When I was a kid, going to the mall was a once every few months treat. My mom, grandmother and sometimes my aunt would pile into the now ancient red van and traverse the winding Ohio roads to the nearest mall. To a smaller than usual kid like me, the mall was a magical place full of toys, Dippin' Dots ice cream and the most glorious pizza I had ever tasted. Now, that same mall is a dying animal on its last legs. To a nostalgic like me, it's a saddening sight. Several stores have vanished, and the mall has plastered over the blank spaces with plain white walls or garish advertisements. I know exactly why the mall died, but that doesn't mean I'm not sad about it. Internet killed the shopping mall like video killed the radio star.
Amazon and eBay have exploded from small time names online to huge companies. I still remember when eBay wasn't a common household name. But do people really not want to see things and buy things in real life? Of course not. The masses that still flow through the mall on weekends that I frequent is proof of that. But the swarm is far less dense than it was when I was a kid — and I know it's not just the few extra inches in stature I gained. Like Wal-Mart, malls are not growing in number but they are growing in size or at least sustaining themselves in large cities. Around here, people usually speak of Easton Mall with fondness and make the trip for a shopping weekend. So, with the promise of Amazon drones and even more online shopping, what does our future look like? Most likely, Black Friday shopping will become obsolete except for the online sales. Malls will diminish as well as strip malls. Bigger companies will get bigger, and smaller companies will get smaller. But hey, I'm all for my mail getting delivered by drone!
The future is going to be ruled by the internet, even more so than today. However, I believe the mall will not die. It will become a niche trend where a few will exist around the country where people will come to marvel at how people of the days gone by used to shop. Perhaps empty malls will open back up for a limited time during the holiday season to cater to children eager to try toys before their parents buy them. I will not mourn the death of the mall, but rather, I will celebrate the dawning of a new era. Buying at the click of the button in the comfort of your own home is the way of the future, and I will embrace it. But don't worry — I'm sure pizza chains and Chinese places will remain open in the shadows of where malls stood to cater to kids that were just like me, searching for the most glorious pizza they had ever tasted.
