Since the mid-1990s, some have opined that all shopping malls in America are dead or dying. This half-fact has been repeated by the clueless news media, who -apparently- no longer do objective and investigative journalism...but just repeat, in verbatim, what comes over the wire service.
"Malls are dead" detractors say online shopping will eventually do in "brick & mortar" retail. However, a few pertinent facts are being overlooked. First, buying certain things online (such as music and movie downloads and electronics) can work out ok.
However, one cannot try on clothing or shoes, and can end up sending an item back a time or two to finally get the right one. Moreover, lots of Fashionista-type ladies savor the experience of shopping in an actual store. This is something that doesn't transfer over to buying stuff (that you cannot touch, feel or try on) on a computer or smart phone.
In summation, if every single shopping mall in America is dead or dying, why is it that...
If brick and mortar malls are all dead or dying, why did so many mall owners do multi-million dollar renovations? The four properties mentioned are but a few examples of our nation's many thriving -and expanding- destination-type malls.
ROOSEVELT FIELD, Long Island, NY
-Completed a 200 million dollar expansion in 2016-
-Completed a 200 million dollar expansion in 2016-
DEL AMO FASHION CENTER, Torrance, CA
-Also wrapped up a 200 million dollar renovation in 2016-
-Also wrapped up a 200 million dollar renovation in 2016-
ALA MOANA CENTER, Honolulu, HI
-Finished a renovation in 2016...to the tune of 573 million dollars-
WESTFIELD VALLEY FAIR, San Jose & Santa Clara, CA
-Put the finishing touches on their 600 million dollar redo in 2020-
-Put the finishing touches on their 600 million dollar redo in 2020-
Drawings 1 & 2 from www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
Drawing 3 from www.ggp.com / GGP, Inc.
Drawing 4 from www.westfield.com / Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
Sources:
www.encyclopedia.com
http://www.icsc.org/srch/about/impactofshoppingcenters/briefhistory.html
Retail Traffic website
www.answers.com
http://money.usnews.com/money/business-economy/slideshows/americas-most-endangered-malls/8
US News & World Report "America's Most Endangered Malls"
Wikipedia "Home Shopping Network", "Online Retailing" and "Dot Com Bubble" articles
FAIR USE OF RETAIL STORE LOGOS:
The graphics of various retail stores used in this article help illustrate a key moment in retail history that is described in the article. The images are of lower resolution than the originals (copies made would be of inferior quality). The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.
