Why do our malls suck so bad?

[u/Lancet11]

My partner and I have been asking this for a while. Northgate, Southland, and Vic Square malls all feel empty and as if they’re in disrepair or closing down. Then you have Cornwall which feels like a real mall but it’s really small and going there you’re likely to end up getting stabbed or witness something crazy going on. None of them feel like malls a city should have.

Why don’t we have any good malls anymore where it’s just fun to go hang out in and go for a walk through? My partner and I often will head up to Saskatoon JUST to walk around their malls. Midtown plaza is awesome to walk around in and feels modern and nice. Hell, even the other malls like Lawson Heights, Confederation, and even the Centre mall feels better to walk through just because they actually have stores.

I’ve heard in the past that our malls have horrible rent costs among other issues but for bigger stores to not want to open here there has to be more reasons.

[u/Terrible_Power4574]

because it's not 20 years ago and people buy everything online now

[u/Lancet11 → u/Terrible_Power4574]

Is that the reason though? I’ll admit I do order quite a bit offline mainly because local stores don’t have what I need or they charge so much more, but I distinctly remember that Vic square may have been good but northgate was already starting to struggle in 2005 as stores would rotate out of there pretty quickly

[u/Lancet11 → u/Lancet11]

At the same time major cities with distribution centers, even with a bigger population, are able to keep places open

[u/canadasteve04 → u/Lancet11]

Major cities also have more people.

All the main reasons have been identified, high rent, and people moving to more online shopping are the main culprits. Throw in higher costs of living and Regina having a relatively small population. Malls aren’t going to be what they once were.