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The death of the American mall has been a touchstone topic for debate in the retail business, but reports appear to have been greatly (or at least prematurely) exaggerated.
According to an Apr. 2 white paper from Placer.ai's The Anchor, three categories of U.S. malls measured -- indoor malls, open-air shopping centers, and outlet malls -- all exhibited rigorous growth in January and February of 2026. Indoor malls saw traffic growth of 4.5%, open-air centers 6.4%, and outlet malls 5.2%.
"Despite economic headwinds, intensifying e-commerce competition, and fragile consumer confidence, shopping centers continue to defy the 'dead mall' narrative – reinventing themselves and, in many cases, thriving," the paper suggested.
More recent data put forth in a separate report by Placer.ai's Shira Petrack indicated a similar trend, with indoor malls seeing foot traffic improve by 2.2% over the entire first quarter, open-air shopping centers moving upward by 5.1%, and outlet malls by a more modest 1.4%. However, March's statistics started to show some cracks.
"But March 2026 visits were more subdued, with indoor malls seeing a slight year-over-year (YoY) decline of 1.1% and outlet malls experiencing a steeper drop of 4.1% compared to March 2025. Open-air shopping centers were the only format to maintain growth, though their 3.2% YoY visit increase -- though solid -- was still more modest than the stronger gains seen by the format in January and February," Petrack wrote.
Weakness in midday visits over March pulled mall traffic numbers down, but one note of resilience showed itself -- most notably in figures for open-air shopping centers, as both outlet malls and indoor malls saw declines versus solidity. With open-air centers being described as having an edge with affluent customers, as well as with those making short weekday visits and visits out of convenience (versus indoor malls being seen as hangout spots, particularly for younger shoppers), a few final notes were underscored for analysis:
- A convenience-experience divide shows up in mall performance: Shoppers are signaling that they have a clear purpose in mind when mall shopping, exhibiting a preference for either quick and efficient trips or an immersive experiential journey.
- Outlet malls are approaching a do-or-die decision point: Off-price retailers like TJX, among others, are cutting deeply into their market share, and outlet malls need to find a way to reignite interest as competitors erode their treasure hunt proposition. "Outlets face a strategic choice between deepening local relevance and reinvesting in destination appeal," the white paper indicated.