Quote:
Originally Posted by rcentros
I never was much of a mall person, but malls used to be a social center for teenagers and young adults -- like downtowns were before malls. I think what is really killing malls is the same thing that is killing brick an mortar stores in general -- the Internet. Kids' and young adults' social center is now Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and (for some, I guess) Facebook. I don't know them all, but I'm sure there's others. I wasn't much for malls, but I think it was healthier than this isolation of virtual reality.
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There is a lot of truth to this, but a lot of kids are also hanging out at places that have stuff to do - Movie theatres, Dave and Busters and the like, or they will hang at someone's house.
Locally, the traditional department store mall is dying, but a less traditional, out door mall are booming. Some of it is knowing your customers. The booming outdoor mall near me is very upscale and caters to the affluent, upscale crowd. It is a mixed use mall with condos and stores and has all the right stores - Whole Food, Apple, Tesla, plus a lot of upscale clothing shops and a high tech movie theater.
There are other outdoor malls that are centered around things like Lowes, Walmart, Costco and the like. It's all about knowing your customer base and what they are looking for.
I suspect that local bookstores that make it tend to have something unique about them that appeals to the local market. Maybe it's a very knowledgeable staff, maybe it's social, maybe it's simply a favorable financial situation.