In looking at it today, it really seems like malls are on the decline. If I'm not mistaken, they started in the early/mid 70's, but their heyday was in the 80's and up till maybe the first half of the 90's.

It actually took me until I was in high school in the late 90's to realize they weren't bustling like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" anymore (much to my disappointment, LOL). Nowadays, I'm noticing alot of stores closing, especially the video/music places and arcades, which is sort of sad since that reminds me of my childhood in the 80's. :(

I guess my question is, how long do you think they'll be around for? In this area, it's gone one of two ways, (1) those that are kinda just "getting by" but not doing great, and (2) those which have gotten a facelift of sorts, with alot of new shops and restaurants.

PS - One thing about 2015 in BTTF part 2 which actually might be somewhat accurate was the revitalized downtown area of Hill Valley. Compare the semi run-down look of it in 1985 ('cause the Twin/Lone Pine mall was where all the activity was!) with the activity by 2015. It seems to already be happening that way in the real world. ;)

Well, I can remember when I was in middle school, it was everybody's worst nightmare to be seen shopping at K-Mart.

In San Jose, as far as I know, there are no more K-Mart's, but there are Wal-Marts and Targets, which sell just about anything that you can find at the mall.  And maybe I'm wrong, since I'm not 12 years old anymore, but I don't hear all the "cheap" jokes about Target & Walmart that I used to hear about Kmart, and I see many school age children in these stores.  That is probably one reason the malls have lost popularity.

Personally, I don't go to malls nearly as much as I used to.  I think it's partly because the stores mostly sell trendy stuff, and I am way past the age of trying to follow the latest styles.  Plus, it's hard to find parking.  Usually I only go to the malls around the holidays when I am frantically trying to get all of my shopping done in one trip.  (Or when I'm in the mood for a slice of Sbarro pizza)

I couldn't really say. I'm not too big on large chain stores such as K Mart, Countdown & The Warehouse (Hey, if you can mention American-only stores, why can't I mention NZ-only stores?!) Whether that's a trend that's happening I don't know. They seem good as thewy have nice, cheap prices, but quite often cheap price = cheap and nasty product.

Your observation about Fast Times At Ridgemont High is most likely correct.  The enclosed shopping mall became a consumer culture phenomenon in the 1960s and reached its zenith as a pop cultural phenomenon in the 1980s.  I'd say they were still on the upward arc when FTARH was released in 1982.   The "Valley Girl" thing figured strongly in malls becoming a focus and locus of teen life in the 1980s.  Did John Hughes movies imitate life, or did life imitate John Hughes movies?

i don't know if they are less popular now, or simply less novel--i.e. "it's the mall, who cares?"  

Urban department stores such as Woolworth's, Macy's, and Bloomingdale's were the raging consumerist trend prior to the 1960s and the total suburbanization of the American middle class.  

Wal-Mart and Target are discount "department stores" (supplanting K-Mart, Ames, and Bradlee's) of the shopping plaza.  The plaza, with its meterless parking, is more akin to suburbanized, automobile-dependent America than the urban-style department stores. The urban department stores that still thrive (Bloomingdale's, Niemen Marcus) are a different beast, an upscale shopping experience.

Will the mall go the way of Woolworth's or Grant's?  Probably not, unless Americans are forced to give up their cars because gasoline is too expensive.  I have a personal fantasy of a return to the walking city and rail-based mass transit, but most Americans love cars the way I hate them and would rather chew ground glass than walk anywhere.  

In much of the country you will see abandoned malls and malls going out of business.  This has less to do with popularity and more to do with the interior fabric of our country rotting away.  America is on the decline, but somehow our propagandist media manages to keep a lid on this obvious truth.

On-line shopping has taken its toll on some retail goods (e.g. book and record stores), but not others (e.g. apparel and groceries).

Anyway, that's my speculation.  It's a good question you ask, Marty, I wonder what other members think.
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Outlet malls and regulars mall will unfortunatly be overtaken by larger super malls. The nearest mall where I live (Oakville Place) is getting bigger, it even got a larger food court, another mall, where I used to live in Oakville, looks almost empty.

Malls going out of styling. Never say that in New Jersey. We got the Short Hills Mall by Chaham, Livingston Mall in Livingston, and Woodbridge Mall in Woodbridge, and the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne. In Jersey no way are malls going out of style in New Jersey. You wil lsee alot of people at malls in Jersey on weekends.