The Death of the American Mall

Last Sunday morning, CBS News ran a story on the dying American mall.  In the story, it made the assumption that the main reason why malls are dying is that people are shopping online.

Seriously?

Are you kidding me?

In my opinion, the real reason for the collapse of the malls is 2 companies:  Walmart and Target.  These 2 companies have dominated the landscape where others once did.

Of course, both of these companies have had their share troubles over the last few years, but both have managed to survive all their problems with little affect for the most part.

Granted these 2 companies killed most all other retailers in the past few years:  Ames, Bradlees, Caldor, Ann & Hope, Woolworth, and many others.  Feel free to add your own dead retailer to the list. 

Certainly many of these stores were standalone stores and not connected to malls, but the trickle down happened where many of the mall stores were affected to the point of closure.  This led to a lot of empty spaces in many malls.

Translation, no stores means no mall.  In fact, the website deadmalls.com is a great resource to read about the past of many of the former malls.  I highly recommend this site for anybody wanting to research the dead past of malls and its associated stores.

So why did CBS make such a stupid oversight? 

The answer is simple:  MONEY.

Both Walmart and Target are both big advertisers with the CBS TV network.  It is almost certain that they did not want to offend their advertisers by blaming them for the decline of the mall.  After all, you would be smart not to bite the hand that feeds you. 

What I found most interesting about the story was the fact that they mentioned the Mall of America.  While this is technically a mall in all regards, it is in reality a tourist destination.  Consider it like a Disneyland with a roof.

I have visited this mall several times over the years and while it does have a wow factor, it has declined significantly over the years as many of the stores have disappeared been replaced with more local stores instead of national chains.  Unfortunately the prices in many of these stores are significantly higher priced than their national counterparts. 

So honestly, I have no intention of returning back to that mall anytime in the near future.  Ironically, when I was out there, many locals say they shop at another mall (smaller and more realistic one) not far away.  I guess the real people in the area know better than the tourists. 

So did CBS do a disservice to the public with this story?  That depends on your perspective.  Ironically, the pictures at the beginning of the video included pictures of both Kinney Shoes and Woolworth, both of which were owned by the Woolworth Company, the same one I worked at for nearly 9 years.

Of course, I really watched this Sunday morning news show for the story on Shakira.

After all, her hips don’t lie.  Unlike that company called Staples.