SkyMall Crashes

And as long as we’re talking about shopping malls that face increasing competition from online retailers (or at least, I am), news came today that SkyMall has filed for bankruptcy protection. I think most people (and certainly all four readers of this blog) have flipped through the pages of SkyMall while on a flight somewhere – that catalog of quirky and usually expensive stuff that you pulled out of the seat pocket in front of your knees, and that seemed to appeal mainly to the ceo-on-the-go. What’s behind the bankruptcy? In large part, competition with Internet retailers. Read the New York Times article about it here.

Dying Malls: Update

This morning’s New York Times looked into the phenomenon of dying shopping malls that I have written about previously, noting that in the last four years, more than two dozen shopping malls around the country have closed, and 60 more are on the brink. I’ve speculated that online shopping is changing consumers’ buying habits and sucking the energy out of malls (click here to read my previous post). However, the NYT article points out that some experts believe online shopping is only one factor driving the trend. The real culprit, they say, is a long building boom that has left communities nationwide “over-retailed.” High-end malls will likely survive for many years, the article says, but many others – representing millions of square feet of retail space – will not. Read the article here.