> the USA is the place that i would expect to have the most malls
It's just that a lot of the malls have been augmented or replaced by strip malls. They have the same kinds of stores and they are still close enough to each other that it's convenient. Many have security, though it's more for the property than it is for the employees or guests, and there are large ones all over the place. You can go to Target and get a $14 can opener that you were hoping to pay $5 for but they made sure not to carry any cheap can openers, and notice there's a cell phone store nearby and go and get locked into a contract where you pay more than double. Don't forget to get some boring, expensive, and unhealthy food on the way out.
Strip malls aren’t the same thing and don’t have the nostalgic factor. They also don’t have the sense of place that malls did in their heyday – who goes to hang out at a strip mall, for example?
Some things are still a lot easier to buy in-person, like books and clothes. Online stores rarely have enough information about the product, either as a whole (materials, specs, etc) or as an instance (wear and tear, etc).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallsoft
There are still many huge malls, but generally speaking the vast majority of them have closed, are empty, or are being rebranded into something else.