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Tuesday, September 15. 2026

American Malls Were Once Packed — So What Killed Them?

Posted by Bird Dog at 14:14 | Comments (13) | Trackbacks (0)

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A nearby enclosed mall was emptied out by the early 2000s. Most of the enclosed mall was torn down and replaced by a Wal-Mart (anchor tenant...) and other retail spaces.

Local "activists" protested the construction of the Wal-Mart. Not that they had any viable alternative for using that dead retail space, mind you. Just that Wal-Mart was baad. Fortunately, the city fathers mostly ignored them. One probable consequence of the protests was that Wal-Mart got downsized with other retail occupying what Wal-Mart would have occupied. (Wal-Mart's not my favorite store either, but it was willing to gamble on the dead mall space---and won the gamble.)

While none of the old enclosed mall space got turned into apartments or offices, there are now several newly constructed apartment and office buildings near the space that the old mall occupied. A factor that helped the revival of the dead mall space was that this dead mall, once in the outer suburbs, due to growth was now in the middle of the metropolis, which increased demand for use of that dead mall space. Thus the apartment and office buildings built nearby.

One thing I learned from the video: the high amount of retail space per American compared to other countries.
#1 Gringo on 2026-09-15 18:58 (Reply)
There's no economically feasible way to convert a mall into office or residential space. They don't have the right electrical or plumbing systems set up, and the concrete panel construction most use isn't amiable to retrofit the installations you need. The flip side is that the low amount of wall space in relation to volume makes them easy to tear down, leading to this generally being the best option.
#1.1 Another Guy named Dan on 2026-09-16 11:42 (Reply)
In a word, Amazon.
#2 Maniac on 2026-09-16 09:41 (Reply)
I think that's correct. I buy many items from amazon so I don't have to spend half a day driving to a store which may or may not have what I need.
#2.1 snopercod on 2026-09-16 10:05 (Reply)
Economics!

Montgomery Ward went out of business because of operating costs exceeding income. Wages and high profile locations (malls) were too expensive. Sears followed suit essentially because the Sears management couldn't/wouldn't acknowledge and accept the underlying problems of high staffing costs and bricks and mortar investment. A couple of large grocery chains went out of business and were absorbed by other chains for the same reasons. Walmart became the new Sears, the new Albertson's with lower wages and less expensive stores.

Amazon could have put Walmart out of business and may still. But Walmart management is not following in Sears footsteps and in fact may compete with Amazon with adopting their business model while keeping the physical stores.
#3 OneGuy on 2026-09-16 09:56 (Reply)
Montgomery Wards went out of business in late 2000 before online shopping was very big.

You neglect another factor in the fall of Sears: its inability to increase online sales. That is ironic, as Sears was the pre-Amazon Amazon, where customers ordered from its catalog. All Sears had to do was to change its catalog to online sales.


Fry's had a very good computer/electronics retail presence. Its website was very poorly organized, making online purchase a pain in the neck.


BestBuy survived while Fry's didn't. Two reasons. Its Geek Squad improved customer service. Fry's did not have good customer service. Second, BestBuy's website was well-organized, making online sales painless.




WalMart's online sales experience is generally OK, with one annoyance for me. I was comparing prices, not ready to make a purchase, when WalMart wanted my credit card information. Credit card information should be asked for only when the customer is ready to make a purchase, not when one is just comparison shopping. At least that is my opinion.
#4 Gringo on 2026-09-16 10:57 (Reply)
Sears tried pre-web to do online ordering through Prodigy, in which it had invested. The problem was the interface between the two systems was print it out from prodigy and send it to a Sears order center so they could re-key it into the fulfillment system.

It made the process so cumbersome, slow (why type in your order when it's faster just to call), and expensive (for Sears) that they soon abandoned it. It was further complicated by credit cards not being as ubiquitous as they are now, leading to payment hassles.
#4.1 Another Guy Named Dan on 2026-09-16 11:34 (Reply)
Thanks for filling in the blanks. I had read something similar but had forgotten the details.
#4.1.1 Gringo on 2026-09-16 16:19 (Reply)
In my town, what killed the mall was roving bands of teenagers 13 - 18 who were unsupervised, unregulated, unchallenged and uncouth who acted like gangs, warring with each other, barreling through the mall for hours, knocking over seniors, flashmobbing stores to steal, and committing downright violent assault when anyone looked at them funny. What finally killed it was the sexual assaults in the back rooms, bathrooms and store rooms, and the gunfights among gangs down the long hallways. That, no one can overcome.
#5 Amazed on 2026-09-16 16:43 (Reply)
I am glad to see you are back. I was getting worried.
#6 Stargazer on 2026-09-17 07:36 (Reply)
I managed malls in the 80's with the largest mall developer in the world. This article hinted at changing laws, but didn't overtly mention the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which dramatically changed depreciation strategies, but even more so, eliminated the passive losses and tax shelters that real estate thrived on.
#7 Roger (Link) on 2026-09-17 09:15 (Reply)
related:

Why nobody shops at Macy's anymore

I enjoy this guy. I watch a lot of his videos. 20 minute video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIdMGP0UO2Y
#8 feeblemind on 2026-09-17 13:26 (Reply)
I used to love JC Penney, so did my DH. We knew it wasn't the highest qualty fabric in their clothes--but, it was GOOD quality. We knew that the household equipment at Sears wasn't the best available, but we knew it worked and would last a long time. When quality and value were attacked from within because of the cheap quality of imported Chinese products the stores began to fail.

Just last month I bought a package of tennis socks, or slightly lighter fabric. Six very thin little slip-on socks for $20. The elastic grip at the heel doesn't grip, and the sock itself slides down. Today, I went to my local grocery store and bought a nice package of two socks. They are thicker, better quality fabric, and they do what I want socks to do--stay in place. They cost me about $7. This video needs to give good consideration as to the impact of cheap Chinese goods that began arriving in this country by the mid 1980's and really began to dominate every rack in any mall by 1995. To this day, I cannot go into Dillards, and find a good qualiry pair of jeans! My DH calls it "inshitification". I still have two lovely cotton shirts that I have worn every summer since 1996--I bought them at JC Penneys just before they began the swing to cheap Chinese imports.
Macy's was always laid out so nicely--tidy, well organized displays that made you feel like you were actually in a higher end department store. You didn't feel so bad being in Macy's. Today you feel like you are walking through a Mexican outdoor market! Things thrown all around, poorly laid out shelving and counters. I used to love to go to Macy's because I could afford a good quality "knock off" of somehting much more expensive--not any more. Today, I go in, and just don' want to even touch anything. The products are so wrinkled and they feel dirty just being thrown around as if I--the customer--doesn't matter.
#9 faculty wife on 2026-09-18 00:20 (Reply)

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