Here’s a question society is facing today: What will we do with our old malls? Heck, we are still trying to figure out what to do with our old Main Streets. And our old downtowns. Now, the malls that killed downtowns are themselves being killed. Some of the outlet centers are feeling the pressure, too. […]
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Here’s a question society is facing today: What will we do with our old malls? Heck, we are still trying to figure out what to do with our old Main Streets. And our old downtowns.
Now, the malls that killed downtowns are themselves being killed. Some of the outlet centers are feeling the pressure, too.
They are all bleeding shoppers to Amazon. And to other online retailers. Anchor stores like Sears and Macy’s are taking the gas. Chains like RadioShack and Payless used to thrive in malls. No more. RadioShack has been bankrupt twice.
This is hardly news to you. Mall owners see the writing on the wall. You see the shopfronts empty. You see fewer shoppers than you did 10 years ago.
This is a problem that is mostly American. There are far fewer big malls in other countries. Europeans have one-tenth the retail space per shopper that we do. They frequent quaint shoe stores. We lose our way in 2 acre layouts that feature 400 sneakers.
So maybe we overdid it. You think? Excess is an American tradition. Anyway, the question is: What do we do now?
Malls and shopping centers of all types helped destroy our old downtown areas. Well, we did. We all bought cars and abandoned mass transit. We flocked to the suburbs. We, the big shoppers of this country.
Unfortunately, cities and developers moved too slowly to find new uses for the old downtown buildings. They lacked property tax money to stimulate re-development — because the tax money went to the suburbs.
The malls did their damage many decades ago. But the old downtowns of cities like Jamestown, Utica, Watertown, Syracuse, Binghamton, and Buffalo still suffer.
I suspect we will be faster this time. Quicker to find new uses for malls than we did for exhausted downtowns. There are a lot of imaginations working on the problem. And, they have a lot of money with which to work.
In big super malls we are seeing more high-end restaurants, IMAX theaters, go-kart tracks, and rock climbing. Even roller coasters, dance halls, and casinos. Farmers’ markets are springing up in the parking lots. Some malls have developed entertainment halls for musical events.
A few big malls are creating walking paths and parks around and within the mall. There are museums re-located to malls, along with art galleries and libraries. Some malls have indoor farms and fitness centers.
Some nursing homes operate from old malls. As do churches and walk-in clinics. And larger medical centers. A few old malls have even become homes for colleges and high schools.
Housing is more difficult but not impossible. The difficulties come from lack of plumbing and electrical services. Nonetheless, some developers think they can turn malls into small towns of condos, apartments, shops, restaurants, and services.
These re-developments are coming more quickly than they did in our old downtowns. This is because the downtown buildings were owned individually. The owners did not always cooperate with each other. When some wanted to turn Main Street into car-free zones, others did not. Agreements on shopping hours fell apart.
A mall, of course, is usually owned by one company. It can easily set a new course — certainly more easily than a mix of squabbling building owners can.
We will see mall owners experiment. Some will flop. Some will succeed and be copied around the country. There are some great American imaginations at work on this issue.
One of the driving forces of capitalism is the phenomenon of “creative destruction.” The new destroys the old. We are witnessing the destruction of our old malls by new consumer shopping habits that are becoming ingrained. Experts tell us one in four malls will be closed within four years. That is a lot of destruction.
I am betting we will also see a massive wave of creation. Coming soon, to a mall near you.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com. Read more of his writing at tomasinmorgan.com
