4 ms·

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 on

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.

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.