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[andythinkpad]

I actually enjoy shopping in stores; not entirely sure why, but the experience of going to look at a bunch of cool stuff is something I like.

However I absolutely can't stand what I just quoted; having things pushed on me.

It's gotten worse and worse over the years; I think it's related to the decline in retail.. as retail has declined, sales tactics have gotten more aggressive.. which to me causes a vicious cycle,, because people like myself with loads of money to burn stop going to malls.

Mall kiosks are the worst; so fucking rude.. literal harassment at times (following you for a ways, repeating a question over and over, then mouthing off at you if you ignore them.)

I do 90% of the shopping online, but my wife and me still enjoy going to malls every few weeks. It's a good place for families to hang out.

Malls in greater New York area have been doing fine. All the major ones have had expansion. I think the decline only apply to some inland regions.

 

[The Greek Freak]

Amazon is too good.

The stores are also too bad.

I have tried to go to places like Payless to get something I need THAT day and 90% of the time they don't have it, or it's literally 5 times the price of an online store, or in the case of something like BestBuy getting something unlocked etc is impossible.

Those unaffected won't care because they saved money buying online. They might start caring though when their future kids have nowhere to work.

I cared when it was local shops getting destroyed by giant chains.

Giant chains paying so little that they are essentially corporate welfare queens? They can get fucked and be destroyed by giant online chains I don't care.

 

[The Albatross]

There is an irony that malls and big developed spaces are now victims of something called Amazon.

Like the Amazon is reclaiming nature from civilization.

 

[entremet]

I wonder what happens to suburbia?

More restuarants since those don't compete with Amazon.

We really need to invest more in public parks.

 

[Infinite]

I wonder what happens to suburbia?

More restuarants since those don't compete with Amazon.

We really need to invest more in public parks.

What will public parks do

 

[entremet]

What will public parks do

Stuff for people to do. Especially kids and teens.

 

[TheMan]

http://deadmalls.com

 

[The Albatross]

People lamenting the death of the suburban mall are only doing so because of nostalgia or because you can't comprehend anything else. Malls are terrible. Huge over constructed monoliths with enormous footprints, that shape traffic and break up cities, and are terribly inefficient. Very few malls can be walked to because of this, very few can exist next to rails or other public transportation (tho many city planners have improved this and made it possible), but the convenient mall is by far the rarity.

Malls aren't the norm, malls are the exception to the norm. Suburbia will survive without these inconvenient monstrosities.

That said it'll be generations before all malls are gone or replaced with something else. Suburbia will probably change before malls entirely do, it's just that shitty malls are going away more quickly.

 

[entremet]

People lamenting the death of the suburban mall are only doing so because of nostalgia or because you can't comprehend anything else. Malls are terrible. Huge over constructed monoliths with enormous footprints, that shape traffic and break up cities, and are terribly inefficient. Very few malls can be walked to because of this, very few can exist next to rails or other public transportation (tho many city planners have improved this and made it possible), but the convenient mall is by far the rarity.

Malls aren't the norm, malls are the exception to the norm. Suburbia will survive without these inconvenient monstrosities.

That said it'll be generations before all malls are gone or replaced with something else. Suburbia will probably change before malls entirely do, it's just that shitty malls are going away more quickly.

Yeah, malls suck, but I'm not talking of big city suburbia, extensions of the major metros. I'm talking about small town suburbia, where I'm originally from. Malls were a place to go and chill.

Walmart has killed them. There used to more skate parks, but the decline of those has also been sad.

 

[biggersmaller]

Minnesotans love to shop in person. It's in our DNA. Our many large malls in the Twin Cities are doing pretty well. It's mid-small level malls, downtown shopping, and stand alone big box retailers that are suffering around here.

We have the Mall of America where occupancy has always been near 100%, foot traffic has always been stellar, and 20% of visitors are NOT from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, Illinois, Ohio, or Canada. Originally it was feared it would kill neighboring malls, but...

Every other large Mall also does well including one not too far from MOA (Southdale Mall) which is a large and has many of the same stores. Somehow it even does extremely well.

 

[always crazy bacon]

People lamenting the death of the suburban mall are only doing so because of nostalgia or because you can't comprehend anything else. Malls are terrible. Huge over constructed monoliths with enormous footprints, that shape traffic and break up cities, and are terribly inefficient. Very few malls can be walked to because of this, very few can exist next to rails or other public transportation (tho many city planners have improved this and made it possible), but the convenient mall is by far the rarity.

At the time they were built convenient public transport links were not a consideration because of Americas love of the car. Didn't matter where they built them because they knew everyone would drive to them. Now car ownership is on the decline so that's reduced footfall in the malls.

 

[lawnchair]

amazon doing great selling all those MAGA hats

 

[Indelible]

Not surprised at all, online shopping is so much more convenient and usually cheaper.

 

[ahoyhoy]

CVS closing a handful of stores is a drop in the bucket for a business with close to 10,000 stores.

I will never forgive Macy's for buying and destroying Filene's. They can get fucked.

Here on the East Coast they bought out Hect's. My grandmother worked there for 20 years. When they became Macy's she lasted another year before retiring in disgust.

 

[tiggerkiddo]

Some of the malls around here (Denver) had some really nice designs and I miss them. Or never really got a chance to see them (Cinderella City). Only one of them was really pesky to get to and ironically is one of the few remaining ones.

 

[Megawarrior]

People check it out physically at Best Buy then buy from Amazon though.

Moat people get broken tv's when they buy online tho so they prefer to get it in store. Price matching amazon is also a thing. I know both target and best buy do this.

 

[The Albatross]

Moat people get broken tv's when they buy online tho so they prefer to get it in store. Price matching amazon is also a thing. I know both target and best buy do this.

Most people...?
While broken TVs are a possibility, I'd imagine the vast majority receive working, normal TVs, elsewise Amazon would not sell TVs.

 

[harriet the spy]

Most people...?
While broken TVs are a possibility, I'd imagine the vast majority receive working, normal TVs, elsewise Amazon would not sell TVs.

Well, blame space.

 

[MsKrisp]

Having spent a good portion of my youth working in retail, I welcome their demise with unyielding glee.

I hope that working online retail is at least a little bit less shitty for the next generation of minimum wage employees.

 

[SillyEskimo]

Our local mall lost two anchor stores, Maceys and JC Penny. The only anchor store left? Sears.

Also, our mall has less than 50% stores compared to 2015.

 

[emag]

Having spent a good portion of my youth working in retail, I welcome their demise with unyielding glee.

I hope that working online retail is at least a little bit less shitty for the next generation of minimum wage employees.

Unskilled online retail jobs? You mean warehouse pickers (who will shortly be phased out by machines)? Or customer service call centers?

 

[Koomaster]

The main mall in my area is doing great judging by the constant traffic and lack of parking. You are basically forced to park in either Sears/Macy's/JCPenny's parking lots and enter the mall through one of them.

As for CVS, I just don't see how people buy things there. Everything is so marked up. I basically only go there for picking up my mother's prescriptions which are basically the cheapest things in the store.

 

[Zeuanimals]

I basically just go to Target and Walmart for everything I don't get on Amazon

My biggest problem is clothes shopping. I've had too many clothes shipped to my house that don't fit right. Shoes and hats are the only ones that I can be certain I won't be wasting my time with.

 

[Usobuko]

Was an article about private equity coming in to save distressed retail companies posted yet?

A head I win, tail you lose scenario.

Especially since radio shack was mentioned.

 

[Icedburden]

Some of the malls that have closed in Southern California in the past few years are incredibly sad. The ones barely still open are weird marketplaces that I wouldn't want to spend more than a few minutes in.

Beyond the loss of income for stores and the options for shoppers, I'm most sad about the lack of a place for young people to gather and be social. The end of gathering places will only push more kids into the digital meeting space, which is a poor replacement.

Kids would rather stare at their phones than do anything. Next time you're at a restaurant, look around, it's sad.
I'm 28 and I still see people my age do this.

 

[Usobuko]

Found.

https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/www...ins-even-when-it-loses-thanks-to-debt-markets

Interesting read for anyone interested.

 

[Zeus Molecules]

As long as Costco survives I'll be ok

 

[br3wnor]

I do 90% of the shopping online, but my wife and me still enjoy going to malls every few weeks. It's a good place for families to hang out.

Malls in greater New York area have been doing fine. All the major ones have had expansion. I think the decline only apply to some inland regions.

Ditto, I don't do a ton of shopping in them but do enjoy just walking around a mall as something to do w/ the wife. Long Island malls are doing fine, especially the higher end ones. Walt Whitman mall in Suffolk County is really, really nice and has nice food options.

My hometown mall (upstate NY) has become a bit ragged though. I used to work at it in my late teens (2004-2006ish) for a couple of years at an Arcade and the place was popping. I stopped in last year when I was visiting home and the place was a ghost town and there were numerous 'for rent' store fronts.

Ultimately, outside of higher end specialty retail places, we're gonna be a country of Targets and Walmarts with most other type of retailers moving to online only.

 

[entremet]

Our local mall lost two anchor stores, Maceys and JC Penny. The only anchor store left? Sears.

Also, our mall has less than 50% stores compared to 2015.

I've seen vocational schools open in Malls. Pretty wacky stuff. They need to rent the space to someone.

 

[N7.Angel]

Amazon is too good.

Yup, that just it.

 

[TyrantII]

Moat people get broken tv's when they buy online tho so they prefer to get it in store. Price matching amazon is also a thing. I know both target and best buy do this.

Don't buy your TV's from Bobswestcoastimportelectronics.Net with the 35% discount from anywhere else.

I bought my last 65" plasma from Amazon forfillment and had zero issues. If it was damaged they would have swapped it out.

 

[MGrant]

Need to take some notes from what Japan/Taiwan/South Korea are doing in malls/department stores. They're clean, conveniently located, reasonably sized and partitioned, and packed with shit people actually want to do and buy. They're pleasant spaces to be social in, unlike the depressing, cavernous wastelands that US malls seem to be these days.

 

[always crazy bacon]

Kids would rather stare at their phones than do anything. Next time you're at a restaurant, look around, it's sad. I'm 28 and I still see people my age do this.

It's not just kids, I watched this behavior spread and become accepted as everyone started to get iPhones. After 2 years lunchtimes with colleagues was just silence.

I remember when my parents would make me take off my walkman and later stop playing the GameBoy when with company because it was bad manners and unsociable. Seems I was the trendsetter in my youth.

 

[Sectorseven]

Kids would rather stare at their phones than do anything. Next time you're at a restaurant, look around, it's sad.
I'm 28 and I still see people my age do this.

I've even seen people doing this on dates. They each look at their phone until their food arrives. It's depressing.

 

[always crazy bacon]

I've even seen people doing this on dates. They each look at their phone until their food arrives. It's depressing.

I saw that behavior referenced in a movie recently.

 

[NobleXenon]

I don't see GameStop on that graph, to which they're closing 150 stores also.

Crazy.

 

[The Albatross]

Unskilled online retail jobs? You mean warehouse pickers (who will shortly be phased out by machines)? Or customer service call centers?

The trouble with evolving industries is that people assume the jobs won't change, they'll just apply in some awkward way to the new industry, and use that as a proof for why the world as they know it is going down the shitter.

In 1962 before super markets opened where you picked your own products off of a shelf, I'd imagine someone would protest "but what will the grocery boys do who take your bags to your car, follow you around the store???" And yet, here we are today and society persists. And now we're protesting that stop and shop Peapod or Amazon Local or what have you is automating or replacing the person who bags your groceries or scans an item. 65 years ago, the person protesting taking your own groceries off the shelf couldn't consider the idea of someone scanning a barcode.

Times change, jobs adapt.

 

[elrechazado]

There is an irony that malls and big developed spaces are now victims of something called Amazon.

Like the Amazon is reclaiming nature from civilization.

Except Amazon has a huge number.of giant warehouse spaces, call centers, etc.

 

[The Albatross]

Except Amazon has a huge number.of giant warehouse spaces, call centers, etc.

Well, obviously I'm aware that 'Amazon' is not actually a rain forest, but an e-commerce website.

 

[ArrrrghX]

The thing this graph doesn't show is how many are left standing - for example, CVS may be closing 70 stores but from another article I read they still operate more than 9600 pharmacies across the country. From a % basis, that's less than 1%. I wonder if any others on the list are in similar scenarios.

 

[The Albatross]

Yeah and CVS is very adept at closing stores that are in areas that don't perform, only to open a new store 2miles away in a new area that performs for them. That's happened in my city with CVS which makes sense for a 'convenience' store.

 

[br3wnor]

The thing this graph doesn't show is how many are left standing - for example, CVS may be closing 70 stores but from another article I read they still operate more than 9600 pharmacies across the country. From a % basis, that's less than 1%. I wonder if any others on the list are in similar scenarios.

Pharmacy's are fine. Over 70% of their business is prescriptions and those are a long way from being solely done online thanks to regulations and other laws that will be hard to change.

 

[Mesousa]

I've even seen people doing this on dates. They each look at their phone until their food arrives. It's depressing.

Is this any different from old couples reading the newspaper/book when with each other?

 

[always crazy bacon]

Is this any different from old couples reading the newspaper/book when with each other?

A date is getting to know someone. Not already in a relationship and spending a relaxing time together while enjoying what you each like. So yes, it's different.

 

[kirblar]

As long as Costco survives I'll be ok

Big Box stores are doing just fine. No need to worry.

The trouble with evolving industries is that people assume the jobs won't change, they'll just apply in some awkward way to the new industry, and use that as a proof for why the world as they know it is going down the shitter.

In 1962 before super markets opened where you picked your own products off of a shelf, I'd imagine someone would protest "but what will the grocery boys do who take your bags to your car, follow you around the store???" And yet, here we are today and society persists. And now we're protesting that stop and shop Peapod or Amazon Local or what have you is automating or replacing the person who bags your groceries or scans an item. 65 years ago, the person protesting taking your own groceries off the shelf couldn't consider the idea of someone scanning a barcode.

Times change, jobs adapt.

For an example of how NOT to react to change- look at New Jersey, where a whole bunch of jobs exist only because it's illegal to pump your own gas.

 

[jrDev]

Where is Gamestop lol... :-/

 

[jstripes]

As long as Costco survives I'll be ok

 

[br0ken_shad0w]

I wonder what happens to suburbia?

More restuarants since those don't compete with Amazon.

We really need to invest more in public parks.

The new thing nowadays are lifestyle centers. There's a couple already in Houston with a few more in development.

 

[always crazy bacon]

The new thing nowadays are lifestyle centers. There's a couple already in Houston with a few more in development.

Sounds like the Irvine Spectrum Center. Lot's of smaller stores and a nice environment. Anchor stores are still there but the are on the outskirts of the main area. Really pleasant place.

 

[Az987]

So why is Amazon planning to open b&m stores again?