Closing malls and malls left with vacant anchor stores have created a false narrative that Americans don’t go to malls anymore. In reality, that’s simply not true.
“Indoor malls outperformed both open-air centers and outlet malls on a full-year basis as the only format to post visit gains during all four quarters – signaling a shift from recovery into growth,” according to Placer.ai’s December 2025 Mall Index.
The overall growth was modest, 1.3% for the full year, but the number of people visiting malls did climb, but shoppers favored some malls over others…