Yahoo Finance recently presented an article on America’s Most Endangered Malls. The story covers a few instances of the passing of the mall culture in America. Around many parts of the US, these once busy centers are now starting to fade. Century III Mall from Pittsburgh is mentioned in the article and it is true that that mall seems to be on its last legs. There are a couple of well-known other examples I almost expected to see mentioned, such as Eastland Mall in Charlotte and Randall Park in Cleveland.
The “life-style” center now seems to be the rage. In the Pittsburgh area, it began with the Waterfront complex, which, after seeing it be quite busy recently, seems to be doing well. Discussions focusing on new shopping complexes now revolve around this concept, which seems to indicate that the our beloved malls may be a thing of the past.
Of course, a main issue with malls these days, as with the newer life-style centers, are that they are now all nearly interchangeable. One may be larger than the other, but the tenants are the usual suspects. I was at the Crocker Park complex in Cleveland recently and, while it may have been larger than the Waterfront in Pittsburgh, it was really pretty much the same. I left thinking “what’s the point in visiting these places? It’s all the same.”
