Malls aren’t very good economic indicators. They been dying for years regardless of the economic conditions - checkout /r/deadmalls on reddit. Partly due to tastes of consumers, who got tired of walking half a mile to get to a store, and partly due to online commerce.
I’ve heard that the regulatory environment had a big impact on some places. Something like there were a bunch of subsidies/incentives to invest in the real estate aspect of malls. When those incentives dried up, the increased operating costs got passed on to tenants, some of which couldn’t afford the increase. Closing shops make the mall less attractive for customers, which reduces sales at the remaining shops, some of which end up closing down, and the whole thing spirals into the situation we have now.
Malls aren’t very good economic indicators. They been dying for years regardless of the economic conditions - checkout /r/deadmalls on reddit. Partly due to tastes of consumers, who got tired of walking half a mile to get to a store, and partly due to online commerce.
I’ve heard that the regulatory environment had a big impact on some places. Something like there were a bunch of subsidies/incentives to invest in the real estate aspect of malls. When those incentives dried up, the increased operating costs got passed on to tenants, some of which couldn’t afford the increase. Closing shops make the mall less attractive for customers, which reduces sales at the remaining shops, some of which end up closing down, and the whole thing spirals into the situation we have now.