Our local mall went through a period of decline, as old stalwarts like Sears, Montgomery Ward, and JC Penny went out of business or left. But then it got renovated, new stores moved in, and it's as busy as ever. I think it just took a different selection of stores to attract customers back. And the redesign made space for a number of medium-size anchor stores like REI who have doors facing out rather than into the mall itself.
Of course it can, by evolving with the times. Our local mall changed from being a typical indoor American mall to something that still has some indoor stores, but now with a lot more anchor stores facing outwards, along with newer standalone stores along the edges. The popularity of the place -was- declining, but nowadays they're doing quite well.
The real problem was probably more about having a bunch of little stores that were not by themselves a big draw. The anchor stores are really important. I kinda wonder if the decline of the mall was more to do with Sears, JC Penny, Mongtomery Ward, and the like going out of business, and there was a slump while we collectively decided what to replace them with.
We managed to save our local mall before it completely died, and now it thrives. They turned it mostly inside out, there's still halls inside but all of the popular stores now face outward so you can park right in front of them.
Our local mall has been bought, bankrupted, and auctioned off every couple years for the last 20.
There's a Macys and a JC Penny as the anchor stores. The old Sears was a COVID testing center for a while, now it has been turned into a Halloween store for the season.
The food court once had Subway, Panda Express, McDonald's, and Taco Bell. They're all long gone, there is a Bourbon Chicken, cookie place, and a pizza place where the Sbarro was. They flipped the signs around but kept all the pictures and menus.
Inside, it's about half-empty. They've been trying to attract smaller mom and pop stores, but it has had the side effect of giving the place a "flea market" feel.
The next town over has mall that's doing a lot better. There's a Target, Barnes and Noble, Planet Fitness, and a much more vibrant food court. There's still only about half occupancy when it comes to the stores, but the parking lot doesn't look like there's been and earthquake and the bathrooms aren't disgusting.
There was a push to convert the empty anchor stores to office space, but with WFH that option is off the table.
Our local mall has 3 anchor stores: Macys, JC Penny, and Sears. Two of those three have reported sales increases in the last quarter but it's a mystery on how Sears stays in business.
The other popular stores are all gone - American Eagle, The Gap, etc. Instead, new tenants have replaced them which make the place look like an indoor flea market.
Also enhancing the flea market look are the kiosks of people reselling things from cell phone cases to cheap sunglasses and worse jewelry than the mall jewelry stores, which are half gone as well. There's even a store that's almost like a 7-11, they sell candy bars and bottles of soda and chips.
Our local mall has realized that, I think. Most of the new stores are designer stuff - think Coach bags - and a new anchor called Von Maur which is an old-style department store - attentive staff, live piano in the lobby, etc. They seem to be doing much better than the JC Pennys of the area.
I was back in my hometown recently for the first time in years, and I was shocked to see that my childhood mall was busier than I had ever seen it.
The end-cap Sears carcass has been demolished. Apartments are being built in its place, with a private breezeway connecting them to the mall.
Two adjacent large stalls are now an enormous arcade and bowling alley. A stand-up comedy venue has replaced Ruby Tuesday. There's an escape room now, indoor bunjee jumping, and a dance studio too. A deaf people's advocacy group has a neat little cultural center.
There's a bunch of new, huge sculptures in the large center area. Someone finally had the presence of mind to install some seating. The big sculptures deaden some of the noise. It's a genuinely pleasant place to just sit, socialize, and people watch.
The big multi-level carousel is still there. Sadly, they took down the huge steel-cable jungle gym, but the one they replaced it with looks a lot friendlier to toddlers.
For my entire childhood, half the food court stalls were empty. The other half were bland fast food. Today, all the stalls are filled, and the available options span many cultures.
Despite all this, a lot of things are pretty much the same. The retail is still there, there's just fewer redundant stores. Almost every store that remains has an obvious reason for its physical existence.
Conceptually, malls still make sense. They will always make sense, as long as buildings that share walls with each other are cheaper and more energy-efficient. In order to survive, a mall must find ways to make people want to visit the mall.
Malls are generally dependent on anchor stores drawing traffic. And a lot of the historic anchor stores--in many cases department stores--have gone out of business or downsized. One pretty dead mall near me had a Penney's, a Sears, and a Macy's.
One of the malls in my hometown (College Hills) kept the anchor stores (Target, Hobby Lobby, Von Maur) but tore down the middle parts, and built the more modern strip islands and parking in its place, where you can just go directly to the store you want. This previously dead space now has a Starbucks, a Coldstone, a Yankee Candle, a nice pizza place, several clothing stores and gift shops, and it's constantly busy, so it seems like they made the right choice.
My closest mall still has its Sears and JC Penney but we'll see for how long. Macy's is its most successful anchor store. The complex has already lost Toys R' Us. There's a successful local grocery chain and a Home Depot that are always busy in the same shopping center; the mall itself has stores but very little traffic.
The indoor swap meet is what used to be a JC Penny's. The dead Sears is now a trade school - the mix of stores in there is fascinating and I think the key - focus on unique and local stores. Leave the chains to the strip malls.
There's definitely been (at least in my anecdotal experience) a split between the larger malls and the small/medium size ones. The larger malls are still enough of a draw (with lots of shopping, dining, and entertainment options) to bring people there.
The smaller malls are losing business to the larger ones, since people going to the malls are often looking for 'something to do' instead of just looking to buy a widget. Once a large anchor store or two closes at the small/medium malls (as has happened with department store chains like Macy's or JC Penney), the death spiral of the mall begins.
Some malls have recovered but only with major revitalization, renovation, and often repositioning (adding more upscale stores if the area has the business for such). An example of this in NY is the Nanuet Mall in Rockland County. That mall started failing more due to the nearby Palisades Center that was built in the 90s as a mega-mall. The Nanuet mall closed (completely I believe) before being demolished and recreated.
Sadly, I can't add any comments based on the specific WSJ article, as it is behind a paywall.
One of the local "dead malls" is thriving as a collection of about 3 strip malls surrounding the common parking lot. Each "strip mall" has one or two big box stores and a couple have a line of smaller stores.
Of course, the two story mall itself, with its internal hallways and rows of boutique stores, is gone.
Well are dead-ish to dead malls and then there are malls that are doing pretty well and then there are luxury malls. You tend to see mall Apple stores in the middle category; even though they're not traditional anchor stores they effectively are.
Meanwhile, the former category has/had anchor stores like in the case of local mall such as it is at this point like Sears, JC Penney, and Macys.
Our local mall has lost most of the bigger stores, anchored by a Sears and JC Penny. McDonald’s, subway, and Taco Bell have left the food court.
It almost looks like a flea market inside. Tattoo shops, stands that sell gold by the inch and cheap phone cases, bootleg t-shirt vendors, nail salons, there’s even what’s basically a convienence store.
Cheap rents sound good, but they bring in low-end retailers that don’t stick around and sell gray market product.
It's very uneven. Upscale malls are generally doing pretty well. Then there's the nearest mall near me which sports such luminaries as Sears and JC Penneys as anchor stores (plus the Toys R US which recently closed). It's not... great. There are a few stores in the same general complex that seem to be doing fine but the mall itself is moribund.
Fair enough. From my perspective I'd say the mall is a success story _because_ it can still fill storefronts with independent operators. Is that a sign of impending doom? Maybe, or a sign of a transformation in progress, and I give you credit for perceiving that change as it's happening.
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