Decline of the Mall

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I am writing over the growing trend of shopping malls closing down over the past few years. This concerns me as I have always enjoyed the aspect of going to the mall. There are a few things that I see contributing to this...the ease of e-commerce sites, the slow economy and the growing trend of the outdoor or stand alone shopping centers and wal-mart. While I totally get the outdoor shopping experience in warm climates, I don't get their appeal in the north. I would rather park once and be able to go to all of the stores I want to see, catch a bite to eat, perhaps run into some old friends, and catch a film in one place. I do use e-commerce sites, but sometimes just a walk around in the social atmosphere is more enjoyable, much more enjoyable than walking in wal-mart for 15 minutes and checking out. I don't like getting in the car to go to store to store then driving to a restuaraunt. Web sites like deadmalls.com show photos of many abandonded malls. Anyone else feel this way? Anyone rather go to a mall than a bunch of cold, no atmosphere stores?