Malls Are Changing, but Not Necessarily Shrinking

Earlier this week, a New York City based company opened the doors to a new kind of shopping mall experience. HiO is a new concept by Direct Brands Group, an international business and e-commerce intermediary helping foreign brands enter the US market.

The mini retail conglomerate, located inside of the City Point shopping complex in the heart of Brooklyn, is home to nine different international brands. Many of these are doing business stateside for the first time.

Consumers have access to products ranging from makeup to embroidered handbags and even soap and fragrances. HiO is a greater reflection of the current struggles many international businesses have setting up brick and mortar shops in the United States following waves of big-name store closures and bankruptcies.

Now, as with HiO, many other businesses and commercial real estate investors are seeking to find new, creative ways to attract consumers away from their homes and back into the shopping mall. While the number of shopping malls has grown marginally over the last decade, global financial services giant Credit Suisse released a grim forecast on the future of America’s malls.

According to the report, up to 25 percent of shopping malls across the country will shut their doors by 2025. To combat this, industry experts are focusing more on the experience than on the accessibility.

Consumer Engagement Spaces, or CESs, is one of the latest ways the retail industry is rebranding itself. Rather than focus specifically on retailers and food services, these CESs are seeking to change the way, and reason, people in 2018 go out to the mall.

Destination centers have become a particularly successful innovation. These centers are marketed as not just a place to shop and unwind, but as viable weekend getaways with attractions like theme parks, museums, live music, and even indoor ski slopes.

The Mall of America is a famous example of these centers. These super-sized versions of shopping malls are the antithesis of Hio’s design, but remain a popular tourist and leisure destination. Similar centers are currently being built in Miami and New Jersey, and although the sheer size of these complexes limit the construction of more throughout the US, they provide a new hope for business owners that the future of the American shopping mall might remain a popular and prosperous one.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

cardiac care
Just Thinking… About the Role of Critical Thinking in Cardiac Care With Dr. Minh Tran
July 14, 2025

As cardiovascular disease continues to rank as the leading cause of death globally, the importance of expert cardiac care has never been more evident. The American Heart Association reports that over 800,000 Americans experience a heart attack each year, and many rely on the fast, critical thinking of cardiac specialists to survive. In an…

Read More
IP radios
Icom’s IP Radios Fill Critical Gaps in Privacy, Range, and Cost for Commercial Fishermen
July 11, 2025

The 2024 Pacific Marine Expo served as a platform for exploring how advanced radio technologies are supporting specialized industries. Secure and far-reaching communication remains a critical need for the commercial fishing sector. Rick Waedekin, the President of Coast Marine Marketing and Icom’s West Coast Sales Rep, spoke with Harold Whittlesy of Satellite Technical Services…

Read More
DXpedition
Icom Powers 3Y0K : Ham Radio’s Most Ambitious DXpedition to Remote Bouvet Island Part 1
July 11, 2025

Bouvet Island sits at the edge of the world. It is frozen, uninhabited, and almost impossible to access. Fewer people have set foot there than in space. That level of remoteness is exactly what makes it so valuable to amateur radio operators. The island ranks tenth on ClubLog’s list of Most Wanted DXCC entities,…

Read More
entrepreneurial success
The Hidden Key to Entrepreneurial Success: Build Momentum Through Personal Branding and Authentic Networking
July 10, 2025

What if the biggest pivot of your career started with a conversation?  In this episode of Professional Quotient, host Jason Winningham welcomes Fanny Dunagan, CEO and Content Strategist of PathLynks, LLC. Fanny shares her journey from high-pressure consulting in Singapore to founding her own media and branding company — and why learning to network…

Read More