Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The Development of more Lifestyle Shopping Centers where current "Dead" Traditional malls stand. 

The Who: United States Online Shoppers and Consumers

The what: The retail industry in the United States is slowly declining. Amazon and online retailers are slowly taking a larger and larger market share. 

The Why: As online retailers grow people find less of a reason to go to traditional shopping malls. As the large anchors leave, it creates a “dead mall.” 

There are many people in the United States that are in areas where their malls and common shopping areas are closing due to online retailers. Many people in these areas are affected and share the need of areas needed for development. 

Not all areas are affected, some areas are not currently experiencing as many closures. Although as malls close, people are seeing less areas of common leisure in their areas. In middle class areas retailers that heavily make up the malls such as boutiques, large department stores, toy stores, etc.. are closing causing the entire mall complex to close. 

People in areas that are still using their malls may not find the need because they still are using old malls and centers. In new areas of development surrounding the malls that are closing this cause is affected the most. As although there are online retailers to get the good they need, there are not as many common places to go and visit. Many retailers may be blaming the ever growing online market but don’t see the opportunity o innovating their business in a better center of shopping and lifestyle. 

While interviewing Mike, I had brought up his thoughts of many stores that were once staples in society going out of business. As it is prevalent that this is occurring, all of the people I interviewed were familiar with what was going on. Mike states that he found himself shopping for most things online rather going to current malls. The reason being was that he found that shopping in the traditional malls was in part due to the fact of the lack of “reason to go” He found from trying to find parking, to not having much to actually do in the mall other than get his item causes him not to frequent the traditntal mall anymore. 

I interviewed Jake as well, Jake being a millennial he also identified that many of the item he purchased were from Amazon or other online retailers causing him to not go to traditional malls as much. He found himself only going out for two reasons. To meet with friends or do something revolving around his “lifestyle.” This included going to the gym, going to the movies, going to get groceries, or to frequent more upscale areas. When asked why he had no longer went to traditional malls he states that the malls large big box anchors he had used to shop are no longer there. 

Others such as Taylor stated that they had been unaware of the fact that they themselves had not been to the traditional mall in over the last 6 months! This showing where the decline was coming from. However, he still stated that he thought he would still rather order most of his items online rather than shopping for them at lifestyle centers. Although, he also made a claim that he would go for other reasons. This brings us back to our main point, the redevelopment of malls and structures that will otherwise be doing nothing. Most of these malls are centered in the middle of town, on busy intersections, close to many people in the city. Having a
“dead mall” can really have an affect on the towns economy and affect it overall. By redeveloping these town center malls, it could increase jobs within the town and economy overall, rather than leaving an empty building. 

As I interviewed Austin, it became clear that the consensus was clear and many people are aware of the problem. When bringing the idea to attention, many people also at first did not realize the real need for it. As conversations proceeded more and more people came to the realization that it was much needed where they live. Whether in a college town, large urban area, or small suburb. 

Cassandra brought up the point in our interview that it would be extremely difficult to develop or redevelop these lifestyle centers as well as convince tenants of the centers that it would work. After hearing this I conducted some research on my own to find the growth of lifestyle centers over traditional malls. I then went back to her showing this publication by the American Marketing Association https://www.ama.org/publications/MarketingNews/Pages/lifestyle-malls-replace-traditional-format.aspx

In the publication it brought up the reason traditional malls have been steadily declining and in contrast showed that there were a small amount of lifestyle malls currently in the country. Many of them being new developments rather than redevelopments of traditional malls. However, although the article reaffirmed the growth of these and the conclusion that these type of malls will work, it also displayed that doing so are expensive projects. 

During my interviews and research into this subject I found that many people had found that this was definitely a need in society. I had came to conclusion that the redevelopment of the traditional malls in theory will work and boost growth for local economies and battle against a completely online dependence of retailers for everyday needs. Although, it also uncovered the true cost of doing these types of projects. To combat the costs I thought of ideas to raise money from investors that believe in the idea as there are many facts that point to the idea working well in areas of traditional malls.