The Daily Mall Reader: Shopping Malls And Consumerism

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"More competition brings less hope for older, enclosed"

Specialty Retail - July, 2002

(Excerpt) Once-thriving malls across the nation are closing their doors, being demolished, or shutting down entire wings without any concrete plans for redevelopment. These malls, now considered dinosaurs in the retail industry, are battling for business against glitzier, more modern shopping centers, big box retailers, redeveloped main street shopping districts, discounters and entertainment centers. Traditional malls are undergoing changes of use to storage, university classrooms and new forms of retail.

Recently, malls in Landover, MD, Ogden, UT, Muskegon, MI and Johnstown, PA have closed, a mall in Durham, NC is losing its anchor store, while a pair of regional malls in Toledo, OH and one in Oak Ridge, TN are treading water just to stay afloat. A declining mall in Spotsylvania, VA is hoping that the addition of a Costco will help revive the site.

Read the full article here.