The Rise And Fall Of The Mall

Starting with the opening of the Southland Mall in 1956 malls have been a vaulted piece of Americana for decades. Thousands were built across the country and for a while it seemed they would dominate the American landscape forever, but in recent years they’ve rapidly lost their value. So how did malls go from being a mainstay in American society to a quickly vanishing memory?

MORE RISE AND FALL:
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The Rise And Fall of USPS
The Rise And Fall Of Toms

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The Rise And Fall Of The Mall

[AngelPandaEarth]

1.) Decline of middle class
2.) Too many malls
3.) Internet and e-commerce

[yeeyeet]

American malls: *dying* 😔

Asian malls: •TWENTY STORIES HIGH•

[kayd]

Its not the mall that's dead, its the stores that are dead.

[icecreamman]

america: malls failing
canada: YOU GET A MALL YOU GET A MALL EVERYONE GETS A MALL!

[ginglee]

Alternative title: The Rise and Fall of the Mall in the US

[March-yxyz]

Here in LA alot of smaller Malls have Been closing but bigger ones get even bigger

[Melissa]

I think a big part of the problem is that stores have become to utilitarian and boring. That's ok for big box stores in shopping centers, but it doesn't work for malls. Malls need the type of stores that are fun to browse and just hang out in, even if you don't intend to buy anything. Remember stores like Natural Wonders or the toy store Zany Brainy? Or Halloween stores that felt like a haunted house exhibit? You felt like you were visiting a fun interactive children's museum when you went in one of those kinds of stores. They had all kinds of fun, unique merchandise that was out on display and you could just go in there to play with the stuff. That's the kind of thing malls need to have, especially the smaller ones that aren't able to put in things like indoor amusement parks. Unfortunately, I guess those kinds of stores can only profit in a boom economy and in the world that existed before the internet. (at least in the U.S, anyway)

[jacksond]

It’s kind of sad malls are dying. I would love to hang out at a mall with friends, but no one wants to.

[agentbubbles]

No one wants to go to malls because no one wants to pay $10 for a pretzel.

[SLZABBJNGO]

I wish that malls had something more than generic clothing stores, generic jewelry stores, or the usual restaurants we all see everywhere. And do we really need 5 different stores that sell bath salts and soap?

[mike_]

Meanwhile where I live, the nearest mall’s parking lot is almost always full

[mindbomb]

I grew up in 1980s USA and lived in Moscow, Russia for the last 6 years. Their huge, fancy malls are very much still packed. It's clearly a cultural difference.

[YoBoyMarcus]

I remember when I was in middle school and high school in the late 80's early 90's the mall was THE place to be. Everybody would go after school to hang out. It was a great time.

[zaraa.]

Anyone else find it symbolic that a mall named “American Dream” is dying?

[map]

Abandoned malls could be used as hospitals or homeless shelters.
Either that or just use them as big skate parks so we could live out our pro skater dreams.

[francedajao]

While in the Philippines, malls are gigantic and even has churches, waterparks, and koreans

[herlysarmiento]

Short answer: The economic decline of the middle class in the USA.

[saiyaspring]

I always thought about the potential of abandoned malls. You could use that space for anything.

[origamiandcats]

In smaller countries with crappier online shopping, the mall isn't dying as quickly.

I love the mall. If you're not an off the rack fit It's great to be able to try on clothes.

[warmitag]

In the 70s every town/city had it's mall, and it was Air Conditioned. And they were different from each other. Different stores, snacks and products. It was fun to drive to a different city/mall on the weekend to see what they had. Pretty soon they became the same, the same shops and food outlets took over. Soon all the clothing stores at the mall were owned by the same head company, same with shoe, jewelry and music stores. Once you knew there was no competition and the prices were fixed you felt cheated and manipulated. There was no reason to go to any but the biggest malls. McDonald's, Burger King, Dairy Queen and KFC chased out the cool international snack places. Rents kept going up chasing the last of the small unique stores/food places out. The fun was gone, and the mall became a place to go when you just needed a new pair of shoes or jeans, nothing more.