Why are there so many empty shopping malls in America?

There are still about 1100 malls in the U.S. today, but a quarter of them are at risk of closing over the next five years. read more

Randall Park Mall opened in 1976 and closed in 2009. In 1995, there were 120 stores that employed 5,000 people. The mall began its decline in the early 2000s when J.C. Penney and Dillard's left. By 2008, the mall was basically empty. The mall is currently being demolished and will be gone any day now. An industrial park will replace it. read more

Shopping malls across the country are dying, and, in some cases, leaving jobless communities and rotting buildings that are hotbeds for crime in their wake. Shopping malls across the country are dying, and, in some cases, leaving jobless communities and rotting buildings that are hotbeds for crime in their wake. read more

Gazing down at the motionless escalators, dead plants and empty benches below, he adds: “It’s still beautiful, though. It’s almost like ancient ruins.” Dying shopping malls are speckled across the United States, often in middle-class suburbs wrestling with socioeconomic shifts. Some, like Rolling Acres, have already succumbed. read more

That's probably because one of the malls therein, Ohio's Randall Park Mall, was once the largest malls in America. "[Mall culture] was such an intricate part of the city that the town is represented by the two shopping bags appearing in the municipal seal," Lawless explains in the book's introduction. read more