The Consumption Space Paradox: Over‑Retailed Areas Next to Dead Malls

Abstract

<jats:p>We are witnessing a paradox in the consumption space, in relation to retail activity within urban and suburban areas: One can observe over‑retailed areas, featuring retail chains and shopping malls, oftentimes occurring close to other unoccupied, abandoned, dying shopping malls, called dead malls. The phenomenon of dead malls is widespread in the USA, is strongly visible in Canada and China, and is now starting to occur more often in Europe. This paradox can be partially explained using a series of concepts, and in this paper we introduce the main pillars in understanding the socio‑economic reasons and the spatial patterns contributing to this phenomenon. The research method employed here is the ESDA (Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis).</jats:p>

Socializing at the Shopping Mall: A Review of Literature to Reassess the Social Value of the American Mall

“…that are usually concentrated in American suburbs, also host dead malls -shopping malls that used to be vital and prosperous, now are just left unused and abandoned." 19 Notable as well is the atmospheric rise of online shopping with Amazon and its competitors being branded as the malls of the internet. Somewhat ironic is the fact that the internet, while causing the death of the community found in many malls, has simultaneously given rise to a virtual third space of sorts: online forums, YouTube channels, and blogs dedicated to dead malls.…”