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posted by martyb on Tuesday April 25 2017, @04:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-need-for-pants dept.

In the 1980's people wrote about malls as cultural centers, as temples to shopping. Now, they're dying.

Many observers are speculating about the growing trend of so-called dead malls: once-flourishing, large retail spaces that now have a high vacancy rate, low numbers of pedestrian traffic, or the lack of an "anchor" store (typically a department chain). Is it because of economic recession, or stagnant middle-class wages and growing income inequality? Or has the death of these malls been hastened by the rapid growth of online shopping?

It's difficult to say, but the dead mall phenomenon is becoming a cultural item of interest -- for retail historians, urban explorers and documentarians alike. We may read about dead malls in The New York Times or The Atlantic, but film footage can say much more than words.

Is Amazon to blame?


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  • (Score: 2) by draconx on Tuesday April 25 2017, @08:39PM (2 children)

    by draconx (4649) on Tuesday April 25 2017, @08:39PM (#499552)

    But you can go to the antique stores and buy a claw hammer forged in 1935 that will last until the end of time. Same thing with furniture.

    This is simply survivor's bias.

    Of course if you buy a tool or piece of furniture made in 1935 that is still in usable condition 80 years later it is a well-made, durable item, pretty much by definition. There was probably a lot of crap made in 1935 too, but it all broke within the decade so nobody is selling broken 1935-era crap in 2017.

    I am certain that there are items made in 2017 that will also last a lifetime. 80 years from now, those items will still be around, all the broken crap will be gone, and 22nd-century humans will be complaining that nobody builds products to last anymore, and admiring those early 21st century products all seem to last forever.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @12:48AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @12:48AM (#499723)

    I have personally witnessed the continual decline in quality in consumer goods. Sure, many things are cheap now, but that is because they are made of imitation sub-plastic. Everything is disposable and non-repairable. It's only in the 21st century that it's become common to buy a "decent" brand product and have it break the first time you use it. Remember the Quality movement of the 80s and early 90s? Don't hear shit about that anymore, do you? It all dates to when we started mass importation of SHIT goods from China. Everybody does it now, like VLM says, so there is no escape.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @02:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 26 2017, @02:50AM (#499804)

      That or younger folks than us see disposable fashion as being in-line with how short-lived fashion trends are - so it makes sense not to throw a hissy fit over cheap non-durable fashion driven products as you're likely to junk it when the trend changes next summer. We live in different times.