De-malling

De-malling is the process in which a developer eliminates the most common characteristics of a shopping mall, which usually has a large enclosed space with smaller stores, typically surrounded by department stores as anchor tenants. Often this is done by closing off the interior spaces of a shopping mall and turning the facility into an open air center, in which the remaining stores are all accessed from the outside. Alternatively, defunct anchor spaces are repurposed for such uses as private or governmental offices or medical purposes, or converted into residential uses.

Though the idea dates back to the early part of the 21st century, in North America, the retail apocalypse has heavily impacted second-tier malls and some have closed, many of which have become "dead malls". While the decline in large department stores has been the mist visible evidence of the phenomenon -- 9,000 stores closed in 2019 alone -- the causes have ranged from the rise of online shopping, the increase in big box superstores, the shift to a service economy and to increasing variations in socioeconomic status. In response, property owners have converted the inward-facing shopping mall that has a shared interior walkway connection its stores, by adding entertainment and experiential features, added big-box stores as anchors, or converted to other specialized shopping center formats such as power centers, lifestyle centers and factory outlet centers.