I actually really love department stores.

Out of pure curiosity one time, I used one of those chairs. My god did it hurt, I got neck pain for a week

Dead malls must be a car-culture thing, right? Because the local malls where I live are always full of people whenever I'm there, not really dead at all

And yeah, it is nice to hang out with friends there and look at clothes or eat something or stuff like that!

Of our surviving malls, they all had to go through a big redesign, to try to steer into the 'hang out' sentiment. Lot's of more higher end dining, a park, apartments/hotels/office space, a few small performance venues for bands.
A mall that has all of that now was, before the renovation, was department stores and specialty shops connected as spartan and efficiently as possible, with a fast food court for convenience but nothing you'd really want to sit longer than you absolutely had to. To the extent it worked as a teen hangout it was because they could grab some cheap food, be inside under a generic roof outside any stores, they could giggle at the stuff in Spencer's Gifts.
We had one of our local malls torn down and replaced with one of those giant, multi-strip-mall complexes with parking lots that are nearly impossible to navigate through. It dawned on me that it's still basically a mall, just one that you can drive through to each store so you don't have to walk very much.
Not exactly.
In the USA, a ton of malls got built in the 1950's to 1980's because of various tax incentives. These malls were anchored by department stores, providing a middle class place to buy goods.
Department stores tanked when dealing with big big box stores and online retail. Also, some mall specialty stores died off as well. Without that foot traffic, dead malls started to form.
Some malls are fighting back by increasing food and entertainment options, but the economics of malls are pretty rough.
- A local hospital system largely took over one of the two malls near me. You’d almost not recognize the inside anymore as having been a popular mall in the 90s.
- A country being car centuries, however, does mean that people vastly prefer buying things online than going there yourself. When it's far away, needs a trip, need to find parking, and can't just pop into a mall randomly when walking nearb
We have a megamall in our region that a lot of people go to but our local suburban malls are all pretty much dead and in transition. The one closest to me is slated to be developed into a mixed used residential property with apartments/condos, shops, gym, other businesees, restaurants. This is mostly due to a large chip fab manufacturing project planned to be constructed in the next 2 years. There will be demand for housing and other services so the Town/County is interested in removing any barriers for that kind of development.
2 years ago, I went into that mall during Christmas season and it was very very sad looking.
People despawn when you leave to save resources. It's dead when you're not around.

I went to a mall recently for the first time in I don't even know how many years because I like that the baggy pants trend from the '90s has come back and I wanted some.

I was shocked at how crowded it was, even on a weekday afternoon. Apparently that particular mall is very much not dying. Also, it had this exact scene in it.

All the smaller malls died/are dying. The upscale like, destination malls in larger cities are surviving. Maybe one or two per larger city.
- The smaller malls are thriving in Europe, when they are situated downtown close to public transit hubs where there is a ton of pedestrians anyway, instead of far away from everything like in the US

I walked through a mall this weekend like a high school student and it was actually fun.

they had a fuck load of deals since they're happy you were there

Like dead malls? Like vaporwave?

Retail Archaeology is a great YouTube channel about dying stores

I can smell this photo. Quite nostalgic.

My local Penny’s went out of business what feels like a decade ago. I didn’t realize the brand was still alive.

It's great if you love insanely overpriced clothes!
- See I don't agree, I actually cross the border (pre the orange rapist and the tariffs) to shop there and save buckets of money shopping there. The long weekend deals are amazing compared to where I live. I got 35 pieces of closing for 310 dollars last fall.
I love it there.

JC Thinny

That's 100% the 5th Avenue Mall in Anchorage, AK.

Wish there was a mall still near by me. I really love the vibes of a mall with the echoey music. I’d probably go on a trip to Minneapolis just to vibe at mall of America lmao.

MOA is fantastic and still very populated.
Me and the fam go there a few times a month just to walk and have lunch. Great place for summer when it’s too hot or raining out, great for winter when it’s too cold out.
I have at least three near me. I intend to go next month, to get a new iPhone. So yeah, every 2-5 years; I’m not their number one customer
- I have one near me. I took my kid there because he was really curious about what it's like inside malls. That was some depressing shit. Any mid-2000s nostalgia was eclipse by the zombie apocalypse feel of the place.

They still have these at the movie theater near me lol

Do not trust them. They poke you in the asshole.
Unless you're into that, in which case go check em out.
- public humiliation chair lol

Those chairs remind me of the ones from the animated movie WALL-E, which is concerning for our futures 😒