Is the Future of Shopping Malls Rooted in History?

What this episode covers

Once an epicenter of the suburban lifestyle, the purpose and importance of shopping malls have slowly faded way. The “fall of the mall” or more broadly the “retail apocalypse” was happening long before the pandemic started, but things accelerated over the last twelve months as consumers stayed inside. In the coming years, hundreds of America’s roughly 1,100 malls are expected to shutter. The reasons for this include specialty retail bankruptcies making shopping centers boring, anchor department stores fallen out of consumer favor, and e-commerce became increasingly more convenient. This has caused an influx of vacancies that has made the shopping mall's economics increasingly unsustainable. All that being said, these malls still have value, but it just takes property owners to be innovative or history buffs that understand the vision Victor Gruen had for the Southdale Center, as they look for new uses of their dying malls.

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