Brace yourselves: a new beast is about to be added to the rapidly growing list of extinct species, only this time it won't be a bird, fish, or any other animal. No, if current trends continue, the great American shopping mall, that omnipresent pinnacle of our love to eat food court offerings and shop until we drop, will be a thing of the past. Since 2006, not a single new enclosed mall has been built in the United States. By 2024, approximately 50% of all our once beloved malls will be closed, never again to let the ring of a cash register echo through their venerable halls.
That's Not to Say All Malls Are Dead, but...
Of course, this shouldn't be read to mean that all malls will go
the way of the dinosaurs. If you take anything away from this, it should be that the shopping center will become more of a novelty, instead of a consumerist utopia that every big city has. As of now, there are 109,000 shopping centers peppered throughout the United States, most of which will be closing in the very near future. However, as with anything, innovation and novelty will play a huge part in...