Well, you understand that a mall is just a covered street you can't drive on, right? With some shared infrastructure? In the rainy wastelands of North America, it turns out that people like that kind of thing. It's appealing to not worry about cars when your children are scurrying about. It went more upscale than anyone needed - the prototypical "bazaar" turned corporate - but it's hard to argue in the big flat commons the occupies much of this country that it's really a waste of space.
Time was there were a lot more mom-n-pop style stored in the mall. It was an easier place to start one, you just lease your space and all the facilities are provided for you!
Malls may have damaged Main Street, but it was the big box / department stores that really did that, and it was through efficiency and better logistics pushing prices down, and corners being cut every which way, that they did so - not just by virtue of their size and location. Nobody gave a shit that Main Street was dying because they could get their own needs for less than before.
Now, imagine if we could keep the logistics, but force the profit back into the communities where the spend is happening. Paying retail workers a lot more is a good way to look at doing that.
https://www.aerialphotosofnj.com/_images/_photos/aerial/shop...
Most small towns don't have a one off Chanel or LV store, and some people want that stuff.
Fuck malls. They're reaping now what they sowed a long, long time ago when they killed the family-owned business on main street.
The footprint of the modern mall is outrageous in its size. I'd like to think that creative and forward-thinking cities will come up with a much better use for that real estate.