Faced with the recession, and the growing dominance of Amazon and other online retailers, many American malls are becoming ghost towns. Stores are closing — especially big ones — and new retailers aren’t stepping up to fill the empty spaces. The problem is simple, writes Jeff Jordan at the Atlantic Cities: “America has too many malls.”
The stats aren’t good. Jordan, quoting an industry study, reports that there are more than “200 malls with over 250,000 square feet that have vacancy rates of 35 percent or higher.” Yikes. But for mall lovers, there’s no reason to freak out — yet. Yes, many malls will close, but a few mega-malls will remain: we’re not moving to online-only shopping anytime soon. Even so, the downfall of malls could have a huge impact on the real-estate market. Malls are palatial spaces, so it won’t be easy to re-purpose them for other uses. Sadly, many will be demolished.
To read the original article: Morning Advantage: The Death of the American Shopping Mall - Kevin Evers - Harvard Business Review
