It is no secret that the American mall is facing a crisis.
Rising competition from online retailers has put pressure on the stores that typically set up shop within the traditional closed mall, according to CNN Money.
Once popular anchors like Sears, JCPenney, and Macy's have closed many of their locations with plans to close more in the coming years to stay profitable. Some analysts are even predicting that between 20 and 25 percent of malls will close within the next five years as online sales continue to grow.
With the loss of foot traffic and vacancies in some of their biggest spaces, malls have begun looking in different directions to find ways to make ends meet. According to The Wall Street Journal, "pop-up stores" are one tool they are using to bring in new shoppers. These stores are short-term retailers or seasonal businesses that were once shunned in favor of permanent fixtures with stable rents. Filling mounting vacancies with these temporary solutions has helped to bring in cash flow and keep the scenery fresh for customers.
Malls are also using this opportunity to use their empty spaces more creatively and they are supporting things that would have never been found in malls a decade ago. Those big online retailers, as mentioned above, are doing well but many are also seeking to have a physical presence in a building to help bring new customers in more cheaply and easily to their core business. Malls create "white box" stores that essentially act as a blank canvas for businesses that allow them to rotate in and out of the space more easily.
Some malls have even offered to provide space to incubate startups or allow mom-and-pop stores access to a storefront without a lot of long-term strings attached. You could see malls become showcases for small retailers with local flavor.
