By Amalie Rhebeck
From movies, back-to-school shopping, pictures with Santa, to offering a leisure way to shop, eat and ‘hang out,’ the mall dominated American culture for decades.
In recent years though, the annual growth of the average mall is not the same as it once was. Damage to sales from the COVID-19 pandemic affected malls around America, and in 2023 malls only made up about 5.5% of sales in the retail market, as opposed to 5.7% in 2014, according to Coresight Research.
While higher-end malls are still thriving, average malls have had to combat declining sales, the rise of online shopping, and surprisingly– the growth of thrifting and resale fashion, an industry that grew 18% in 2023, according to ThreadUp, an online consignment store.
This has been in large part because younger generations, especially Gen Z, have started to ditch shopping at malls in favor of thrift stores and online secondhand shopping.
“The last time I went to shop in a mall was before 2020,” Arizona State University student Jolie Plucinski said. “A thrift store is like an entire mall in a single store because it has every style and brand a person could ask for.”
Data by ThreadUp suggests that by 2028, the market for resale fashion will grow almost three times that of the current global apparel market, being worth almost $350 billion.
In Tempe, the Arizona Mills is the only traditional indoor mall left. While the mall has a high store occupancy rate, it is home to several off-price department stores like Marshalls, DD’s Discounts and Burlington, which are full of fast-fashion items. According to The Association of Resale Professionals (NARTS), a large part of the growing secondhand shopping movement is due to “sustainable conscious consumers” turning away from unethically made clothes like these.
Madison Bird, a second hand clothing vendor at the University Street Market, which is an outdoor market where vendors sell second hand clothes on the Arizona State campus, says that awareness around the impacts of fast fashion has increased thrifting culture.
“I definitely do believe that the awareness around fast fashion has definitely increased the general [secondhand] population,” Bird said.
“There’s a lot of infographics that are around Instagram that are like ‘Don't shop from big fast-fashion brands like SHEIN, ROMWE or Forever 21.’”
Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe, Arizona
(Simon Premium Outlets and Malls/The Chic Daily)
She also said that beyond the quality of the clothes, the awareness about the conditions of the 75 million factory workers worldwide that work for fast fashion companies have raised ethical concerns with consumers.
“I think another thing too is the sweatshop workers and even the quality of the clothes themselves, they don't last very long. It's kind of sad, because now we see in thrift stores a lot of it isn’t durable clothing, it’s just fast fashion,” Bird said.
So what does this mean for malls like The Mills? There have been whispers that malls across America are dying in the last decade, but is it true?
While malls are definitely not going anywhere anytime soon, the average American mall has had to adapt to the growth of other elements of the retail industry, like online shopping and thrifting.
In 2015, Daniel Valenzuela, the vice mayor of District 5 in Phoenix, responded to a question from a Phoenix Resident named Richard Kelleher. Kelleher asked why Phoenix government officials were allowing malls to “decay,” since sales tax helps the local economy grow, according to AZ Central.
Valenzuela responded by saying that malls in Phoenix are maintaining high occupancy rates by providing “shop and play” experiences for consumers in malls, like arcades, play areas, or in the case of the Mills, a 26,000 square foot aquarium.
“People are no longer just looking to shop, but also a place they can spend their Sunday afternoon with the entire family,” Valenzuela said.
Another way that malls have learned to stay afloat is by transforming themselves into outlet malls. For example, the Mills was bought by Simon Premium Outlets, an investment group specializing in outlet malls, in 2007. With cheaper prices, average neighborhood malls have hoped to attract more foot traffic, but not everybody is buying into the discounted deals.
“I believe outlet malls will need help to get me back to relying on a mall and shopping less second hand,” Plucinski said. “Lowering the prices of clothes that didn't initially sell is a good idea instead of simply throwing away the product, [but] it still is not enough. All the clothes I look at remind me how I can find them second hand at an even better price or quality.”
A large part of the movement behind resale fashion has been the experience of searching for the clothes and brands consumers are looking for, in the midst of the chaos of other clothes. While people used to enjoy shopping for the latest “trendy” brands in stores, now more consumers are leaning into the idea of hunting for unique fashion pieces on the shelves of thrift stores or deep in the rabbit hole of resale fashion websites. This is an experience that malls simply have been unable to compete with, despite their efforts to provide more “experiences” to accompany typical mall shopping.
“My favorite part about thrifting is the adventure it takes you on each trip. I never know what I will find; that is always the best thrill,” Plucinski said. “My style is bold and centered explicitly around the 2000s, so it is sometimes hard to find vintage items at a mall.”
Both Plucinski and Bird raved about several resale stores and sites including Buffalo Exchange, Savers, Facebook Marketplace, and especially the Goodwill Bins. For many thrifters, it’s less about the end result and more about the ‘hunting.’ They said the Bins particularly offer an exciting secondhand shopping experience, where consumers sort through dozens of large containers and everything is priced at only $1.99 per pound.
“I also love to go to the Goodwill Bins,” Plucinski said. “I have found unique pieces like BAPE and Juicy Couture for hundreds of dollars less.”
Similarly, popup thrift shops like University Street Market, give people a bite-sized taste of what secondhand shopping is. Bird says what makes USM unique compared to the mall, or even other resale stores, is the local convenience to college students.
“I know at this point it was almost four years ago but obviously with COVID all of the malls were close so people had to find other ways to shop and so that led to online shopping and I think a lot of people resorted to secondhand online shopping, such as DEPOP or Poshmark,” Bird said. “Once stores opened back up, I think they decided to go back to second hand shopping in-person and honestly there's a lot of opportunities to go, especially with USM. It is right on campus, so you can find a ‘new’ second-hand shirt right after your math class, it's pretty easy.”
Although the mall is still a staple for many Americans, data suggests that the growth of resale shopping has only begun. Unlike decades past, there is a new generation of shoppers skipping past malls, eager to search for discounts, and passionate about a more environmentally friendly and ethically conscious way of shopping.
“Since shopping second hand, I have been repulsed by the high prices of mall stores asking for cheap clothes,” Plucinski said. “[With thrifting] I can buy more without breaking the bank, while saving the planet.”
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