Our indoor malls - with the exception of the Mall of America - have been dying for years - its just too expensive to heat huge indoor malls. I avoid shopping in general - my Christmas shopping was a run through Target and another through Marshalls during the weekday the week after Thanksgiving.
However, I did go to the Galleria in Edina for a book a few weeks ago and walked around - ritzy indoor mall with a Coach store and lots of little designer sorts of places. Apparently no one told the throngs of women shopping there that there was a recession - a lot of sales - but also a lot of women with shopping bags on a Tuesday afternoon.
I had to stop by the mall on Sunday to pick up a thing or two and it was a madhouse when I was over there. I don’t know how it compares to previous years as I seem to remember it was a madhouse then, too, but I can tell you that it certainly didn’t look like the mall was going to go under based on that day.
I went to Geneva Common, an upscale shopping center in the western suburbs of Chicago last Saturday and it was just as insanely busy as it usually is this time of year. There are a few empty storefronts, though (Bombay Company/Bombay Kids and The Sharper Image, to name a couple).
My local mall, although somewhat hectic, is quieter than previous years. Combination of downturn and strong Euro making shopping in Northern Ireland cheaper than shopping in the Republic Of Ireland. I might go do some Christmas shopping up there on Saturday.
A couple Saturdays ago the department store I work for made more revenue than it had on any other day in its history. We sold five thousand dollars more on this Black Friday than we did the Black Friday before. We don’t seem to be hurting at this point.
I stupidly went into my local one last weekend. It was chaotic. People everywhere. The heat and humidity were hideous.
Went shopping over lunch - stood in a ten minute line to buy things…plenty of registers open for midweek - but all were busy. This was a Kohls.
ETA: I don’t think people aren’t shopping - there is some of that - the current issue for retailers is that they have all dropped prices to the point where their revenue may be stable but their profits will be minimal in order to move inventory. Its a bargain year.