![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/2018_Mall_of_America_01.jpg/640px-2018_Mall_of_America_01.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Shopping mall
Large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term mall originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, it began to be used as a generic term for the large enclosed shopping centers that were becoming increasingly commonplace.[1][2] In the United Kingdom and other countries, shopping malls may be called shopping centers.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/2018_Mall_of_America_01.jpg/640px-2018_Mall_of_America_01.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Westfield_Garden_State_Plaza_-_panoramio.jpg/640px-Westfield_Garden_State_Plaza_-_panoramio.jpg)
In recent decades, malls have declined considerably in North America, particularly in subprime locations, and some have closed and become so-called "dead malls".[3] Successful exceptions have added entertainment and experiential features, added big-box stores as anchors, or converted to other specialized shopping center formats such as power centers, lifestyle centers, factory outlet centers, and festival marketplaces.[4] In Canada, shopping centres have frequently been replaced with mixed-use high-rise communities.[5] In many European countries and Asian countries, shopping malls continue to grow and thrive.[6]