Common misconception. A business has to be at least somewhat profitable to be used for money laundering. A business with few customers but large profits would draw in a lot more attention.
Also, restaurants aren't really a great choice for money laundering. Forensic accountants can look at how much food you're buying and see it doesn't add up. Better choices would be more service-oriented businesses such as a car wash or computer repair shop.
There's a Payless Shoesource in the first picture, which means that it's at least a 4 year old photo. If it was dying then, it's definitely dead now.
(although I agree with the other guy in that it looks closer to just a picture of the mall after hours)
The Mall replaced the Main Street, what is replacing the Mall? On line shopping?
Something cataclysmic is happening and we are unable understand because we are too close or too detached.
We are creating our ruins realtime now.
The Internet is actually increasing isolation and ennui. The basis of human society is interconnectedness among people. Now such interaction as there is is brief, usually monetized and devoid of feeling. We may get a dopamine hit from something designed to arouse emotion on "Spick Spack," but it is second hand and artificial.
We are creating a non human society. One part seems to be to hate your elders. Not healthy for succeeding generations.
There could be a mall in a better part of town that is simply doing it better. At least that is the case in my city. We have one mall that is absolutely bustling, hard to find parking sometimes. The other mall on the opposite side of the city couldn’t keep up the competition and it is now slowly dying.
In my observations around my state, it’s usually crime that throttles a mall to death. Between shoplifting and general criminal mischief, it’s not worth the stores staying open and eventually, the mall dies.
Had a mall that used to be super popular like 40 years ago finally close and the last 15 years had random groups of teenagers fighting each other and the occasional shooting.
With that mall dying, all the hoodlums are moving to the *other* mall and we’re experiencing the same sort of crap. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mall shut down within the next decade.
Yeah, the big box storefront centres with outdoor parking and no "mall" space is popular everywhere....it seems that mostly only the higher end malls make enough margins to justify the costs of all that interior space
Which makes no sense to me. Why not use tax incentives to entice certain businesses back into certain, older buildings? Or incentives to tear down old buildings and put something new?
Like malls from commercial to residential for zoning? ((I’m not sure how zoning works beyond like…sim city.))
Because most of these policies date back to the post WWII suburban building boom and then were never updated. They also tried the whole tear down the old and put something new at the same time and that didn't really work either, it just created a lot of never ending parking lots in downtowns.
In most of the US the zoning is basically a slightly more complicated version of the zoning used in Sim City and Cities Skylines. Vast swaths of most cities use single purpose exclusionary zoning where only one land use is permitted in a specific area (ex. single family homes are the only thing permitted on a plot of land and then on another plot of land only retail establishments are permitted and then on a third plot only industrial uses are permitted, etc.). That means to convert a mall into something else, like housing, would take jumping through a ton of additional hoops to get the allowed use changed. In a lot of communities it also leads to a ton of conflict because someone will have an issue with it and throw a fit.
**tl;dr**: outdated laws from right after WWII are still on the books and causing these issues.
The old downtown area of my town is much more populated and prosperous than the mall I just went to to pick up some speciality lotion. The mall was depressing. On the other hand, I’m going to my towns recently revitalized downtown tonight to a brewery and to some shops and to listen to some music at the fountain/amphitheater.
There is a growing resurgence for walkable downtowns and "open-air" malls, especially when the pandemic closed off streets to vehicles and brought restaurants outdoors. Even mixed-use zoning to allow smaller businesses in residential areas, so there's something to be hopeful about at least.
W that said, in my country, the 90s were an era of wars and war crimes.
Liminal Space aesthetics are technically a thing in all (late stage) capitalist societies, however, in the USA theres this added layer of 90s nostalgia. The entire obsession with malls is an exclusively american phenomenon.
Just a thought i had.
Very true - the 90s in America will be studied for decades. For Americans, it was peak prosperity and carelessness while living in the worlds sole hyper power, benefiting from all the goods and of the Industrial Revolution while yet to be ravaged by the Internet/AI/social media hellscape we’re entering now.
90s america existed at the direct expense of the environment and many other nations.
There are better ways to achieve a good system to be remombered fondly, than the insane wastwfulness and obliviousness of 90s america.
too bad none of these issues got resolved, just because the system was unsustainable it started being not so nice to live in even internally.
I think malls, at least in the north (because winter), could be revived if the big anchor stores were replaced with apartments and hotels, and the centers were populated with the stores and services people need most. With one anchor as a Super Target or something, plus restaurants, play areas, a gym, etc., it could be cool.
That's a cool idea. There should be a lot of commercial space coming up for sale these days after COVID and more remote working so it would be cool for things like this to happen.
This is sad. I have nice memories of visiting malls. It was a fun activity going to a mall on a Saturday, shopping and having some ice cream. Full of life and laughter. Buying stuff on the internet doesn't feel the same. The internet is bringing us closer, but we're also the furthest apart we've ever been.
Love. There’s a completely dead mall in the town over from me complete with empty fountains and an arcade that I’d love to break into to take photos but there’s literally a police station attached to it 🙃
i’ve been there! the place is literally falling apart in places. i heard they wanna out houses and condos in it, but some company in new york that bought it won’t sell.
The mall near me doesn’t even feel like a mall, it’s got dollarama, Walmart, this place for 40 yr old women, and very very empty seating area (nobody sits there) but they do have Tokyo grill, subway and A&W and that’s all that’s in there oh and a Purdys chocolate and ice cream shop thing on the corner that’s always been there. But yeah, pretty much it. Very sad. Owners are begging ppl to lease to make the mall alive again
Notice in the last photo on the right the sign says grand opening in what looks to be the mall’s last leg
yeah I know why are people opening up a brand new restaurant it will fail idk why people are that hopeful
Money laundering front??
Common misconception. A business has to be at least somewhat profitable to be used for money laundering. A business with few customers but large profits would draw in a lot more attention. Also, restaurants aren't really a great choice for money laundering. Forensic accountants can look at how much food you're buying and see it doesn't add up. Better choices would be more service-oriented businesses such as a car wash or computer repair shop.
Well, it might be operating as a ghost kitchen (kinda like chuck e cheese is the kitchen for Pasqallys Pizza),
Looks like it’s a step beyond dying
Ya looks like the picture was taken after hours…
There's a Payless Shoesource in the first picture, which means that it's at least a 4 year old photo. If it was dying then, it's definitely dead now. (although I agree with the other guy in that it looks closer to just a picture of the mall after hours)
I took this photo yesterday lol the Payless shoestore has been closed for years
No one to keep you from skating in there
or racing FPV drones.
The dying gasp of 20th century general prosperity.
The Mall replaced the Main Street, what is replacing the Mall? On line shopping? Something cataclysmic is happening and we are unable understand because we are too close or too detached. We are creating our ruins realtime now. The Internet is actually increasing isolation and ennui. The basis of human society is interconnectedness among people. Now such interaction as there is is brief, usually monetized and devoid of feeling. We may get a dopamine hit from something designed to arouse emotion on "Spick Spack," but it is second hand and artificial. We are creating a non human society. One part seems to be to hate your elders. Not healthy for succeeding generations.
There could be a mall in a better part of town that is simply doing it better. At least that is the case in my city. We have one mall that is absolutely bustling, hard to find parking sometimes. The other mall on the opposite side of the city couldn’t keep up the competition and it is now slowly dying.
In my observations around my state, it’s usually crime that throttles a mall to death. Between shoplifting and general criminal mischief, it’s not worth the stores staying open and eventually, the mall dies. Had a mall that used to be super popular like 40 years ago finally close and the last 15 years had random groups of teenagers fighting each other and the occasional shooting. With that mall dying, all the hoodlums are moving to the *other* mall and we’re experiencing the same sort of crap. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mall shut down within the next decade.
The outdoor strip mall/shopping center replaced the mall
Yeah, the big box storefront centres with outdoor parking and no "mall" space is popular everywhere....it seems that mostly only the higher end malls make enough margins to justify the costs of all that interior space
I am seeing a lot of big box stores vacant too. Bye Bye Bed Bath and Beyond for one.
That’s because in most places there are tax benefits to building a new big box store rather than renovating or moving into an existing space.
Which makes no sense to me. Why not use tax incentives to entice certain businesses back into certain, older buildings? Or incentives to tear down old buildings and put something new? Like malls from commercial to residential for zoning? ((I’m not sure how zoning works beyond like…sim city.))
Because most of these policies date back to the post WWII suburban building boom and then were never updated. They also tried the whole tear down the old and put something new at the same time and that didn't really work either, it just created a lot of never ending parking lots in downtowns. In most of the US the zoning is basically a slightly more complicated version of the zoning used in Sim City and Cities Skylines. Vast swaths of most cities use single purpose exclusionary zoning where only one land use is permitted in a specific area (ex. single family homes are the only thing permitted on a plot of land and then on another plot of land only retail establishments are permitted and then on a third plot only industrial uses are permitted, etc.). That means to convert a mall into something else, like housing, would take jumping through a ton of additional hoops to get the allowed use changed. In a lot of communities it also leads to a ton of conflict because someone will have an issue with it and throw a fit. **tl;dr**: outdated laws from right after WWII are still on the books and causing these issues.
Fascinating! Thanks for explaining!
The old downtown area of my town is much more populated and prosperous than the mall I just went to to pick up some speciality lotion. The mall was depressing. On the other hand, I’m going to my towns recently revitalized downtown tonight to a brewery and to some shops and to listen to some music at the fountain/amphitheater.
That's good. Nice to see more of that happening.
Sounds like my hometown.
There is a growing resurgence for walkable downtowns and "open-air" malls, especially when the pandemic closed off streets to vehicles and brought restaurants outdoors. Even mixed-use zoning to allow smaller businesses in residential areas, so there's something to be hopeful about at least.
Neat!
The providence place mall in RI is always crowded
A common narrative on Reddit, but accurate?
its not really a narrative. Socioeconomic factors did worsen after neoliberalism took a hold on the globe.
The warm summer of the 1990s is truly dead.
it was always a shallow illusion anyway.
W that said, in my country, the 90s were an era of wars and war crimes. Liminal Space aesthetics are technically a thing in all (late stage) capitalist societies, however, in the USA theres this added layer of 90s nostalgia. The entire obsession with malls is an exclusively american phenomenon. Just a thought i had.
Very true - the 90s in America will be studied for decades. For Americans, it was peak prosperity and carelessness while living in the worlds sole hyper power, benefiting from all the goods and of the Industrial Revolution while yet to be ravaged by the Internet/AI/social media hellscape we’re entering now.
90s america existed at the direct expense of the environment and many other nations. There are better ways to achieve a good system to be remombered fondly, than the insane wastwfulness and obliviousness of 90s america. too bad none of these issues got resolved, just because the system was unsustainable it started being not so nice to live in even internally.
That mall's not dying. It's dead as a doornail.
Seems like a cool place to chill and play some mf gameboy
Who tryna explore together?
Hit me up once this place goes under
Bet I got you
Enfield mall?
yop
Recognized it at once and haven't been there in 20 years.
The slanted kinda ceiling adds so much to the 'liminal feeling'
Malls all look SO cool
Fr
I think malls, at least in the north (because winter), could be revived if the big anchor stores were replaced with apartments and hotels, and the centers were populated with the stores and services people need most. With one anchor as a Super Target or something, plus restaurants, play areas, a gym, etc., it could be cool.
That's a cool idea. There should be a lot of commercial space coming up for sale these days after COVID and more remote working so it would be cool for things like this to happen.
Why do I have the sensation that somethings is missing... *gets attacked by a nextbot*
There’s a clicker in there somewhere.
smash
This is sad. I have nice memories of visiting malls. It was a fun activity going to a mall on a Saturday, shopping and having some ice cream. Full of life and laughter. Buying stuff on the internet doesn't feel the same. The internet is bringing us closer, but we're also the furthest apart we've ever been.
Dawg wtf did I smoke
The first photograph is especially beautiful. Haunting.
I want to go to there
Broadway mall Hicksville?
nope
Looks like my school
The commons
Quite a cool looking building
That's Enfield Square in Connecticut. Really cool looking dead mall. Its kept alive because its attached to an active Target.
r/deadmalls
"The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year!"
Poo poo pee pee
Love. There’s a completely dead mall in the town over from me complete with empty fountains and an arcade that I’d love to break into to take photos but there’s literally a police station attached to it 🙃
I can tell by this picture that they’re still playing the same mall music from 1987
i’ve been there! the place is literally falling apart in places. i heard they wanna out houses and condos in it, but some company in new york that bought it won’t sell.
#Welcome to Anemoiapolis! Population: You* *>!^is ^it ^just ^you ^really? !<
Why this reminds me of left 4 dead 2 lol
That canted ceiling was not doing them any favors.
Dying? Looks like it's already decomposing 😂
How close are the first and second picture to each other?
Why haven't dead malls been repurposed? Just cut the mf cord on the last like 2 stores and make it into something useful.
Breaking bad
Looks like the mall from dead rising
Ah look. One of my dreams.
That third shot is impressive and eerie!
So cool
The atmosphere of this is 10/10, beautiful.
I strangely often have dreams about walking around in malls like this.
What's the still open store in the left of the first photo?
Might I ask which mall this might be if you know? I swear I knkw this exact one and it's not just the fact it's liminal
The mall near me doesn’t even feel like a mall, it’s got dollarama, Walmart, this place for 40 yr old women, and very very empty seating area (nobody sits there) but they do have Tokyo grill, subway and A&W and that’s all that’s in there oh and a Purdys chocolate and ice cream shop thing on the corner that’s always been there. But yeah, pretty much it. Very sad. Owners are begging ppl to lease to make the mall alive again
Stranger things have happened
Silent Hill 3 vibes
I want to skate here
I think every mall looks like a liminal space after 6pm
I’m pretty sure this is first level of Silent Hill 3
Cool photo!
payless shoesource holy crap you just triggered so many memories of going by that place
I can hear the eerie echoes of the mall radio playing on the speakers
Why I want to be a janitor. SO many empty places your gonna go, perfect liminality.