I’ve heard that the regulatory environment had a big impact on some places. Something like there were a bunch of subsidies/incentives to invest in the real estate aspect of malls. When those incentives dried up, the increased operating costs got passed on to tenants, some of which couldn’t afford the increase. Closing shops make the mall less attractive for customers, which reduces sales at the remaining shops, some of which end up closing down, and the whole thing spirals into the situation we have now.
I wouldn’t be surprised if artificial incentives played a role. It’s also worth noting that in general, malls were built and flourished at the expense of downtown shopping areas, and many cities had hollowed out, dead commercial cores by the era when malls were going strong.
I’ve heard that the regulatory environment had a big impact on some places. Something like there were a bunch of subsidies/incentives to invest in the real estate aspect of malls. When those incentives dried up, the increased operating costs got passed on to tenants, some of which couldn’t afford the increase. Closing shops make the mall less attractive for customers, which reduces sales at the remaining shops, some of which end up closing down, and the whole thing spirals into the situation we have now.
I wouldn’t be surprised if artificial incentives played a role. It’s also worth noting that in general, malls were built and flourished at the expense of downtown shopping areas, and many cities had hollowed out, dead commercial cores by the era when malls were going strong.