@NameAlreadyTaken wrote:
Criminals roaming the mall looking for someone to "knock out," or shoot, looting, mugging. Who wants to be exposed to that.
I don't know where you live, but if that's happening at your local mall, you should be on the local police and the city council to do something about crime in the area. If your mall is losing anchor stores, there may be something else to use the space for if someone has the vision.
Crime was an issue at one of the malls in my town and picked up after the mall was already in decline and anchor stores were moving out. The city worked to make the area safer and the local community college started buying up properties around the mall and soon, the land under the entire mall. Now the old mall with the high crime rate is a very successful extension of the Austin Community College.
Years before that, another mall in town was in decline. It didn't have a high crime rate, but it was losing stores and was going to be closed. They turned part of that mall into a conference center where businesses, groups, and individuals hold all kinds of meetings and parties. The long portion of the mall was turned into the Gallery of Salons, where all kinds of beauty service providers moved in. You can go to one location and find spa services, hair salons, nail salons, lash extensions, eyebrow threading, and more. Restaurants stayed open and eventually they expanded the area, adding a Walmart and a small strip mall with many restaurants and a few smaller stores. The whole area has been revitalized.