5 ms·

As home theaters get bigger and better, I feel like movie theaters are going the wrong direction trying to amp up the experience. Sure, they can ride the Marvel

As home theaters get bigger and better, I feel like movie theaters are going the wrong direction trying to amp up the experience. Sure, they can ride the Marvel movies for a while and catch people who need to be there opening weekend, but the core viewers have been chipped away. I think there are two ways forward: return to the crummy old theater model of playing classic movies day and night (why don't any multiplexes have 1 screen dedicated to this?) Curation is key as well as choice. It would be bice when there are 8 crappy movies at the theater to see "Die Hard" and "The Godfather" playing so there is always an option for people that just want a night out. Which is the second point: movie theaters are one of the last remaining "things to do" on a normal night that is kid-friendly and group-friendly. Malls are gone (or profoundly dead) and movie theaters are one of the last options. Although I feel like the concept of "going out" is itself maybe dying.

m23khan 7y ago
Malls are gone? Serious? Here in Canada they are getting more and more jam packed with more upscale retailers and ever growing crowds. Heck, check out Square one mall in Mississauga, ON -- the place is booming for last 10+ years. Heck, even the crappier (2nd class) malls have been putting on the proverbial lipstick and targeting hip food retailers thus inviting younger crowds dating and chilling. The only malls that seem to die off are the ones who were opened in places which are not progressing economically (for example low-income neighborhoods) and they never took off to begin with nor has the neighborhood improved economically.
- 0xffff2 7y ago
  The death of malls in the US is a well-known phenomenon. https://time.com/4865957/death-and-life-shopping-mall/ https://time.com/4865957/death-and-life-shopping-mall/
- ghaff 7y ago
  In the US, the situation seems pretty bifurcated. Upscale malls (mostly urban or near-urban) are generally doing pretty well. Bigger/better mid-market malls in the suburbs of relatively affluent cities are still mostly doing OK too. But you don't even need to go to low income areas. The mall that is nearest me in a smaller city about 40 miles from Boston has anchor stores that are pretty much all retail chains that are cratering (Sears, JC Penny, Toys R'Us). The grocery store and Home Depot in the complex are always busy but the actual mall and other small stores are a ghost town. It's not exactly an upscale area but it's not depressed. (Heck, there are Tesla chargers in the parking lot.)
- kibwen 7y ago
  The US might be different from Canada here, most of our malls were built back when the now-graying suburbs were booming, and cities (especially the hip ones) have tended to fiercely resist them. Now that the younger crowd whom one would expect to populate the mall are largely fleeing suburbia for cities, malls in the US tend to be popularly associated with "that sad, empty, decaying structure back in the hometown that you escaped". Then again, this could just be my Western-Pennsylvania bias talking.
  - m23khan 7y ago
    ah I see, thank you guys...I really didn't know about USA with regards to the shopping mall situation.
    - ska 7y ago
      It's there in Canada too, malls in some location are withering but as you note others are booming.
    - lotsofpulp 7y ago
      Dying and prospering malls are just a function of the income/wealth gap increasing. There used to be a much larger population that could afford discretionary spending at malls, or maybe didn’t have anything better to spend their money on like on demand media and video games at home. But now, only the richer areas can afford to pay for very marked up items that can sustain a mall environment. You can search for an Apple Store or Nordstrom’s and find the wealthy part of town wherever the mall they are in is located. Also works with Whole Foods and a couple other stores.
  - amyjess 7y ago
    My experience in North Texas is that malls aren't so much going away as they are concentrating in a small handful of locations. We lost or are losing a bunch of malls, but there are also a small handful that are thriving. Prestonwood, Valley View, and Collin Creek may be dead or dying, we still have Stonebriar, NorthPark, and the Galleria doing very well. There are fewer malls, sure, but the ones we have left are thriving. Of course, Dallas is one of the most thoroughly suburban parts of the country. Sure, there are a small handful of people moving to places like Uptown or Oak Cliff, but the northern suburbs are still booming, and almost everyone I went to college with who's still in the area either lives in a suburban apartment complex, or if they're financially successful, bought a house in the exurbs. And even if a good chunk of twentysomethings are moving to the city, there are still all the teenagers living with their parents in the suburbs. And for that matter, there are twentysomething adults who are living in the suburbs with their parents because their careers haven't taken off.
- wvenable 7y ago
  In small towns in Canada, malls are dead. Where I grew up, all the malls I visited as kid are gone or ghost towns. What's happening in bigger cities is consolidation; lots of dead malls and empty stores but a few key retail locations are booming. The neighborhood mall, where you might go to hang out, is gone. The trend right now in Vancouver is to combine malls with condo complexes although none are finished enough to see if that will be a success.
bradstewart 7y ago
Malls haven't really gone away, just changed shape. The big indoor malls of yesteryear are being replaced by (mostly) outdoor developments that combine restaurants, stores, offices, apartments, and entertainment.
- ghaff 7y ago
  It depends where you are. A Santana Row (Santa Clara) probably wouldn't work in snow-belt cities because people wouldn't want to go there for a big chunk of the year. Sidewalk seating isn't so attractive when it's snowing. I agree in general that sprawling shopping centers have tended to replace a fair number of indoor malls. That probably mostly reflects the ascendancy of big box stores over small specialty retailers for mainstream consumers.

m23khan 7y ago

Malls are gone? Serious? Here in Canada they are getting more and more jam packed with more upscale retailers and ever growing crowds. Heck, check out Square one mall in Mississauga, ON -- the place is booming for last 10+ years. Heck, even the crappier (2nd class) malls have been putting on the proverbial lipstick and targeting hip food retailers thus inviting younger crowds dating and chilling. The only malls that seem to die off are the ones who were opened in places which are not progressing economically (for example low-income neighborhoods) and they never took off to begin with nor has the neighborhood improved economically.

0xffff2 7y ago
The death of malls in the US is a well-known phenomenon. https://time.com/4865957/death-and-life-shopping-mall/ https://time.com/4865957/death-and-life-shopping-mall/
ghaff 7y ago
In the US, the situation seems pretty bifurcated. Upscale malls (mostly urban or near-urban) are generally doing pretty well. Bigger/better mid-market malls in the suburbs of relatively affluent cities are still mostly doing OK too. But you don't even need to go to low income areas. The mall that is nearest me in a smaller city about 40 miles from Boston has anchor stores that are pretty much all retail chains that are cratering (Sears, JC Penny, Toys R'Us). The grocery store and Home Depot in the complex are always busy but the actual mall and other small stores are a ghost town. It's not exactly an upscale area but it's not depressed. (Heck, there are Tesla chargers in the parking lot.)
kibwen 7y ago
The US might be different from Canada here, most of our malls were built back when the now-graying suburbs were booming, and cities (especially the hip ones) have tended to fiercely resist them. Now that the younger crowd whom one would expect to populate the mall are largely fleeing suburbia for cities, malls in the US tend to be popularly associated with "that sad, empty, decaying structure back in the hometown that you escaped". Then again, this could just be my Western-Pennsylvania bias talking.
- m23khan 7y ago
  ah I see, thank you guys...I really didn't know about USA with regards to the shopping mall situation.
  - ska 7y ago
    It's there in Canada too, malls in some location are withering but as you note others are booming.
  - lotsofpulp 7y ago
    Dying and prospering malls are just a function of the income/wealth gap increasing. There used to be a much larger population that could afford discretionary spending at malls, or maybe didn’t have anything better to spend their money on like on demand media and video games at home. But now, only the richer areas can afford to pay for very marked up items that can sustain a mall environment. You can search for an Apple Store or Nordstrom’s and find the wealthy part of town wherever the mall they are in is located. Also works with Whole Foods and a couple other stores.
- amyjess 7y ago
  My experience in North Texas is that malls aren't so much going away as they are concentrating in a small handful of locations. We lost or are losing a bunch of malls, but there are also a small handful that are thriving. Prestonwood, Valley View, and Collin Creek may be dead or dying, we still have Stonebriar, NorthPark, and the Galleria doing very well. There are fewer malls, sure, but the ones we have left are thriving. Of course, Dallas is one of the most thoroughly suburban parts of the country. Sure, there are a small handful of people moving to places like Uptown or Oak Cliff, but the northern suburbs are still booming, and almost everyone I went to college with who's still in the area either lives in a suburban apartment complex, or if they're financially successful, bought a house in the exurbs. And even if a good chunk of twentysomethings are moving to the city, there are still all the teenagers living with their parents in the suburbs. And for that matter, there are twentysomething adults who are living in the suburbs with their parents because their careers haven't taken off.
wvenable 7y ago
In small towns in Canada, malls are dead. Where I grew up, all the malls I visited as kid are gone or ghost towns. What's happening in bigger cities is consolidation; lots of dead malls and empty stores but a few key retail locations are booming. The neighborhood mall, where you might go to hang out, is gone. The trend right now in Vancouver is to combine malls with condo complexes although none are finished enough to see if that will be a success.

bradstewart 7y ago

Malls haven't really gone away, just changed shape. The big indoor malls of yesteryear are being replaced by (mostly) outdoor developments that combine restaurants, stores, offices, apartments, and entertainment.

ghaff 7y ago
It depends where you are. A Santana Row (Santa Clara) probably wouldn't work in snow-belt cities because people wouldn't want to go there for a big chunk of the year. Sidewalk seating isn't so attractive when it's snowing. I agree in general that sprawling shopping centers have tended to replace a fair number of indoor malls. That probably mostly reflects the ascendancy of big box stores over small specialty retailers for mainstream consumers.