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The simplified reason old malls are dying is the same reason fast food restaurants remodel, and the ones that don't die. The experience that the mall provides
by frankydp 12y ago
The simplified reason old malls are dying is the same reason fast food restaurants remodel, and the ones that don't die.
The experience that the mall provides is the core feature. If that experience is not attractive it has no features.
New malls beat the old mall trends, and the outlet mall format adds a second feature to the mix which extends their viability time before a remodel is required.
The catch 22 is that remodeling something the size of a mall is rarely feasible.
- danjayh 12y agoFYI, One of the malls in the linked article was extensively remodeled in 1998. Personally, I dislike the trend toward open-air, outlet style shopping since I live in an area that regularly gets below 15f in the winter.
- frankydp 12y agoThats a good point, and I think the really difficult thing for the current C mall owners is that a remodel will probably only get you from a C to a B where the experience gain is still pretty low. Other smaller foot print B&Ms usually scrape and rebuild when they hit some age, which seems nearly impossible for something the size of a mall.