Shopping malls, which McKinsey has defined as “the heart and soul of communities, the foundation of retail economies and a social sanctuary for teenagers everywhere,” have been under severe pressure from the proliferation of e-commerce and other forces. Although shutdowns and consumer reluctance to shop in person reduced average mall foot traffic by 90% at the pandemic’s outset, COVID-19 isn’t wholly to blame for the decline; it merely accelerated trends already in place. In 2014, McKinsey asserted the traditional mall as being “at a critical inflection point,” with “a storm of global trends coming together at the same time to cause malls to change the role they play in people’s lives.” In the subsequent years, “the single biggest factor in the decline of foot traffic at shopping malls has been the rise of online shopping,” says business content platform MarketScale. A record 12,200 U.S. stores closed in 2020 and about 125 consumer goods and retail companies filed for bankruptcy that year, on top of almost 6,000 stores that closed in 2019. Though suburban foot traffic has nearly returned to 2019 levels, foot traffic at urban shopping centers and malls remains 16% below pre-pandemic levels. Traditional mall anchor tenants like Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney declared bankruptcy recently and reduced their store presence, while gas prices, COVID-19 variant surges and supply chain issues further complicated the issue. But while the challenges are undeniable, don’t count the mall out as a preferred shopping venue just yet. Retail foot traffic rose 61% during Black Friday 2021 compared to the previous year, according to JLL, while average foot traffic was up 27% in January 2022 over January 2021. DigitalSignageToday reports that “industry experts believe the mall is ready for a comeback. It will look different, though, and leverage technology...