It has been a frequent sign of the times: the dominance of e-commerce, led by Amazon, has led to the decline of other methods of shopping. Main Street shops have shuttered, and perhaps worst of all, shopping malls have borne the brunt of this shift. For many brick-and-mortar stores, the pandemic delivered the death blow that Amazon started, as malls around the country shuttered,
In the Valley, one of the more prominent shopping malls, the Paradise Valley Mall, once an extremely popular meeting place for teenagers and working professionals alike to meet up, window shop, actually shop, and grab some food in the food court, was an early casualty of this confluence of events. It closed in the spring of 2021, its future uncertain. But sometimes in both the natural world and the business world, death leads to rebirth, and that is precisely what is happening at the burial ground of the former Paradise Valley Mall.
The old mall is now being reimagined and rebranded as PV, and will serve as the site for 10 confirmed restaurants and shops. The first of those, a health-conscious fast-casual creation from legendary restaurateur Sam Fox named Flower Child, will be the first to open in the old spot.
The newly-imagined spot seems to be learning the lesson that the JC Penny’s and Hot Topics of the business world didn’t seem to; that it couldn’t compete with e-commerce, so it’s best to fill a void that can’t be properly filled by the internet. The denizens of the reimagined mall will so far be specifically related to food and drink, including restaurants ranging from high-end to casual, a brewery, a Whole Foods, and a liquor store that also features a full-service bar, pizzeria, golf simulator, and cigar lounge.
Perhaps this is an indicator that one type of societal death is certain. The shopping mall was once a gathering place, where teenagers would come together with friends and window shop while talking about school, their crushes, and their parents. It would seem as though that is no longer a sustainable business model and probably never was, as their lack of income was supplemented by professionals who actually spent significant money at the mall shopping. The loss of an actual gathering spot is an unfortunate one, as teenagers and young adults widely report having fewer friends and spending less time with them, switching to phone screens as a proxy.
But a more heartening lesson is the reimagining of that which no longer worked. That even though one concept can destroy an entire industry as it stood, there will always be ingenuitive people who will look at what can’t be replaced by a few clicks on your phone. That especially in the wake of Covid, the need for coming together with your fellow man can’t be replaced, and that when one door closes another will certainly be opened by ingenuity and drive. So instead of mourning a loss, we can celebrate a rebirth.