Episode 66: Get in Losers, We're Going to the Mall: The history of Malls, 80s Mall Culture Memories, and the Decline of Malls in America

This is the first in an arc discussing the "accidental 80s". We want to dig into the new year with a bit of exploration of some of the defining genX moments or trends and discuss how they happened only by accident.

In this episode Marc shares his commercial real estate expertise to expose the tax accident that led to the mid-century Mall boom in America that continued to an apex during the 1980s. We also take a trip down memory lane and describe our personal mall experiences: the clothes, the hair, the video arcade, and (for Kristina) the boys! Finally ending up with a converstion about the contributing factors that are leading to the death of malls across the US.

Sources

Kinniburgh, Hugh. Mall City. Documentary. 1983 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmWTHCHHzZY&t=546s

The Gap Commercial 1981 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCEBoOy0ne8

Why US Malls are Disappearing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_JiP-j2FwM