R.I.P. Malls
Shopping center owners have been angry with media coverage of their industry. In June, David Simon, CEO of America’s biggest shopping mall owner, complained: “It’s confounding to me…the New York-centric media need to be negative on the mall industry. I mean, I don’t know if it’s like a drug they take — they just feel like they have to shit all over the mall every time I listen to the TV or read the newspaper.”
I mean, I’m not laughing at David Simon’s comment, but I’m not not laughing at it. The idea that there is some sort of densely-populated-urban-city-media bias against the shopping mall is only worthy of a few lols because, like, sure, a lot of what we consider The Media™ is based in New York and there is definitely a demand for a certain kind of “death-of-the-mall-relics-of-a-former-society” porn that can only be satiated by images of the hollowed-out landmarks that used to be the linchpin of the Western economic wheel.
Sapna Maheshwari reported that The International Council of Shopping Centers has started working with a PR firm to, presumably, wipe off the shit New York media has smeared all over the walls of their formerly glorious malls. There’s a lot here that I didn’t know — such as the existence of a “Dead Malls Enthusiasts” Facebook group, for one — but it’s mostly the same spin on an old story: malls are dead, people don’t shop like they used to, everything and everyone you know and love will crumble to dust, etc.
It is true that the oft-repeated statistics about online shopping killing the mall are overblown. Over the summer, Sarah Kendzior wrote an article about the death of the mall, citing retail consultant Howard Davidowitz, and he was like, has anyone asked if people have the money to go shopping?
The rise in online shopping has been blamed for the demise of the mall. But some economic analysts see a more basic problem.
“What’s going on is the customers don’t have the […] money,” notes longtime retail consultant Howard Davidowitz. “That’s it. This isn’t rocket science.”
Yeah. I do also hate malls, personally — aren’t they claustrophobic, a little? — but if the International Council of Shopping Centers wanted to hire a consultant who just gave people (me) money and pointed them (me) towards the nearest mall with a Sephora that might endear us (me) to their cause a little more.
In related news, I found this book the last time I was in New York; it was hiding behind a huge stack of used books but I heard it calling to me, “Haley! Buy me! I confirm all your preconceived notions about the death of American malls!” Two thumbs up, would buy again.