The Rise and Fall of the Mall

The Rise and Fall of the Mall

The Clause That Empties a Mall

Ask students what killed the American shopping mall, and you'll probably hear the same answer: Amazon.

But there's another side to the story hiding in something nobody thinks about when they're walking past the food court.

The lease agreements.

Shopping malls were built around an interesting arrangement. Large anchor stores attracted shoppers, while smaller retailers paid a premium for access to that traffic.

But what happens when the anchor disappears?

This teaching kit explores how one store's closure can create financial consequences across an entire shopping center and why understanding business dependencies matters far beyond retail.

What This Case Teaches

Students examine how shopping centers create value through retail clustering, customer traffic, and anchor tenant relationships.

The lesson introduces agglomeration economies, retail strategy, marketing channels, and co-tenancy agreements.

More importantly, it challenges students to recognize the risks that appear when a business depends on another organization it cannot control.

Best-Fit Courses

Principles of Marketing, Retail Management, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Channels, Services Marketing, and Commercial Real Estate.

Class Length and Frameworks

Suggested class length: 50 minutes

Primary concepts: Retail Agglomeration and Anchor Tenant Economics

Supporting frameworks: Inter-Store Externalities, Channel Dependencies, Co-Tenancy Agreements, and Contractual Risk.

What's Included

• Kit Overview and instructor quick-start guide

• Complete 50-minute Lesson Plan

• 14-slide presentation outline

• Assignment Prompt with a 20-point grading rubric

• 21 Discussion Questions across three course levels

• Instructor Notes and teaching guidance

• Student Handout and classroom activity

• Academic Source Files with APA citations

The Classroom Activity: Find the Dependency

Students work in groups to identify a critical business relationship they don't control.

What happens when a coffee shop loses its biggest office customer? What happens when an app developer loses access to a platform?

Each group identifies its business dependency, estimates the immediate impact, and proposes a realistic way to protect the business.

The catch? They have to explain what happens in the first week, not some vague point in the future.

Why It Works in Class

Most students know what a shopping mall looks like. Some remember when malls were the center of everything. Others have only known half-empty storefronts.

Either way, the story gives instructors a familiar starting point for teaching a more complicated lesson about business relationships, customer traffic, and risk.

Because sometimes a business can do everything right and still lose when someone else closes the doors.

Get the Teaching Kit