Are Enclosed Malls Becoming a Thing of the Past?

Are enclosed shopping malls really becoming a thing of the past? I ask this question because, in the article, "Decline of the Tradtional Mall", claims that a lot more enclosed malls have closed down over the past several years. This has been researched by the International Council of Shopping Centers. In addition, the same article said that there are over 140 malls that are decreasing in popularity within the U.S and there are more at risk for closing. The question is why?

What I have found is people generally enjoy a good shopping experience and the new trend has been strip and outdoor malls. The Columbia Mall has added on to the mall to have a more outdoor feel. It has added family oriented restaurants such as, The Cheese Cake Factory, Unos, Champs and a few others. In addition, AMC a movie theater with stadium seating, was built and it brought even more people out then ever before. The way that the mall has been renovated was to intrigued people to want to socialize more and with providing more ways of entertainment people have drawn to it. In the article, "On the Drawing Board", by Lara Fuller, says that more centers are being created to accustom to the customers needs instead of having just a place with basic goods. She states, "Enclosed malls and traditional power centers are continually becoming less prevalent" and she quoted a man name Steve Ruth. Right now the trend is having centers with retail use, entertainment, and restaurants. People seem to like this type of shopping experience. Also by making the location very attractive with intriguing detail such as, great architecture and beautiful scenery more people will come. A mall that is in the plans of becoming a strip mall is Laurel Mall in Maryland.

The Laurel Mall will be building more higher income housing and luxury apartment buildings to the area. The mayor wants Laurel to become more family based and bring up the value in the area. It will have everything and more, including side walk upscale restaurants, a two level books store, higher end stores and a sixteen screened theater. This seems to excite people because it is different than the traditional closed in mall. The mall that I chose to really look at was the mall in San Diego California, called Fashion Valley Center.

This mall was gorgeous! I have never seen anything like it. In San Diego it is warm most of the time so outdoor malls are the norm. It has a glamorus feel including trellises and awnings.The mall has many retail shops, bistros and eateries. The landscape has granite walk ways and water fountains, which enhances the value of the location. Additionally, the palm trees add the whole vacation feel and people are drawn to it. The mall has outside escalators that take people to the different floors as well. The malls claims to have the best retail stores such as Nordstrom, Macy's, Gucci and Nieman Marcus. The mall has been upgraded over the years to meet the trends of this time. There aim is to keep people outside and with them being out door it attracts customers. Typically, outdoor and strip malls just seems to bring out more people. Lastly, mall owners are going into this certain direction. So yes, it seems that enclosed malls are becoming a thing of the past based on the points that I made earlier about Laurel and Columbia Mall as well as the statics founded by Congress. However, a mall that is inside is fine to me. It really comes down to the location.