Why American malls are dying, and European ones aren’t.
Adam Something’s latest video looks at while malls in Europe aren’t seeing the same fate as their American counterparts, despite the same competition from Amazon.
He suggests that low-density urban planning and car-dependent suburban sprawl are a big factor that no-one talks about.
For what it’s worth, Australia also hasn’t seen the massive number of dying/dead malls that the US has since the GFC.
At least in Sydney, many of our big shopping centres tend to be close to public transport. (Think QVB, Westfield Bondi, Westfield Chatswood, Chatswood Chase, Westfield Parramatta, Stocklands Merrylands, Burwood Plaza, Strathfield Plaza, Westfield Hornsby, Westfield Miranda, Castle Towers, Westfield Hornsby…)
Most also have at least two supermarkets (a Coles and a Woolies).
#malls #retail #DeadMalls @fuck_cars #Urbanism #UrbanPlanning #economy #economics #MassTransit #PublicTransport @urbanism
@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars We also absurdly overbuilt retail (big boxes and malls) in North America. Between 5-9 times more floor area per capita than Europe. (And around 2x Australia).
@ngsmcphrsn @fuck_cars Australia and the US is an interesting comparison.
There’s a lot of similarities, but a few big differences as well.
- Australia never embraced the hypermarket Walmart model of having groceries and a discount department store in one big box centre.
Instead, we have two big supermarket chains (Coles and Woolworths) that own something like 80% of the grocery market, with a few smaller players (Metcash/IGA and Aldi) claiming the rest. (CostCo has tried setting up some warehouses, but they’re a tiny player in the market.)
We then have two major discount department store chains (Kmart/Target, which used to be owned by Coles, and Big W, owned by Woolworths) selling clothes, toys, homeware, and small appliances.
Typically, Australian shopping centres are anchored by the two big department stores, plus one or both of the discount department store chains.
Indoor shopping centres tend to fill the role strip malls play in many American suburbs.
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In Sydney, with a few notable exceptions, they tend to be within walking distance of a train station. In Melbourne and the other state capitals, many are car-dependent with the only public transport mode being buses.
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Our competition regulator thinks if two or three firms split the market, that’s competition.
The concentrated markets don’t just extend to supermarkets, but shopping centres themselves. Most are either operated by Westfield (Scentre Group) or Vicinity.
Growing up in the US suburbs in the 90s, malls were still interesting. They had a variety of shops, arcades, and other activities.
It seems to me that mall owners raised prices and basically ran out all shops except big chains. Now every mall in America has basically the same set of bland stores.
@ajsadauskas @fuck_cars But in Europe innercity/downtown retail is dying. Small shops bankrupt and buildings are untenated.
But there is hope: Once the cars are banned, people are coming back and so will business. Statistical data in Germany are very clear in this regard.
European malls and even some inner-city shopping streets are also struggling. Maybe not as much as in other places, but online-shopping is definitely skimming off a lot of high profit margin products that normal stores used to supplement their revenue with.
It’s hard to imagine with the monumental crowds I see every time I go to a mall. At least in the center of Warsaw malls seem continually busy these days.
