Malls Are Dying, Except the Ones that Are Not
We’ve all read the poor marketing story about malls. The prediction by Credit Suisse is that 25% of all malls will close by 2022.
Against this somber background, the massive American Dream mall opened in New Jersey. It has 3 million square feet of lease space, a 16-story indoor ski slope, a roller coaster, a water park and 450 retail, food and specialty shops.
While I was recently walking around Vegas, I noticed the major malls inside casinos and the enormous Las Vegas Fashion Mall were vibrant, active and full of retailers. What’s going on? I thought malls were dying at a 25% rate. Well, only the ones that have missed a key ingredient of marketing: the experience.
If you’re just erecting a large building with stores, you will fail. That is the internet. If you are building a destination, a lifestyle, an experience — that is a successful mall. In Vegas, music is pumped in loud throughout the mall, not just in stores. That alone says this is a different kind of experience. Other malls have developed street scenes with fountains and entertainment throughout. Retailers and restaurants have been required to develop facades that are inviting and total eye candy.
Turn up the experience and turn around the trend. Build an experience, and they will come.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle. After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant. He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.” Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.” One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College. Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board. Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.
