Page 13 - Edge: Issue 6

The Rise and Fall of Malls
A once-popular American cultural staple gains new life. Story by Maisa Doan
The first mall ever built was called the Southdale Center Mall. After a peak in the 1990s, however, this mall has suffered the fate many other similar shopping areas in the last few years. Southdale Center Mall has been experiencing high vacancy and several store closures since the opening of the mall in 1956. Like many malls today, Southdale Center simply cannot keep up with the business that online shopping attracts, and the closure of this historic mall seems imminent. All across the country, malls are experiencing closures in similar conditions. What happened to these once-revolutionary staples of the shopping experience?
Malls were one of the most pervasive cultural features
said Emily McCauslin, 12.
Switching to an online platform holds advantages for
stores. When going online, there is a wider audience of people that companies can attract to their business, as many people would rather go shopping online than in the mall. Stores like Sears are slowly dying because they couldn’t keep up with their competitors, who are up to date by going online.
Likewise, when the recession hit in 2008, it carried consequences for shoppers and retailers. Customers wanted to save their money, and they did not venture to the mall as often. That trend carried on over the years and
of the 1990s. While in some ways
shopping malls existed to combat
boredom, they were also great places
to shop. They thrived on discounted
items, and customers would flock to
their low-cost, high-quality goods. The
conditions of malls let people shop in
a welcoming environment whenever it
was cold or hot outside. Discovering a great deal of shopping goods in one spot as opposed to going all over town made people attracted to malls.
Malls attracted teenagers as a place to spend time with friends attracted business. Groups of friends would come to the mall to hang out and catch up. As technology became mainstream, however, teenagers could more easily talk on the phone. Losing this crowd of teenagers through technology brought sales down for malls.
Other technological advancements have also displaced
malls. Online shopping now allows customers to find cheaper items in wider selections than in stores. Therefore, price-savvy customers who once flocked to malls instead swarmed to online shopping sites.
was only accentuated by the advent of online stores. Since then more than 8,500 malls announced their closing date in 2019 and between 20% to 25% of malls are projected to close in 2022.
It’s not all bad news for malls, though. Many malls are being updated to survive in the new economic landscape, making them
more capable of attracting customers in the modern age. Since there are a lot of abandoned malls across the U.S., people like Micheal Wagner and more architects that work for Pensler turn old mall properties into office campuses or into outdoor retail shopping experiences. One of their tactics is to convert the mall inside out, to make shoppers feel like they are walking in a city or a suburban area when they are shopping. This has a big economic impact, because the resale price makes companies more interested in renting a store; therefore, landlords can up the
“I like online shopping better because it is easier to shop within my home, many more options online, and receive the packages in a timely manner,” said Jackson Roberts, 10.
Shopping online helps people save money, looking for the best deals and avoiding a trip out of their way. The convenience of online shopping is why malls are failing.
The competition of big brand stores going against each other in a race to keep customers drives stores to make the most cost-effective decisions. One of these is the decision of whether or not to adopt a purely digital platform. Stores like Abercrombie and Fitch are closing in malls, because most of their customers buy their clothing online rather than in stores, so there is no need to keep the “brick-and-mortar” stores open.
“I go to the mall once or twice a month but I go online shopping once every two weeks or once a month, probably,”
“I like to watch movies and hang out with friends at the mall,” said Jade Ussery, 8.
So, a new mall called American Dream (Meadowlands Mall), 7 miles away from New York, is attracting customers by offering 55% entertainment and 45% retail. The American Dream has a Nickelodeon Universe, an ice skating rink, year around ski slope, a lot of shops, food, and a lot more. American Dream’s business has improved since the introduction of these entertainment initiatives into their business model, and this adaptation to changing times will help this mall to thrive in the years to come.
While malls in the traditional sense likely will not exist fifty years from now, the future doesn’t look entirely dark for malls. These shopping centers can evolve and adapt to appeal to new customers, and the new concept of malls as recreational community centers and places of entertainment will certainly survive long into the future.
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“I like to watch movies and hang out with friends at the mall.” - Jade Ussery
“I go to the mall once rent for the lot.
or twice a month.” Entertainment has always been
- Emily McCauslin one of the main purposes of every mall.