Fashion

[TY]

Try googling dead malls to read articles about the closed and empty or near empty malls. Not only are retailers in trouble, but how people shop has changed too. Young people are not spending on clothes, they would rather buy technology, experiences, and dining.  I live a 5 minute drive from a mall and there are plenty of empty storefronts. Wait until The end of January when you'll see small stores close if they didn't do well over Christmas.

[Newgate]

I sure hope not!  I still enjoy going to a mall!  It is where I get some of my best excercise and at Christmas time I enjoy seeing a decorated mall!!  Also with all the things we can do now on our home computers we will never have to leave our homes other than to go to work or school!!  That is not so good!!

But I realize it is helpful to those who can't get out to shop, etc. any longer!!  Time will tell!!

[handygal2]

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@ROMARY wrote:

Our local one is packed.  I call it a 'mini-mall', not enclosed.  Can't find a parking space unless I park there before 10 or 10:30am.  Three medium sized anchor stores; restaurants.  I do believe that restaurants and the food service industry are keeping busy malls busy. Lots of people enjoy hanging out in restaurants!  A lot of non-retired folks of all ages, too. 

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@ROMARY: Interestingly, some "upscale" malls don't have food courts. There are chain restaurants, but the entrances to them are outside the mall. The theory behind this is it keeps young, rowdy people from "hanging out." But, these malls are losing shoppers as a result, IMO.

[ROMARY]

Just today several friends (walking around the block with their older dogs) and I were discussing this subject.  One of them (not me) thought that because so many people order online that many of the sales and managerial positions in brick and mortar stores are dwindling, or will be gone, because of closures of stores/malls.   Something to think about.  The more people who order online, the less human jobs in the long run.  Could add up to hundreds of thousands (if not, millions) of lost jobs.  p.s.  I often think about a good reason why I call in my orders......could be because I feel good that there are still jobs for phone order employees, so far. 

[ROMARY]

Handygal:  The 'ones' I was talking about at my mall are individual restaurants, entrances from out front in each restaurant. (Not food courts, as this mall is not enclosed.) Lots of people in each restaurant, although they do have outside tables, but no 'hanging out' by teens.  Although, now that you mention it, St*rbucks has quite a few 'hanger outers' (actually, I think it's supposed to read 'hangers out', lol) out front.  Teens, etc., although no problems that I've seen, so far.  

[BARBIE100]

I actually love going to our local mall on the strip here in Las Vegas. (Fashion Show Mall) It has great restaurants and great stores and a fun place to "people watch"  

[TY]

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@BARBIE100 wrote:

I actually love going to our local mall on the strip here in Las Vegas. (Fashion Show Mall) It has great restaurants and great stores and a fun place to "people watch"  

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Yes, that is a lovely mall. I was just there last week. I wish I had more time to browse there but it's so big so I limited the stores I visited to Dillards, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Sephora. There were no shoppers in Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus though and no clearance section in the Sephora like the one in the Miracle Mile mall. I ended up not buying anything at the Fashion Show mall though. I was surprised that there was so much winter clothes in the department stores since it was like summer and in the 80s during the day.

[Tinkrbl44]

@handygal2

I haven't read every post, but my guess would be that the malls that have movie theaters have the best chance of surviving.

[Trix]

It's no secret that the American shopping mall is in trouble.  The mall of national chain stores is facing the same decline they inflicted upon local neighborhood stores 50 years ago.  Even malls which appear to be thriving and feature upscale high end stors are hurting in that there is no growth potential for the property and the stores may have a good flow of customers, but even at the highest levels brick and mortar sales are flat.  The mixed use inner city malls, which became fashionable during the decline of people shopping in downtowns, may be saved by the residences, offices, hotels, theaters, eateries and bars, and other enterprises tacked onto the properties.  

Developers of new shopping malls and inner city downtown stores seem to feel outlet is the only decent investment at the present time.  I'm inclined to agree with that.  On given weekend afternoon I can stroll through the top tier stores, and yes, there will be customers in those stores, but bodies in the house don't mean they're buying.  Eyeballing the bags on the street what I see is a lot more Last Call, The Rack, TJ Maxx, Off Fifth... in other words the actual buying is going on at the discount house.  The exception is cosmetics which continue to sell off the chart at department stores and the specialty beauty stores. 

[Caaareful Shopper]

There's a mall in Arlington, VA, one of the high-income suburbs of Washington, DC.  You'd think if one could survive, this would be the place.  It has four levels and had every store and restaurant you'd think anyone would need.  Huge garage, movie theater, located in an equally desirable traffic shopping area, and across the street from the Washington Capitals hockey team practice arena.  Plenty business and residential condos mixed in as well.  

It's being torn down.  I only went for the movie theater, since I gave up on malls years ago, and noticed thinner & thinner crowds.  The news cited reasons such as people don't want enclosed malls anymore, they prefer outside bustling sidewalks.  The plan is to tear the roof off and have all stores & restaurants face outside.  People want to see and be seen as part of the energy going in & out of popular establishments.  They want to eat at tables outside and people watch.  At least, that's the theory; the developers are coining the phrase, "turning the mall inside out."