This is a column from the archives.

So…what will we do with our old malls?  Heck, we are still trying to figure out what to do with our old Main Streets. And our old downtowns.

Now, the malls that killed downtowns are themselves being killed. Some of the outlet centers are feeling the pressure too.

They are bleeding shoppers to Amazon. And to other online retailers. Anchor stores like Sears and Macy’s are taking the gas. Chains like RadioShack and Payless used to thrive in malls. No more.  RadioShack has been bankrupt twice.

This is hardly news to you. Mall owners see the writing on the wall.  You see the shopfronts empty.  You see fewer shoppers than you did ten years ago.

This is a problem that is mostly American. There are far fewer big malls in other countries. Europeans have one-tenth the retail space per shopper as we do. One-tenth! They frequent quaint shoe stores. We lose our way in two-acre layouts that feature 400 sneakers.

So, maybe we overdid it. Excess is an American tradition. Anyway, the question is: What now?

Malls and shopping centers of all types helped destroy our old downtown areas. Well, we did. We all bought cars and abandoned mass transit. We flocked to the suburbs. We, the big shoppers of this country.

Unfortunately, cities and developers moved too slowly to find new uses for the old downtown buildings. They lacked tax money to stimulate re-development.  Because the tax money went to the suburbs.

The malls did their damage many decades ago.  But the old downtowns of cities like Jamestown, Utica, Watertown, Syracuse, Binghamton and Buffalo still suffer.

I suspect we will be quicker this time. Quicker to find new uses for malls than we did for exhausted downtowns. There are a lot of imaginations working on the problem. And they have a lot of money to work with.

In big super-malls we are seeing more high-end restaurants. Imax theaters. Go-kart tracks and rock climbing. Even roller coasters and dance halls and casinos.  Farmers markets are springing up in the parking lots. Some malls have developed entertainment halls for musical events.

A few big malls are creating walking paths and parks around and within. There are museums re-located to malls.  Along with art galleries and libraries.  There are indoor farms and fitness centers.

Some nursing homes operate from old malls.  As do churches and walk-in clinics. And larger medical centers.  A few old malls have become homes for colleges and high schools.

Housing is difficult but not impossible. The difficulties come from lack of plumbing and electrical services. Nonetheless, some developers think they can turn malls into small towns of condos, apartments, shops, restaurants and services.

These re-developments are coming more quickly than they did in our old downtowns. This is because the downtown buildings were owned individually. The owners did not always co-operate with each other. When some wanted to turn Main Street into car-free zones, others did not. Agreements on shopping hours fell apart.

A mall, of course, is usually owned by one company. It can easily set a new course. More easily than a mix of squabbling building owners can.

We will see mall owners experiment. Some will flop. Some will succeed and be copied around the country. There are some great American imaginations at work on this.

One of the driving forces of capitalism is the phenomenon of “creative destruction”. The new destroys the old. We are witnessing the destruction of our old malls by new shopping habits. Experts tell us one in four malls will be closed within four years.  That is a lot of destruction.

I am betting we will see a massive wave of creation. Coming soon, to a mall near you.

From Tom…as in Morgan.           

       Find Tom on Facebook. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com.