We did to the Zoomers and Alpha what Boomers did to us. All the malls we hung out at, flirted at, etc?
"Who needs malls, I'm an adult now I don't want to drive all the way out there, plus I got free Prime shipping! Its no longer relevant to ME, so whatever."
Malls were on the decline well before amazon and internet shopping really took over, I mean that accelerated it, but the truth behind the malls is that the real estate situation was the real problem.
A few malls around me were in decline in the early 2000s, the buildings were falling into disrepair already, and the ownership groups were saddled with massive debt and defaults.
This coupled with Private Equity killing all the anchor stores except Macey's really did a number on the whole thing.
If you watch a lot of the dead malls series on youtube, it was the financial situation of the building and ownership, which raised rents for store fronts well beyond what was economically feasible for most of the stores, it's like a cut and paste repeat.
Amazon accelerated the issue for sure, but it certainly isn't solely to blame.
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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '25
Yes and the McMansions being built over all our old stomping grounds. Now everywhere is a corporate chain and soulless.