[caidh]

There's definitely been (at least in my anecdotal experience) a split between the larger malls and the small/medium size ones. The larger malls are still enough of a draw (with lots of shopping, dining, and entertainment options) to bring people there.

The smaller malls are losing business to the larger ones, since people going to the malls are often looking for 'something to do' instead of just looking to buy a widget. Once a large anchor store or two closes at the small/medium malls (as has happened with department store chains like Macy's or JC Penney), the death spiral of the mall begins.

Some malls have recovered but only with major revitalization, renovation, and often repositioning (adding more upscale stores if the area has the business for such). An example of this in NY is the Nanuet Mall in Rockland County. That mall started failing more due to the nearby Palisades Center that was built in the 90s as a mega-mall. The Nanuet mall closed (completely I believe) before being demolished and recreated.

Sadly, I can't add any comments based on the specific WSJ article, as it is behind a paywall.

[nunez]

Well another example of a mall that picked up on this and saved themselves was Bergen Mall in Hackensack, NJ. That mall was straight up frozen in the 90s up until the late 2000s despite being quite large. Few people went there, especially since Garden State Plaza was so close by and offered so much more.

Their owners COMPLETELY rebuilt the mall to complete with it in 2009 or so and turned it into a mid-upscale property. Completely turned it around.