which also was expected to create 500 jobs.

Here's a closer look at what Moonbeam Management has in the works:

Phase 1, which kicked off last summer, includes:

Repurposing the former Sears and Belk anchor buildings into large office spaces. West Oaks eventually plans to have nearly 350,000 square feet of office space between the former Belk and Sears buildings, and around 2,500 office jobs will be created.
Expanding entertainment and dining options, including GameTime Entertainment Center planned to open by this second quarter and Bates New England Seafood & Steakhouse, scheduled to open in April

Plans for Phase 2 include:

Continuing to repurpose the property for other uses and bring in non-traditional mall tenants, such as karate studios, tax preparation and other service providers, medical offices, athletic centers and educational organizations
Bring in more traditional dining, entertainment and retail tenants
Explore using a portion of the property for multifamily development

Phase 3 may focus on:

Converting a major mall entryway and building core into an open-air plaza with a mix of new casual and formal dining options.

[gulliver]

11. Same here. I have high hopes for this model.

People might be able to work and live in the same structure...shop, etc. Last time I was in the mall near me (the one being converted), I noticed seniors were using it for walking for exercise. Maybe they would just move in if there were a retirement community complex there where the Sears used to be.

[maxsolomon]

5. People are fickle, and times change. Evolve or die.

Look at which malls thrive now.

Thriving: University Village near my house in Seattle. It's an outdoor mall, with cars and pedestrians crisscrossing constantly on narrow "streets". It looks like a small town center, but filled with a mix of upscale national chains and hyper-local retail and restaurants.

It has "3rd Place" locations, too: a Starbucks that caters to studying UW students who stay for hours. "Experience" retail like ceramics-painting.

There's a huge QFC (a Kroger brand) that brings a constant stream of people there for "non-Mall" shopping (everyone has to eat). Drugstores and Day Care, too.

They're also constantly adding parking - in 5-story garages.

Failing: enclosed malls with central courts and stores that cater to the middle middle-class and below. You know, the people that are getting screwed by stagnant wages.

[Ms. Toad]

10. That shift makes no sense to me -

especially in places that have winters.

[maxsolomon]

16. we don't have much of a winter, true.

lots of malls are looking at integrating housing as well.

[JHB]

6. Show me a video arcade, and I will show you a thriving mall.

Of course, it's been a long time since you had to go to one to play a game that didn't involve dice.

[alphafemale]

14. That was such a fun time to grow up.

I did spend much free time there with friends.

Many teens and twenties also worked in the mall.

[Freddie]

7. Not all malls

One not far from me is thriving. When one of the department store anchors closed, they promptly filled the space with an upscale grocery store. But this particular mall is the only “healthy” one in the region. Others have gone into a death spiral as big anchor stores like Sears close. Then the interior stores start to go, and the mall’s decor is stuck in the 80’s and the parking lot is full of potholes.
There was a small mall near me, opened in the mid-70s when malls were the rage. About 20 years ago it got “de-malled” and turned into a regular shopping center. Was doing great until Radio Shack went out, Just Cabinets went out, Bon-Ton went out, the CVS moved and the Papa Johns and Subway closed.

[Archae]

8. Here in Sheboygan...

We had the Memorial Mall.

First Penney's left.

Then Sears.

It was the construction of Wal-Mart supercenters at the north side and the south side of Sheboygan that rang the death bell.

The mall was torn down, (except for a couple south end of the mall stores,) and now Meijers is there.

Meijers is kind of a "Mini Wal-Mart," about 3/4 the size of the supercenters.

The saddest day for me was when the "Aladdins Castle" videogame arcade closed up.

[hunter]

9. Our mall seems to be doing okay. Possibly because we have a large population of recent immigrants.

They are getting their first taste of the "American Dream" and they are happy.

Malls are fun places to visit when all your fellow shoppers are feeling optimistic about the future.

Malls are scary places when they are mostly deserted and the few shoppers who are there don't have a little mad money to spend at the food courts, movie theaters, arcades, and costume jewelry or novelty toy stands.

[Captain Stern]

13. Times changed, malls changed, people changed.

When our mall opened back in the seventies it was an event. All the best big stores in one inside place, along with some awesome small places. You could access all this great stuff by parking in one space, and not getting charged to park.

The Mall was a destination. We went to 'the Mall'...we didn't say we were going to Sears, or JCPenney's...we said we were going to the Mall.

Our mall had wide open spaces, fountains, and awesome Christmas decorations. It was a nice place to go to.

Now, not so much. The fountains are gone. The Holiday displays are a thing of the past. The wide open spaces are filled with kiosks that offer cheap junk for sale.

The place just sucks.

[tavernier]

15. Online shopping.

But little by little I’m sensing a pulse in the patient. Online is fast and convenient and often cheaper, but people are starting to miss the tactile experience... sight, smell, touch, not to mention instant gratification.
Perhaps malls are a thing of the past, but actually shopping in stores is making a comeback with my crowd.