[jyl]

Malls get old, outdated, their surroundings change, even in a good economy you'll see some malls die.

Just to take one example, the mall in my wife's hometown in WA state died due to mismanagement, failure to renovate, the anchor Nordstroms leaving. Shopping moved to a neighboring town's renovated mall. The old mall is being converted to other uses, some condominiums and some retail. That all happened in the mid-2000s when the local economy was doing well.

Now the recession is tipping more weak malls over the edge. Probably not a coincidence that most of the listed malls are in Rust Belt states.