Who said “malls are dead“?

• Did they mean, only for the best of the best stores? (But, not for all of them?)
• Did they mean in every city, in every remote town? (But, not for the mega malls?)
• Did they mean for everyone who used to go there? (But, not for the new peeps who do still go?)

I know I am not the retail expert. I am a retail shopper though – in real brick and mortar stores, too.

That said, I have only been to the mall, our local shopping mall, maybe 4 times in the last year and that might be generous…

The Starbucks is gone and Ann Taylor left, too. McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A, Delia’s and 5 Below all gone. Plus – did I mention the anchors? The ones who aren’t even a brand anymore…yup, they are really gone and now, even Sears is leaving, too.

Bright yellow and black “EVERYTHING MUST GO” banners.

Maybe the mall is one of the things that should just go, and get it over with…

…or, not?

I probably would have said all of those statements and meant that malls are dead already. Not just slowly dying. Yet, maybe there is hope – maybe they are dead for “all but those 6 weeks of the year.” Or, it might just be false hope. Using the defribrillator on something that won’t come back to life; except, I think I saw a little life in our local mall as I hung out there for an hour this weekend. It wasn’t my first choice for a weekend afternoon, but my teen-aged daughter and her friends wanted to go “window shopping”. So, maybe – just maybe – there is hope.

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl