that last bit is what prompted my question. crydas' and mseebach's answers make a good point that for some reasons, malls in the US started taking on other rol

that last bit is what prompted my question. crydas' and mseebach's answers make a good point that for some reasons, malls in the US started taking on other roles than just the places of exchange for everyday goods. so from that perspective, if malls fail, those roles need to be filled by some other entity.