Retail slow down.

Regarding the OP's question - search "K-shaped economy". Your on the wrong part of the K.

As for malls, some are busy and some are not but the concept of an indoor mall is a 1950's idea, most were built 40+ years ago, and the rest of the world has moved on - outdoor malls in the South, online shopping, etc. Additionally many were build in locations that haven't aged well. One of the two malls here is known as a good place to get shot at. The other has been redeveloped - One wing was sectioned off and turned into medical space by the local hospital, one wing was sectioned off and became a Target. That seemed to help stabilize it - for now at least.
 
spasm3 said:
Malls are crime magnets. I won't go to one day or night.
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Many of the malls near me closed in the bad areas. There's still a good few ones left, further away from the troublemakers. The strong and safe ones will survive.

Once the Macy's or JC Penny's goes, it's the end of the mall.

Chris142 said:
Our mall went south when radio shack and Sears left. Most people over 30 had no reason to go to the mall after that.
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Ahhh the good ol days!
 
Always prefer walk in to online, even when it's snowing like now! Problem is the limited stock or sizes. Usually do a bit of homework online before, then like to touch and feel or try on before committing to a purchase. More and more when I look at availability, it's NOT available within 100 miles for pickup so you are stuck. Understand they can't carry everything, but they can do better. For me a physical retail outlet has a huge competitive advantage assuming competitive pricing and reasonable staffing.
 
The contemporary outdoor urban mall concept that combines shops with apartments above with various bars and restaurants is like a Disney synthetic version of the old days of urban life. Like a master planned urban community - in the suburbs.
 
Our local mall is doing OK I think. Sportchek(like a ***** Sporting Goods) is busy enough to employ a dozen kids at any one time, and draws in people willing to spend $300+ for a hockey stick or bat for their 9 year old playing house league. Old Navy does OK I assume. There is also a big big grocery store at the one end, so I guess it adds some traffic for people to grab something else while they are there.
The main reasons I'm there is that my bank still has branch there, and buying old junk from people is best done with cash.. And for new changes in cell phone plan tom foolery, as every couple years we seem to switch plans. It seems like ~10% of the floor space and commerce is related to cell phones?
Anyways, I go there sign up for a new 2 dozen dollars a month plan, and wonder who pays for man hours standing there, just waiting for another customer?
 
There's a large mall in the area I grew up and if we weren't there every Sunday, we were there every other Sunday. Eventually, I got a job close to that mall so Christmas shopping was me deciding on one store to hit after work, getting there, and leaving about the time the crowds were starting to arrive for the evening.

When I moved to Illinois, my route to both the train station and the local office park I was at took me directly past the big mall in the area, and I can't tell you the last time I stopped in. I think the last time was to get parts for my Craftsman lawnmower from the Sears Parts Store that was in one of the outbuildings on the edge of the property. I found out that they didn't really stock parts anymore and that anything I wanted would need to be ordered. Since I was going to have to order anyway, I left the store and just went online to have it shipped to my house.

And let's talk Outlet Malls. Those used to be a big deal because you could actually get a bargain on items that were either discontinued or not perfect. The last couple of trips I made to one of those places, it seemed like there wasn't a difference in pricing so I figured why bother? It's easier to wait for a sale online and order there.
 
opus1 said:
There's a large mall in the area I grew up and if we weren't there every Sunday, we were there every other Sunday. Eventually, I got a job close to that mall so Christmas shopping was me deciding on one store to hit after work, getting there, and leaving about the time the crowds were starting to arrive for the evening.

When I moved to Illinois, my route to both the train station and the local office park I was at took me directly past the big mall in the area, and I can't tell you the last time I stopped in. I think the last time was to get parts for my Craftsman lawnmower from the Sears Parts Store that was in one of the outbuildings on the edge of the property. I found out that they didn't really stock parts anymore and that anything I wanted would need to be ordered. Since I was going to have to order anyway, I left the store and just went online to have it shipped to my house.

And let's talk Outlet Malls. Those used to be a big deal because you could actually get a bargain on items that were either discontinued or not perfect. The last couple of trips I made to one of those places, it seemed like there wasn't a difference in pricing so I figured why bother? It's easier to wait for a sale online and order there.
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Ditto
 
AutoMechanic said:
Most people I know don’t even go to malls anymore or shop in person. They all do online shopping. I personally will always prefer to go to the store for something if possible. To me it’s not surprising that the malls are dead. When I went in the bigger mall that we have in my town it was a ghost town at peak time. Walmart has not been to busy either. I still wish they would open 24 hours again though as I like to do late night shopping when it is for sure a ghost town.
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I've tried to shop at physical stores for shoes but have been directed to their websites by the sales people because they didn't carry a normal selection.
 
I read an article this morning about the "K-shaped" economy - the stock market continues to make impressive gains even as consumer confidence declines.

The author said Black Friday spending was up 4% compared to 2024, but that the increased spending was driven by the wealthy buying big-ticket items. (I'm not sure whether the 4% increase was adjusted for inflation if not, the real increase was more like 1.2%.)

Spending was down in sub-$40K households.

Perhaps we in the middle class are spending about the same.
 
Number_35 said:
I read an article this morning about the "K-shaped" economy - the stock market continues to make impressive gains even as consumer confidence declines.

The author said Black Friday spending was up 4% compared to 2024, but that the increased spending was driven by the wealthy buying big-ticket items. (I'm not sure whether the 4% increase was adjusted for inflation if not, the real increase was more like 1.2%.)

Spending was down in sub-$40K households.

Perhaps we in the middle class are spending about the same.
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Retail sales generally are not adjusted for inflation. However goods inflation is only up 1.5% - so much for trade wars :ROFLMAO:

So real increase is 2.5%, so that is a pretty good lift.

1765374656350.webp
 
Most malls around here have closed or are on life support with lots of closed store fronts, except for the Natick mall, which seems to be going strong. What's the difference? No idea.
 
opus1 said:
There's a large mall in the area I grew up and if we weren't there every Sunday, we were there every other Sunday. Eventually, I got a job close to that mall so Christmas shopping was me deciding on one store to hit after work, getting there, and leaving about the time the crowds were starting to arrive for the evening.

When I moved to Illinois, my route to both the train station and the local office park I was at took me directly past the big mall in the area, and I can't tell you the last time I stopped in. I think the last time was to get parts for my Craftsman lawnmower from the Sears Parts Store that was in one of the outbuildings on the edge of the property. I found out that they didn't really stock parts anymore and that anything I wanted would need to be ordered. Since I was going to have to order anyway, I left the store and just went online to have it shipped to my house.

And let's talk Outlet Malls. Those used to be a big deal because you could actually get a bargain on items that were either discontinued or not perfect. The last couple of trips I made to one of those places, it seemed like there wasn't a difference in pricing so I figured why bother? It's easier to wait for a sale online and order there.
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Was that Woodfield Mall?

Woodfield and Oakbrook are the only two malls around here that have I seen so far around here that is still busy but I haven't been to Woodfield in over a decade. Fox Valley in Naperthrill is almost dead but the East parking lot has been repurposed for mixed-use condos and small business. Oakbrook is still popping; althrough granted it's the last mall that's still decent anywhere near or south of 88. A few years ago it had a Rivian store.
 
Pew said:
Was that Woodfield Mall?

Woodfield and Oakbrook are the only two malls around here that have I seen so far around here that is still busy but I haven't been to Woodfield in over a decade. Fox Valley in Naperthrill is almost dead but the East parking lot has been repurposed for mixed-use condos and small business. Oakbrook is still popping; althrough granted it's the last mall that's still decent anywhere near or south of 88. A few years ago it had a Rivian store.
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Fox Valley. It's now no longer convenient for me to go by so I can't remember the last time I was in the area but it looked like it was on life support back then. I'd heard that Sears was torn down and they were putting up housing but haven't seen it.
 
opus1 said:
Fox Valley. It's now no longer convenient for me to go by so I can't remember the last time I was in the area but it looked like it was on life support back then. I'd heard that Sears was torn down and they were putting up housing but haven't seen it.
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Traffic there is even worse now. The green is all the new condos and stuff. The bottom red boxes are under construction. There's a crazy amount of condos being built now there and just north of there next to the train station.

1765381463430.webp
 
walterjay said:
I live in a relatively affluent area. But the malls are still dead/closing and a thing of the past.

People are busy and prefer to shop with their mouse. There are Amazon, FedEx and UPS trucks everywhere here.

Other than groceries almost all our shopping is done on line and delivered to our doorstep.
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Based on the many tracking metrics online shoppers spend over triple the time “shopping “ than physically going to the store. The experience is actually clunkier more time consuming for most and using online shopping extensively makes you much more prone to being targeted by 3rd party fraudsters.

They also spend more on average than they would have in person in most cases. And get bombarded by advertising and gimmicks targeted to them based on shopping behavior.

Even better in 95% of the country “online” shopping wastes more fuel, causes more road damage and generates exponentially more junk packaging.

This was the plan all along,
now if .gov ever stops subsidizing freight …

SC Maintenance said:
Regarding the OP's question - search "K-shaped economy". Your on the wrong part of the K.

As for malls, some are busy and some are not but the concept of an indoor mall is a 1950's idea, most were built 40+ years ago, and the rest of the world has moved on
Click to expand...

Around here is just miles of strip malls with snowy slippery parking lots.

Outside the US malls are doing fine, Asia they are doing great (so long as we ignore China)

The US is the only one with a retail apocalypse and based on the stock market only 7 companies carry our economy, nearly all other businesses are either treading water or failing.



There is also a massive commercial real estate failure that hasn’t been allowed to unwind.
 
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