Like The Guardian article suggests, it's not just malls that are dying but suburban living in general. The idea that you live in a bedroom community and drive to one neighborhood to work and another to go out and another to shop is increasingly less appealing than living in a place where you can live/work/play/shop all in the same 2-mile radius.
The only malls that are doing okay are "destination" malls, whether high-end luxury ones or those anchored by other forms of entertainment. And if some malls seem busier than ever, it might be because there are fewer of them so the ones that are surviving are drawing from multiple towns, even multiple counties.
"Why would you ruin perfectly good peanuts by adding candy corn? That's like saying hey, I have these awesome nachos, guess I better add some dryer lint." - Nonny
The problem with plazas are bad weather. If it's really hot/cold/rainy it's less than ideal.
Yep. 4 solid months of freeze your ass off weather in MN does not make for conducive plaza shopping. It hasn't stopped them from building a few around the twin cities, but they still dont do as well as our traditional enclosed malls.
Well I hope the good old hood mall doesn't die. Some of you may not be familiar with these, but they generally contain a dollar movie theater with an impressive selection of Tyler Perry movies, at least five stores wherein you can purchase a personalized airbrushed t-shirt, a DMV office, a foot locker with bars on the windows, and knockoffs of your favorite food court options. Think, Cousin Pam's Soft Pretzels and Cinnastop. Oh yeah, and some kind of buffet restaurant. Shop on Friday night at your own risk.
Malls are still insanely busy around here for the most part, but I will say the most popular place by far is the Spectrum, which is an outdoor mall area. It's huge and definitely a go to place over the mall for me.
the malls near me are packed at all times. I hate going there for this reason. Also, those douchebags who pop out of the kiosks trying to sell hand cream.
Post by Overthemoon on Aug 10, 2014 21:14:36 GMT -5
When I was a teenager I loved the mall. Now I prefer the plaza style...we have some awesome ones nearby and it is SO nice pulling in right in front of the store you need, especially with two little kids in tow. They feel more social and festive too. I also loathe being pestered by kiosk salespeople inside the mall - our local mall has them up and down every single hallway and I feel so harassed by all the sales pitches. I shop online or at the plazas whenever possible.
Also, they are expanding the MOA to nearly twice it's current size, and a brand new premium outlet mall with over 100 shops just opened this week in the southern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Hardly the death of mall shopping for this kind of expansion/creation, IMO.
MOA was, as usual, very busy today. Southdale is always busy too.
And I'm pretty happy about the J Crew factory store opening this week.
I went shopping Friday and it felt depressing. There was nothing good and the mall just seemed sad and overstuffed with a ton of ugly crap. Online shopping with free shipping, FTW!
Like The Guardian article suggests, it's not just malls that are dying but suburban living in general. The idea that you live in a bedroom community and drive to one neighborhood to work and another to go out and another to shop is increasingly less appealing than living in a place where you can live/work/play/shop all in the same 2-mile radius.
The only malls that are doing okay are "destination" malls, whether high-end luxury ones or those anchored by other forms of entertainment. And if some malls seem busier than ever, it might be because there are fewer of them so the ones that are surviving are drawing from multiple towns, even multiple counties.
H and I were just talking about this yesterday. We moved from a rural area where the closest mall was 1.5 hours about a year ago. Yesterday H and I were annoyed that we had to drive 15 miles to a store. We were like what has happened to us?!
Weird. H and I were at the mall yesterday for the first in forever and we were discussing how it wasn't the same. I think online shopping has really take over. I just don't have time for the mall anymore.
I saw some news piece on this, malls are dying (there hasn't been a new mall built for like 10 years, I guess) and they are bringing back the strip mall, but modern. Creating shopping "villages" where you can enter to an open air courtyard and have your pick of stores like you are shopping in a suburban downtown full of chain stores.
I am not someone who contributes to mall survival. I like the plaza shopping centers because grocery stores are tucked into the one near me. Food>all else.
Post by wildfloweragain on Aug 11, 2014 8:10:14 GMT -5
They are putting more and more entertainment in the malls, which I think is a good marketing thing. I hate the mall, but I do love being out of the sun/snow to do shopping if I need to try things on. 99% of my shopping is online though. My kids (all under age 10) LOVE the mall! When H was laid off, we would go to the mall, ride the merry go round for $1 each, ride the escalator, throw pennies in the fountains and tire them out for an inexpensive outing.
Post by cinnamoncox on Aug 11, 2014 8:12:49 GMT -5
Malls here (near Boston) are still pretty busy. The shopping villages and outlets are becoming more of a thing though. Most recent one has outlet shops, a movie theater, a Lego discovery center, restaurants (some open air seating) and a playground. So they're making it a thing, like make an afternoon of it, shop, eat, take the kids to movie/park/Lego, etc. vs just running to the mall and only shopping.
I use amazon whenever humanly possible. I just get what I need and it cuts down on impulse purchases.
The mall closest to us is dying a slow, painful death (and most will be demolished soon), but our mall with all the high-end stores is always SUPER busy. It's closer to the tourist-y areas (parks and outlets), though, so that could be one explanation.