Why do malls seem to be doing better in the south than the north?

[ran4sh]

There's plenty of dead malls in the south too...

[Ted$8roadFan]

It's an interesting question. I lived in Toledo, which went from four malls to one since I moved here in 2007. Three have already been demolished and the land is in the process of being redeveloped. The remaining mall, Franklin Park, is doing well. It's located next to the university and the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city.

Two "lifestyle centers", or large outdoor malls, have also opened in the region since 2007, one of them (Fallen Timbers) is half empty now, and probably should not have been built; the other Levis Commons, is struggling but doing alright. Levis Commons is the descendent of the downtown Portside, a failed festival marketplace built to give the wives of local corporate executives a place to shop. That has now been replaced by Levis, which is full of women-oriented boutiques and shops.

Perhaps one overlook aspect of this is the "mid-range" retail available in the Midwest - malls have been replaced largely by places like Kohl's, Meijer, Target and other retailers a step above Walmart, and I'm not sure how prevalent those are in the South.

Second, I'd argue that people in the North generally dress worse than people in the South. Activewear, hunting gear, and sweats seemed to have replaced much of people's wardrobes here in the last twenty years. I don't get that sense in much of the south. The demand for department store clothings, boutiques, and so on seems to have evaporated in places like Ohio.

I lived in Toledo (went to UT) in the relatively prosperous late 90s. The only mall that was doing well then was Franklin Park. The others were on their downward spiral even then. Fallen Timbers was in the planning stages and was somewhat controversial. For some reason, I'm not surprised it's not doing well.

[Urban Prairie Schooner]

Seems like most malls in Louisiana not named Lakeside S/C or Mall of Louisiana are struggling. The only reason many of them might survive in the near term is because they are the only malls in their region and have Dillards as an anchor.

In Baton Rouge, Cortana Mall closed in 2019 and has been replaced by an Amazon facility.
In New Orleans, Northshore Square closed in 2019, Esplanade Mall closed in 2021, and Clearview Mall is in redevelopment.

[Bruce]

The pandemic accelerated the decline, but it was already happening for various reasons. A mall that failed to develop non-shopping uses in and around itself is going to struggle. If I have to invest a significant amount of time to visit a mall, it better damn well be worth the hassle.

Several national mall developers have also botched renovations that have hurt their properties. There's a pair of adjacent multi-level malls in Downtown Seattle (Pacific Place and Westlake Center) that took out good features in their renovations and are a shell of their former selves. Westlake Center should be buzzing more with the monorail's increased use, but they turned a convenient food court next to the terminal into an empty Sak's Off Fifth. Doesn't help that the adjacent Bon Marche (hijacked by Macy's) has only just been filled by its first new tenant (Uniqlo) in several years.

[dvferyance]

There's plenty of dead malls in the south too...

Well there are but there tends to be more in the north. Take Cincy for example other than Kenwood and Florence their other malls are either dying or dead. One factor I could say is back in 2018 with the loss of the Bonton stores like Carson's Elder Beerman ect. They were in a lot of malls in the north while they had no presence in the south so it did not affect malls down there. What gets me is Dillard's was looking into expansion when Bonton closed they looked a Milwaukee said no they looked at Chicago said no then they looked at Sioux Falls SD and said sure why not. Can anyone make any sense out of that?