The Mall as Third Place: A Surprise Renaissance?
Reports of the American mall’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.
For years, analysts pointed to shuttered anchor stores, declining foot traffic, and ghost town concourses as proof that malls had gone the way of Blockbuster Video.
Yet new data suggest a surprise turn of events: Malls, long thought to be relics of a bygone era, may be enjoying something of a renaissance.
CNBC recently highlighted how Millennials and Zoomers, supposed digital natives wedded to e-commerce, are flocking back to malls. Meanwhile, Retailbound argues that malls are reinventing themselves by blending retail with entertainment, wellness, dining, and technology-driven personalization.
Far from fading into irrelevance, the mall may be rediscovering its former purpose as the archetypal American Third Place.
Related: After the Mall: Can We Build a New Third Place?
The term “Third Place” was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg to describe the vital settings that exist outside the home (the first place) and work (the second place). These are the informal gathering grounds where people meet, relax, converse, and form bonds. Think of the neighborhood café, the barbershop, or the parish hall. Without such environments, social life would recede into isolation.
For decades, malls filled the Third Place role almost by accident. They weren’t designed as a new public square, but they functioned as one just the same. Teenagers loitered by the food court, parents met for coffee after errands, seniors took morning walks, and couples browsed stores on date night. The mall provided a shared stage for ordinary life.
When malls started to decline in the late 90s and the aughts, they didn’t just take retail jobs and tax revenue with them. A crucial Third Place began to vanish, as well. Americans lost a venue for casual gathering that required no admission fee, offered climate control in all seasons, and was accessible to anyone with a car or bus fare.
Why did malls decline?
The conventional explanation blames e-commerce. Amazon and its imitators could deliver any product straight to your doorstep, often at a lower price. Why make an hour-long trip to the mall for a pair of sneakers when you could order them in minutes from your couch ?
But that’s not the whole story. Department stores, once the dependable anchors of malls, failed to adapt their business models and collapsed under their own weight. Poorly managed developments oversaturated suburban markets with cookie-cutter malls. Crime and neglect drove customers away. And the COVID lockdowns delivered a brutal; seemingly final, blow.
Related: Can the Mall Make a Comeback?
What the doomsayers missed was that malls weren’t reducible to retail outlets. They filled aneed that online shopping simply can’t. And that need is now driving the mall’s slow but real renaissance.
According to Retailbound, the new mall thrives by going beyond selling products to offer experiences. American Dream Mall boasts ski slopes. NorthPark Center in Dallas builds art installations into its corridors. Fitness centers, coworking lofts, gaming lounges, and health spas now stand beside clothing outlets and electronics stores.
This mix appeals to a generation that values experiences over possessions. More and more, even retail tenants operate like attractions: Lego builds interactive workshops, Dyson stages live demos, Apple offers tech seminars. The result: A visit to the mall is no longer focused on buying; it’s about doing.
CNBC reports that Gen Z in particular sees the mall as an alternative to algorithm-driven online interaction. Malls offer the tactile and the unpredictable. You can bump into friends, stumble on a store you didn’t know existed, or try on a jacket to see if it fits instead of guessing from the product photo.
In other words, the mall provides the kind of organic socializing that makes a Third Place thrive.
Related: Blockbuster Bellwether
In a twist of cosmic irony, technology hasn’t killed the mall; instead, tech may be saving it. Interactive apps and A.I.-driven personalization tools add novelty without replacing the human element. The screen has become a gateway to shared activity instead of a retreat from it.
And manufacturers have discovered fertile new ground at shopping malls. Demo stations and pop-up shops allow better engagement with customers than a web site ever could.
Yet the question remains: Can the mall regain its role as a third place? Or is this renaissance a passing fad propped up by the fickle tentpoles of nostalgia and novelty?
The signs are mixed. On one hand, the design of many malls still reflects their origins as purely commercial centers. Rent is high, making it difficult for small-scale hangouts like mom-and-pop cafés or record stores to flourish. Corporate tenants dominate, and their interests don’t always align with those of the local community. When was the last time you saw JC Penney or McDonald’s sponsor a neighborhood little league team?
On the other hand, the impetus definitely exists. People want a venue beyond home and work where they can linger without pressure, meet others face to face, and feel part of something larger. It may sound odd, but adjacent trends like rising church attendance may mean that the mall is on its way to a surprise comeback.
It’s not all smooth sailing, though.
The risk facing mall operators is mistaking spectacle for socializing. Ski slopes and VR sims may generate buzz, but they don’t guarantee lasting bonds. If malls are to thrive as Third Places, they must emphasize low-barrier activities that invite repeat visits. A climbing wall attracts thrill-seekers once; a cozy café invites regulars every week.
There’s also the elephant in the room. Parents won’t send their kids to malls if they’re plagued by crime and disorder. Malls that cut corners on security risk repeating the failures of the past. A true Third Place must be welcoming, not dangerous.
Last but not least, whatever attractions they offer, malls remain businesses. That means their survival hinges on profitability. If foot traffic doesn’t convert to sales, owners will pivot back to short-term gimmicks or abandon properties altogether. The whole concept of a Third Place resists quantification, yet business managers must rely on numbers.
So, is the mall back?
The answer is yes … with qualifications.
Malls as we knew them in the 1980s will never return. The model of anchor department stores flanked by endless clothing shops has gone the way of Sega consoles and the Sony Walkman.
But the mall reimagined as an experience-driven social hub, where retail is one attraction among many, has proven viable. And it’s growing.
More importantly, this reinvention taps into a profound human need. Work revolves around productivity with no room for leisure. The home provides a refuge, but little connection beyond the family. For a time, we thought we’d made a new Third Place online. But it turns out the internet offers distraction, not deep interaction. Surprisingly, the mall may be poised to resume its role as a shared venue where ordinary life unfolds in the company of others.
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Brian Niemeier is a best-selling novelist, editor, and Dragon Award winner with over a decade in newpub. For direct, in-person writing and editing insights, join his Patreon.