What: another call for malls to adapt to new retail realities.

Why it is important: by looking back at the original inspirations for U.S. malls, the solution to their issues seems not so far away.

When Victor Gruen, an Austrian immigrant built the first mall in the U.S., in Detroit in 1954,  he had a clear vision. For him, malls were to be “neighbourhood centres located off a main road, with a single building of pleasant and modest design, addressing local communities”. His references were the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan. This old vision is quite disconnected with what U.S. malls are today, however the Financial Times argues that looking back at Gruen’s vision could provide some perspective on how to adapt to the modern retail world.

Shopping malls need to travel back to the future