TIL shopping malls still exist. I haven't set foot in one since I worked in a bookstore in one in like 2006, and they were dying left and right back then.
The successful ones have pivoted from being solely shopping locations and more entertainment. Movie theaters were usually a thing, but now there’s escape rooms and nerf war places and whatnot.
Interesting. That sounds kinda cool actually.
It’s super cool to see the change from just a lot of shops plus a foot court as the standard. We did the nerf thing for a work event once. It was crazy fun.
https://tacticalurbancombat.com/ as an example.
EDIT: The Mall of America has/had a go kart track that spanned two levels of the mall. It was insane.
Yeah, that's pretty nice, I love the idea of them turning into activity-centers instead of shopping-centers (like we don't have enough of those already.) I never really understood the 'a lot of shops' thing - I only ever went into a mall if the place I was specifically making the trip for was inside one, usually cinemas, but occasionally small shops that didn't exist outside of htem like Waldenbooks, which is where I worked for a couple years. I get that some shops are small enough that they can't really manage an independent storefront on their own, but.. shrug It was never a draw for me, even as a teenager in the 80s with nothing better to do.
Shit i haven't been in the Mall of America since like the late 90s I think? Back then it had a giant roller-coaster in the big open area in middle, that was pretty dope.