What happened to the Mall?

What exactly happened here?  The shopping mall has become a zombie artifact from the 1980s.  What was once a thriving shopping community is no longer.  A recent visit to the East Hills Mall in St. Joseph found a space mostly devoid of life.  There were three or four shops open.  Everything else stood shuttered.  Contrast that with the photo below, which is of another photo of the mall, taken at the mall, displaying thriving storefronts.

According to one source at the mall, "everyone wants to go to the strip mall down the street," with storefronts stretching across a mile of open air.  Shoppers buzz in and out of these stores, as they once did in the climate controlled mall.  The difference now is they can drive right to the store they want and ignore all the others.  They do have to trudge through the heat, snow, and whatever other elements accost them, should they decide to visit more than one store.   It is all very ironic, really.

The question remains though, what happened here?  Was it the mall rats or was it that stores no longer wanted to share space.  I have a hard time believing Midwesterners would rather shop outside.  There are only a handful of months in the year that are good for that.

What will become of East Hills, a mall that still proudly displays its 60+ year history in a diorama for all to see that the end began with acquisition by the Craig Realty Group in 2014.  Ten years later, their quest to dismantle the property is nearly complete.

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further reading

East Hills Mall
St Joseph, MO

East Hills Mall
Craig Realty Group