Metro North Shopping Center in Kansas City, Missouri, closed in 2014, but the abandoned mall appears as if it's been deserted for decades.
- American malls are closing all over the US as the retail apocalypse continues.
- A report from Credit Suisse in 2017 estimated that 20-25% of malls would shutter between 2017 and 2022, largely because of store closures.
- Retailers have announced more than 8,600 store closings in 2019 so far.
- These haunting photos show how some malls have fallen into ruin after being forced to shutter.
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American malls are dying out and, as the online
Retail complexes all over the US are being clobbered by store closures sweeping the country. In the past decade, online retailers like Amazon have flourished, while stores and shopping malls continue to close their doors or report a decrease in foot traffic.
On multiple occasions, Amazon has bought up former shopping malls and converted them into their own fulfillment centers, adding another level of intrigue to the decline of in-store retail in favor of online retailers.
At the start of the 2008 recession, 90 million square feet of retail space had closed. Then, retail closures steadily returned to the status quo in 2010. However, by 2016, the number of retail closures began increasing rapidly again, and as of August 2018, the U.S. hit a 10-year high in the amount of retail square footage officially closed down.
Retailers have announced more than 8,600 closings so far in 2019 and, according to a report done by Credit Suisse in 2017, between 20% to 25% of malls will close by 2022.
A national retail apocalypse has crippled US malls as anchor stores such as Macy's and Sears, which take up large retail spaces and drive foot traffic, have shuttered stores and left malls with enormous gaps to fill. For many malls, this is an impossible task.
Take a look at some of these haunting photos below that show how badly America's malls have been hit over the last decade.