The death of shopping malls....

[The Tradition]

Shopping malls were a staple of Americana from the 1960s until basically when Amazon.com happened.

But blaming online shopping is only part of the story in my opinion. The BIG part of the story is that shopping malls used to be like the town square, where people gathered to meet other people.

Enter social media. No reason to drag yourself to the damn mall when you can have meaningful human interactions with your phone instead of having to physically be someplace.

Prove me wrong.

 

[IIowaFarmBoy]

Great Recession killed them.

 

[KFsdisciple]

The in-home video games killed off the arcades, chick filet started making stand alone restaurants, online shopping and social media have rendered the mall obsolete.

 

[Kinnick.At.Night]

It's interesting how Coral Ridge in Coralville continues to thrive. It's always packed in there. It reminds me of being at Westdale in Cedar Rapids in the 1980s. Going to the mall when I was young was a big deal. There was a good chance you'd see people you knew. And the arcades were amazing. I can still smell them. And it was electric to be there with friends and meet girls from other schools.

 

[Kelsers]

Shopping malls were a staple of Americana from the 1960s until basically when Amazon.com happened.

But blaming online shopping is only part of the story, in my opinion. The BIG part of the story is that shopping malls used to be like the town square, where people gathered to meet other people.

Enter social media. No reason to drag yourself to the damn mall when you can have meaningful human interactions with your phone instead of having to physically be someplace.

Prove me wrong.

Your lips/fingers are moving.🤣

 

[The Tradition]

Great Recession killed them.

And Covid buried them.

 

[ThorneStockton]

The in-home video games killed off the arcades, chick filet started making stand alone restaurants, online shopping and social media have rendered the mall obsolete.

Is chick filet supposed to be Chik-fil-A? If so, what are accusing them of doing?

 

[onlyTheObvious]

There was a social aspect to them. I am sure more than one nervous teen went to malls in the hope of seeing their crush.

 

[InsaneHawkJJP]

The only good one around me is in Rochester MN and it is doing really well. Just took my 14 yo daughter and three of her friends there on Friday to shop for their DC trip and it was pretty busy.

 

[uihawk82]

Shopping malls were a staple of Americana from the 1960s until basically when Amazon.com happened.

But blaming online shopping is only part of the story, in my opinion. The BIG part of the story is that shopping malls used to be like the town square, where people gathered to meet other people.

Enter social media. No reason to drag yourself to the damn mall when you can have meaningful human interactions with your phone instead of having to physically be someplace.

Prove me wrong.

You mentioned two big reasons and there are others. Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines is still very busy. SEveral other malls just do not have families with enough money to always be going there.

 

[uihawk82]

And Covid buried them.

They were dying way before Covid. Three major malls in Des Moines area were 50% down or more by then

 

[DooBi]

Streaming music played a small part as well. When I went to a mall it was to go to the music store.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

I was thinking Destin commons would dry up and blow away a couple years ago but it was as packed as ever the other day. Not even tourist season.

 

[KFsdisciple]

Is chick filet supposed to be Chik-fil-A? If so, what are accusing them of doing?

Yes, sorry. And there’s no accusation being levied, it’s just a fact that people don’t have to go to a mall anymore to get chick-fil-a, which at one time was the only place you could get it.

 

[IIowaFarmBoy]

In 09 I went to St Louis with the hot wife for her class reunion. Spouse weren’t invited. She dropped me off at Crestwood Mall without much thought as it was a great place in her hs memory bank.

It was terrible and I was stuck there. I was concerned for my safety

She was shocked.

 

[ThorneStockton]

Yes, sorry. And there’s no accusation being levied, it’s just a fact that people don’t have to go to a mall anymore to get chick-fil-a, which at one time was the only place you could get it.

I did not realize they were a mall only operation at one point. Do you have reasons for believing that Chik's restaurant location strategy has something to do with the decline of shopping centers or is it more of a faith/gut thing?

 

[The Tradition]

I did not realize they were a mall only operation at one point. Do you have reasons for believing that Chik's restaurant location strategy has something to do with the decline of shopping centers or is it more of a faith/gut thing?

It was always a weird flex to have a restaurant at the mall food court that was closed on Sundays.

 

[ThorneStockton]

In 09 I went to St Louis with the hot wife for her class reunion. Spouse weren’t invited. She dropped me off at Crestwood Mall without much thought as it was a great place in her hs memory bank.

It was terrible and I was stuck there. I was concerned for my safety

She was shocked.

Do you have any other memories of your 70s that you could share?

 

[The Tradition]

Do you have any other memories of your 70s that you should share?

KISS! was freaking awesome.

 

[KFsdisciple]

I did not realize they were a mall only operation at one point. Do you have reasons for believing that Chik's restaurant location strategy has something to do with the decline of shopping centers or is it more of a faith/gut thing?

Yeah CFA’s were a food court staple back in the 1900’s. Stand alone restaurants didn’t exist.

I don’t think they were clairvoyant about the future of malls, I think them expanding beyond the mall has given people even less reason to go.

 

[KFsdisciple]

It was always a weird flex to have a restaurant at the mall food court that was closed on Sundays.

In my early days the mall either wasn’t open on Sunday or was only open from like noon to 5

 

[Kinnick.At.Night]

Yes, sorry. And there’s no accusation being levied, it’s just a fact that people don’t have to go to a mall anymore to get chick-fil-a, which at one time was the only place you could get it.

The only Chick-fil-A for many years was at Westdale in CR. Threads like these show people not in the know vs. those that were lucky to be alive and immersed in analog living. I miss it. And I'm currently having a pair of Large Advents restored as well as twin Dynakit amps that my dad gave to me. Smelly vacuum tubes and all.

 

[hawkdave007]

The music stores were always a huge deal.

That and footlocker.

What was cool back then was going with your friends and invariably running into kids from your class, plus meeting new kids from other schools that maybe you only saw in yearbooks, etc.

 

[HROT]

The music stores were always a huge deal.

That and footlocker.

What was cool back then was going with your friends and invariably running into kids from your class, plus meeting new kids from other schools that maybe you only saw in yearbooks, etc.

You look at a lot of other school yearbooks?

 

[hawkdave007]

You look at a lot of other school yearbooks?

Not a lot, but we did a fair amount back in the day. This was way before Facebook.

 

[bcherod]

Outlet malls doing well

 

[The Tradition]

Outlet malls doing well

Big Lots just went to that great strip mall in the sky....

 

[joelbc1]

And Covid buried them.

They were dying long before Covid. DSM has buried 3 of them in the last 25 years, Merle Hay and Valley West provide a decent venue for walkers. Time marches in.
A lot of folks prefer stay home as opposed to getting shot at.

 

[The Tradition]

They were dying long before Covid. DSM has buried 3 of them in the last 25 years, Merle Hay and Valley West provide a decent venue for walkers. Time marches in.
A lot of folks prefer stay home as opposed to getting shot at.

The two malls closest to Tradition Manor are ghost towns.

But will admit that the Raleigh Crabtree Valley Mall remains surprisingly vibrant. Probably because they have a lot of popular chain restaurants anchored there.

I guess the contagion isn't everywhere.

 

[dgordo]

Every time I go to Jordan creek it is packed. I don’t get what makes it so special.

 

[PoopandBoogers]

In 09 I went to St Louis with the hot wife for her class reunion. Spouse weren’t invited. She dropped me off at Crestwood Mall without much thought as it was a great place in her hs memory bank.

It was terrible and I was stuck there. I was concerned for my safety

She was shocked.

Lol. "Spouses weren't invited". She dropped me off at Crestwood Mall without much thought".

 

[win4jj]

Steam Town Mall. Scranton PA.

 

[IIowaFarmBoy]

Do you have any other memories of your 70s that you could share?

Lol. "Spouses weren't invited". She dropped me off at Crestwood Mall without much thought".

We’re still married! Crestwood fell apart pretty quickly in the 2000s. Funny responses though.

 

[jasonrann]

I spent three months in Austin, MN in the early 90s closing a store in that mall. Once the walkers cleared out, you could have fired 15 shotgun blasts and not hit anyone. Completely desolate even back then.

 

[zappaa]

What a horrific time to be a kid.

 

[LBoogie28]

Enter social media. No reason to drag yourself to the damn mall when you can have meaningful human interactions with your phone instead of having to physically be someplace.

GTFO with that.

 

[The Tradition]

GTFO with that.

It sucks, but you know it's true.

 

[LBoogie28]

It sucks, but you know it's true.

Time spent on the internet isn’t actually full of “meaningful human interactions.” It sucks you think that’s true.

 

[The Tradition]

Time spent on the internet isn’t actually full of “meaningful human interactions.”

Damn, dude... I thought we were friends....

 

[gohawks50]

Online shopping certainly hurt malls, but the new trend is a bunch of individual stores in one area like a small town. That was happening long before Covid. I'm not a fan especially during Iowa winters. Going in and out of stores in bad weather is no fun. I shop online all the time, but I miss going to the mall and just browsing. Sometimes you just don't know you need something until you see it!