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Post-war America was characterized by a major shift to the suburbs. The spoils of the war allowed people to live large, and one way of doing that was relocating from urban centers to the much quieter and peaceful suburbs. Suburbs offered numerous conveniences to their dwellers. One instance would be malls. Malls allowed suburban dwellers to shop conveniently and have a place to have fun. The malls also employed thousands of people. Unfortunately, over the past few years, their popularity has waned as shopping continues to move online. Today, shopping in online stores and getting one’s goods delivered to their address is one of the most convenient modes of shopping. It has made physical stores obsolete, and most of them are closing shop, leaving most malls empty leading to their deterioration. They have also left a lot of people jobless. The closure of shops of many renowned stores has left most malls with vacant space and the threat of deterioration. However, they can be repurposed to serve other needs that could help maintain the excellent condition of the malls while reinstating some of the jobs lost.
The Issue
As shopping shifts to the Internet, more and more malls are losing customers leaving them with large vacant spaces. Currently, retailers are closing down thousands of stores around the United States. In 2017, retailers abandoned 102 million square feet of space in malls (Peterson 1). In 2018, that increased by another 155 million square feet. The trend continued to 2019, with more than 8600 store closures being announced in the year. These figures are touted to grow further in the coming years. The major reason for the closures is the reduced foot traffic in malls resulting from increased online shopping. People now prefer shopping online and having their goods delivered to their homes. This has been necessitated by the busy lives they live and the convenience that online shopping offers. Due to the reduction in customers, stores have been forced to close down while others move their shops online. Stores closing down have left many malls with an uphill task of filling the vacated spaces. Many are deteriorating and turning to unappealing structures. Fortunately, however, a revival is possible for them. Current developments show that malls could be repurposed to serve other functions.
Current Developments in Mall Repurposing and Revival
According to Greg Petro, malls are not dying. Instead, they are evolving. Essentially, that is true. The closure of stores has led to the rethinking of how malls work and the services and amenities they offer. As Petro notes, malls are considered a destination that offers an experience to people. The experience people are seeking today is not similar to that which others sought a few years ago. Previously, friends could meet up in a mall and shop all day. Today, that is not the case. People no longer meet up in malls to shop all day and interact. Social media and online shopping have transformed that aspect of their lives. Individuals seek fun experiences nowadays. As a result, instead of malls offering more shops, they are offering such amenities as recreational places. Malls now have cinemas, bars, and restaurants, which offer people other fun experiences. Millennials today are more concerned about the experiences they have rather than the things they have. As such, they are spending their money purchasing experiences in place of material things. Malls are therefore shifting to offering those experiences.
Abandoned malls are also being turned into offices. As stores close their shops in malls, companies are moving in to set up their offices in the abandoned space. The “death” of malls did not start recently. Malls have been in America for more than half a century, and some of them began and completed their deaths several decades ago. One of those is the Mayfield Mall in Northern California, which met its demise in 1984 (Handy 1). After Mayfield Mall’s demise, newer, shinier, and better malls emerged in the region to replace them. Not long after its closure, Hewlett Packard (HP), the computer company, moved in and set up offices in the space. HP later vacated, and Google took over the space for its Google Glass Headquarters and purchased the building in 2016 (Handy 1). This is one of the ways the malls that are being abandoned today could transform themselves. Instead of letting the facilities rot and decay, the malls could be redeveloped into office spaces to attract new businesses and even ensure traffic for stores.
Another way of reviving dead malls that have been adopted is by turning them into academic facilities and art galleries. The Hickory Hollow Mall in Antioch, which was replaced by The Global Mall at the Crossings was redeveloped to include a library, a satellite campus for a community college, and an ice-skating rink (Handy 1). This brought new life into the abandoned mall. Such facilities could be included in other malls that are on the brink of death. Although a library would not raise much rent, it would ensure foot traffic in the malls. This would enable other businesses in the mall to thrive instead of fleeing. Reduced foot traffic has been one of the leading causes of mall death, increasing it through setting up public libraries would help other businesses stay and continue honoring their leases. Thus ensuring the continuity of the malls. A children’s library could also help revive a mall. For instance, one of the large abandoned stores in Chesterfield Mall in St. Louis, Missouri was turned into an illustrated children’s book museum (Garfield 1). Also, as seen in other malls, dying malls could open up art galleries to attract people. This could help resuscitate the dying malls.
Another revival tactic has been repurposing malls into dwelling places and hotels. America’s oldest indoor mall, Westminster Arcade in Providence, was turned into a living space after its decline, which began in the late 20th century (Handy 1). The mall now consists of a mix of micro-lofts and other businesses such as boutiques, and coffee shops. The businesses benefit from housing facilities offered in the mall since they bring in traffic. Affordable housing is a growing need in the United States. This is a need that malls could help meet. The success of a business hinges on identifying and meeting a consumer need. Aging baby boomers and millennials are increasingly seeking convenient places to live. By 2035, more than one in five people will be 65 years or older, and in three houses, one will be headed by a person in this age bracket (Danziger 1). Malls’ popularity, on the other hand, is decreasing and by that time, a lot of mall spaces will be vacant. That space could be used to develop housing facilities including condos and apartments to meet the housing needs of the aging baby boomers and millennials. Hotels are also another way malls could revive themselves. Food joints in malls are helping attract traffic that is keeping some business in malls.
The Effectiveness of What is Being Done
Several approaches are being used to revive the dying malls. They are being turned into libraries, residential facilities, hotels, recreational centers, and offices. However, what is working among these? Everything! All these approaches are working effectively to revive the dying malls. As noted, some malls have been converted into office facilities in their entirety while others have offices occupying some space available. Others have libraries within them and other academic facilities that occupy abandoned spaces. Most importantly, some are offering living places that could help mitigate the effects of the continued abandonment of mall space. If malls continue to provide housing facilities as they are, they are going to help meet the needs of aging baby boomers and millennials whose need for affordable housing is growing every year. Malls can help provide convenient as well as affordable housing for them. Also, the shift from a traditional mall to a mall that offers memorable experiences among people has been instrumental in the revival of some dying malls. Decidedly, all these approaches have been effective. When used together with the traditional mall shops, they have helped maintain traffic in malls and keep some businesses from closing due to traffic reduction.
Conclusion
Notably, the popularity of malls has been dwindling over the past few years. Although this is not new, the popularity decline has been phenomenal in the past five years. More and more stores are closing their shops in malls, leaving the malls with large vacant spaces that are hard to fill. This has resulted in some collapsing altogether. However, there are available approaches that have already been adopted that could help revive the malls. As noted, most of them include repurposing the malls to include housing facilities, office, recreational, and academic amenities, among others. This has helped the malls regain traffic that is helping the shops within them thrive. However, it is important to note that these new developments are not cheap. Most of them involve the deconstruction of large parts of the mall. For instance, for houses, the malls have to be redeveloped significantly since such things as plumbing in malls do not meet the requirements of a house. Nonetheless, these approaches are the way forward for dying malls.
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