Visits to malls declined by 50% between 2010 and 2013, according to the real-estate research firm Cushman & Wakefield.
In the nearly two years since it closed, Chicago's Lincoln Mall has transformed from a vibrant shopping center into an eerie, deserted wasteland.
The mall was forced to close after many retailers — including Sears — shuttered their locations inside the shopping center.
While abandoned malls are spooky, shopping centers in their death throes are scary in a different way.
Regency Square Mall in Richmond, Virginia is still open — but a number of shops have gone dark as retailers have closed their stores.
The mall's operators have attempted to cover up the closures by installing vending machines in boarded up walls.
Roughly a third of shopping malls are at risk of dying off as a result of store closures, according to data from Green Street Advisors. When a mall loses an anchor store, like Sears, it can be nearly impossible to survive.
Sears has been hit with both plummeting sales and dwindling inventory, as seen in this empty area of a store in Richmond, Virginia.
At one store in Hillsboro, Ohio, Kmart hung white sheets to hide the area where the grocery section once was.
It's difficult to convince shoppers that this apparel is high-quality when it's presented so haphazardly.
Still, the Manhattan Macy's is better than the scene at Minneapolis's Nicollet Mall location, days before its closure.
Ummm...help! #macys #fourthfloor #fromstorage pic.twitter.com/iXti9G3pPB
— Kavita Kumar (@kavitakumar) March 16, 2017