Nordstrom to target struggling malls when considering closures as JC Penney, Macy's axe stores

[MineralMan]

1. The Mall is Closing. My closest big mall was ghostly quiet this past Christmas

season. It's anchored by Sears, J. C. Penney and Kohls. I was in there, because it also contains the nearest Barnes & Noble and I wanted a particular calendar for a gift. About 1/3 of the smaller stores were shuttered. The floor kiosks that used to populate the mall during the holidays were very few. What was most shocking was that there were so few shoppers in the mall on a Saturday afternoon near Christmas. Very few. I parked just short distance from the Sears entrance, in a nearly empty parking lot and walked through that store. Empty. The open areas in the mall had few people, too.

The food court had only a couple of vendors left, where it once had 20. This particular mall is moribund. Twelve years ago, it was jammed with stores and shoppers around the same time. Once J.C. Penney and Sears shut down, and they will soon, there will be no reason for anyone to be there anymore. Kohl's is a decent sort of department store, but this year, the counters were often without any staff. I walked past the jewelry counter, and there was nobody there on a Saturday afternoon near Christmas to show people their deeply discounted jewelry.

The malls are dying. Their time has passed. They will not return to life, either. Virtually everything you can buy there you can get from Amazon for less and have it delivered free to your door in a couple of days or less. Why would you go to the half-empty Maplewood Mall? What is the point of malls at all in 2017? They're done. Maybe those big buildings will be converted to senior living facilities. That might work. The residents could amble through the open areas without venturing out into the Minnesota winter. That might work.

But the malls are done. They are no longer of use as retail centers, really. Probably the Mall of America will survive, simply by dint of it's expansive size and easy access. I don't know. But mid-sized malls like the one in Maplewood, MN, are finished. I expect its doors to be closed next Christmas season. I don't actually care. The Barnes and Noble didn't have the calendar I was looking for, anyhow, so I ordered it from Amazon.

So long, malls...it was nice knowing you for a while.