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Economy
American Retail’s Fast, Furious Decline
2017-06-01
[NATIONALREVIEW] The old downtown died most places, and, now, the new downtown is dying, too: At the highwater mark, there were about 5,000 malls in the United States, and there are now 1,100, at least 400 of which are expected to close in the next few years. In the 1980s, developers built an average of 60 malls a year -- and more than 100 in some years. Now, cities from San Bernardino, Calif., to High Point, N.C., are dealing with the husks of these dead retail behemoths. There are documentary films and TED talks about dead malls.
Posted by:Fred

#5  There's a *taxation* issue at the heart of this that never generates the right kind of discussion. Even though half of this country routinely votes in charlatans who will continuously reach for more and more of their paychecks, those same people will absolutely order something online (tax-free still in many states) to put some of that money back in their pockets.

Sure, the better solution would be for everyone to wake up and demand a reduction in the size of government (and with it a reduction in taxes). But most folks can't connect the dots in that manner, or are afraid to since its not cool to be unconcerned about "diversity" and "global warming" and other such nonsense.
Posted by: Crusader   2017-06-01 16:14  

#4  Many malls around the ATL area have just become the local wanna-be-a-thug hangout on a Friday night. No reason to take my family there.
Posted by: BA   2017-06-01 15:57  

#3  I was at a ;almost dead' mall in Aberdeen Wa. last year. This was a booming area until the environmentalists came in with their junk science 'Spotted Owl' crap. Destroyed the entire logging industry in that arean and along with it the local economy and this mall.
Most of the shops were boarded up and empty. Very few people there (and this was a weekend). overgrown parking area. Pretty depressing to look at.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2017-06-01 14:38  

#2  There are documentary films and TED talks about dead malls.
However, no film or talks about the long term extreme over-building of retail space in the USA, the real cause of this "decline". After all, "no one could have predicted this."
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2017-06-01 12:45  

#1  Is it so much retail decline as occupancy expectations. See the turn over in IPhones. Maybe the new expectation by business renters is short term store contracts. That means for the consumer, you may not be able to 'bring it back to the store', cause it won't be there.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2017-06-01 09:01  

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