The experience of walking into a mall is much different today than it was a few decades ago.

Due to modern technology, alternate shopping habits, and the decline of several retail brands, many are asking the question: Are malls dying?

Moreover, the Philadelphia region is home to more than a dozen indoor shopping malls and the real question is what might the future hold, writes Erin McCarthy for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The city got its first mall with the opening of The Gallery in Center City back in 1977.

Fast forward to 1989 and Franklin Mills opened in Northeast Philadelphia.

Less than a year later, the Shops at Liberty Place opened.

Each mall regularly drew large crowds and saw strong sales early on.

By the time the new millennium came, however, online shopping started to emerge while the 2008 recession hit malls rather hard.

In 2015, the Gallery closed and was then rebranded to what is now the Fashion District in 2019.

Meanwhile, the pandemic caused several malls in the region to close temporary while financial pressures mounted.

Even six years later, foot traffic still isn’t what it once was.

The bottom line is that malls may no longer serve the same purpose they once did, but they still have one, just with a more modern, e-commerce-influenced twist, retail experts say.

Read more about how Philadelphia-area malls have transformed over the years in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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