re: Went to Cortana on a whim

Why are indoor malls seemingly on the decline but those strip malls anchored by Academy, Best Buy, or Target And with fewer other stores seemingly on the rise?

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Why are indoor malls seemingly on the decline but those strip malls anchored by Academy, Best Buy, or Target And with fewer other stores seemingly on the rise?

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Malls require a lot more money to maintain than a strip mall, especially in heating and cooling the space, because the walkways are enclosed. Rents for businesses in indoor malls were therefor more expensive per sq. ft. when compared to those in strip malls, making for higher operating costs. That generally meant that stores in malls had to charge more in order to make the same profit. As competition, demographics, and buying patterns of shoppers change (i.e. the decline of the surrounding neighborhood, the rise of rival malls, and online shopping), indoor malls become less and less competitive.

Cell phones and social media have also played a roll. Because teenagers can make plans on the fly, they no longer have to have a set meeting place to regularly "hang out". From the 80s-early 2000s, that place was generally a parking lot, a restaurant, or the local mall. Since they can now meet whenever, wherever, being "seen" at a certain place (generally the mall) is not necessary. Without all of those extra teens there shopping every day, that's a big hit to sales.

For middle and upper-middle class shoppers, stagnant wage growth has made shopping for bargains more important. With the rise of online shopping, which is generally much cheaper on account of reduced overhead and a lack of sales taxes, this incentive to shop for the bargain has really cut into mall sales. There are even many sites (like Zappos or JackThreads) that allow you to make free returns so you can try on clothes and send them back with little risk.

One of the key services that department stores used to provide was guidance from sales reps on what kinds of clothing to purchase. There would be sales women to help mothers find the perfect outfit for her son's graduation, salesmen to help a young man find the perfect suit for his big job interview, ect. When the financial crisis hit the retail sector hard, big changes had to be made to department stores to stay afloat. Many slashed employees and reduced the number of salesmen on the floors. Since these department stores were already losing the price war to online retailers and big box stores, taking away that customer service eliminated one of the few advantages they had left. Department Stores have, except in the most high income areas, essentially eliminated customer service outside of returns and checkouts. They have cut off their nose to spite their face.

Anyone remember playing Time Killer in the Space Port circa 1992?



If so, forgive me for repeatedly dismembering you.

You forgot to add in the part about Merricans being fatter and using their cars to go from store to store instead of mouth breathingly walking from place to place.

The last years that the Hammond Mall was there, it was a total 80s time-warp, especially the theater, which had been closed for a while but was still intact, orange and brown zig-zag design and all.

Hammond Mall is closed? I didn't know that

Anybody driven past Battlefield Mall in V'burg lately? Last time I did (5+ years ago) the building was still there, but totally covered in overgrowth, like some set in a movie about discovering a long lost Incan temple

DeadMalls.com

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Does Cortana even Space Port anymore?

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I dont know when it shut down. It was moved and expanded in the early 90's. Like all arcades I'm sure it closed in the early 2000's