The very first indoor, all enclosed mall was here in Minnesota.  It was Southdale mall which opened in 1956.  Since then, we have SO many indoor malls, and they are all across the nation.  Here in Minnesota, we also have the largest mall.  The Mall of America is the largest, and offers so much more than shopping.  It's like an entertainment destination.  I've seen "tourism" sites stating that you "shouldn't waste your money on the Mall and go to Lego Land and Nickelodeon Universe instead".  Funny how BOTH of those things are located in MOA.  There may be some misconceptions for people not familiar.

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Some of the reason that some malls are in jeopardy is because of big box stores, Costco, Sam's Club, Kohl's, and the like.  But I, for one, especially when there is inclement weather, or just for convenience sake, like going to the mall.  It's like a one stop shop for what you need.  I don't want to be driving all over the place if I can avoid it.

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If you take a stroll through Crossroads Mall here in St. Cloud it looks like about 50%  of the stores are closed, or have limited hours.  Some of that could be from COVID, but some could be suffering because of other free standing stores and also the onslaught of online shopping.  That also increased after COVID restrictions and shut downs.  Will it continue as more and more things are able to open up?  I do purchase occasionally online, but mostly I don't want the shipping issue, porch pirates, or whatever issues can happen when ordering online. Instant gratification is better- in my world.

So, do you think this might be the start to the end of the indoor mall?

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