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Just returned from Minot and noticed the signs in the mall that Herbergers is closing. Sears has gone, now Herbergers, and probably JCPennys will follow some day soon if Amazon continues its growth. Is this the beginning of the end of the malls? Big Box stores are also feeling the effects.

Canadian tire, Best Buy, Walmart and the like all have an online store. Plus, who buys lumber, fertilizer or lawn mowers online?

I make a mental list of stores I visit that I think are on life support. Funny how things work - Timothy Eaton and other visionaries made their fortunes in mail order, selling everything via catalog to homesteaders and people in small towns and on farms. I'm sure they sent many local stores into bankruptcy. Today their heirs are being put out of business by the 21th century version of catalog shopping.  
 
Think also how the topic of this thread may influence the announcement today of a new development in the south end. If bricks and mortar stores are getting less popular, wouldn't the barriers to opening new ones get stricter (ie. population counts)?

PrimeConvoy said "Canadian tire, Best Buy, Walmart and the like all have an online store. Plus, who buys lumber, fertilizer or lawn mowers online? "

We just bought are last lawn mower online through Home Depot. Was delivered to the house. Also bought weed killer in US before and had it shipped to me, kind of like fertilizer I guess. I am sure you could call RONA and order 50 sheets of plywood and have it delivered without leaving the house.  
 
My favorite thing about online is being able to pay bills, people etc. Used to hate way back when driving around to pay bills while raising 2 kids. Even groceries you can order online and just pull in with your car and have them delivered.  
 
Is the World going to more of an online World a good thing? I am not sure about that. I see both sides of the argument. Unfortunately convenience seems to be winning the fight.

Definitely a lot of headwinds for malls. I’m a believer that with our climate there’s a need for an all indoor connected shopping/services area but I think you’re seeing the store mix evolve. Brandon’s a great example with grocery, drug store, gym, restaurants getting so much square footage with less emphasis on dept stores. Will be interesting to see what Minot does... that’s a lot of square footage to dept stores!

PrimeConvoy said "Canadian tire, Best Buy, Walmart and the like all have an online store. Plus, who buys lumber, fertilizer or lawn mowers online? "

it'll blow your mind...I don't really use amazon...actually I've never used it but I've read some articles and talked to a few higher level guys in the logistics industry and believe me you WILL be buying your fertilizer, lawn mowers and lumber online in the next 10 years.  
 
Really, places like Home Depot, furniture stores, Best Buy are all moving towards the "show room" model anyway. If you don't believe me go to Home Depot and try to buy a fridge and take it home with you. Once you've realized that they have NO appliances ask them if you can at least pick it up when it comes in...they'll tell you no. Then go to a furniture store on the north hill and try to buy anything you can take home with you. Best Buy has some stuff...but 75% of the time they tell you they don't have any but they'll have one for you in 3 days. Everything has to be ordered...so how crazy of a leap is it to just skip the "Store" part of the equation all together?

I have ordered on line from best buy a patio 9' umbrella delivered to my house no need to load in my car and unload once at home plus no need to look or wait for a staff in which you can't find where they are in the store and no line up at the till. I love on line shopping this way I do not see staff whining about their shift work or how many minutes they have left to be off.

Wow, we have completely different experiences at Best Buy. That is one store you can barely walk 5 feet without 3 of the sales associates swarming you asking what you are looking for.  
 
As for the buying fridges and couches at furniture stores or HD and not being able to pick it up the same day. That has always been the case unless they have the odd one or a floor model. There is no store that could stock all that. You'd need a massive warehouse to stock things like that and those stores just don't have the space.

Ms.Daisy said "Wow, we have completely different experiences at Best Buy. That is one store you can barely walk 5 feet without 3 of the sales associates swarming you asking what you are looking for.     As for the buying fridges and couches at furniture stores or HD and not being able to pick it up the same day. That has always been the case unless they have the odd one or a floor model. There is no store that could stock all that. You'd need a massive warehouse to stock things like that and those stores just don't have the space. "

But I'm just saying it isn't much of a leap to just go 100% online...once people are trained to pay for something and be OK waiting a few weeks to receive it you'll slowly see a lot of these brick and mortar places fade away.

Ms.Daisy said "Wow, we have completely different experiences at Best Buy. That is one store you can barely walk 5 feet without 3 of the sales associates swarming you asking what you are looking for.     As for the buying fridges and couches at furniture stores or HD and not being able to pick it up the same day. That has always been the case unless they have the odd one or a floor model. There is no store that could stock all that. You'd need a massive warehouse to stock things like that and those stores just don't have the space. "

it was an online shopping I did otherwise similar same as you I hate walk in the best buy store and after bein swarmed by sales associates I walk out empty because they do not have what I want on the shelf

chickendinner said "Just returned from Minot and noticed the signs in the mall that Herbergers is closing. Sears has gone, now Herbergers, and probably JCPennys will follow some day soon if Amazon continues its growth. Is this the beginning of the end of the malls? Big Box stores are also feeling the effects. "

When did you “just return”? Wondering when it will close and if there are any good sales to be had? Sounds like a Saturday trip is in order

Adam said "Definitely a lot of headwinds for malls. I’m a believer that with our climate there’s a need for an all indoor connected shopping/services area but I think you’re seeing the store mix evolve. Brandon’s a great example with grocery, drug store, gym, restaurants getting so much square footage with less emphasis on dept stores. Will be interesting to see what Minot does... that’s a lot of square footage to dept stores! "

I'm surprised that in our climate we don't see more malls with attached 55+ condo developments. Seems to me to be a natural marriage of shops and consumers.  
 
I could see a tower on the south end of Shoppers Mall if it wasn't for the increased difficulty of building on reclaimed swamp land.

I did not see any signs announcing closure date. Savings are 40-60%.  
Lots of stuff in women's and children, not so much in mens or housewares.

I think I threw the letter out but a couple weeks to a month ago, I got one saying they were going out of business

Is the parent company of Herbergers and they are all closing. I agree with Adam, there is a need for indoor shopping. I think the malls missed the boat awhile back - maybe they were charging too much rent or something to make it easier for stores to set up a bunch of free-standing ones in areas like the Corral Center. I see them everywhere but HATE shopping that way. I would much prefer to have the stores all connected in a mall, park once and shop around - but the stores I want to visit have all moved out. That is the main reason we kept going to Minot for so many years, there is a good selection of stores and Target, JCP, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, etc. are all under the same roof.  
 
We went to the CrossIron Mills mall out by Airdrie this summer and I really enjoyed having such a great selection of stores in one place. I liked how they grouped the stores together in 'neighborhoods' so that if you were looking for shoes and sporting goods, they were all in one section. Fashion retailers in another section, etc. That way you didn't have to walk 2 miles to hit 6 shoe stores if that was what you were looking for.  
 
Malls are still a great concept for our climate, but they need to attract and keep the retailers to be successful. W

It's not that malls charged too much and drove stores to freestanding units. Instead, the drive by some large large retailers to their own building isolated from others was driven by trying to prevent shoppers from shopping around, as in an indoor mall. If you drive to a store, park in a huge lot, walk a long way to the store, and then shop, you are unlikely to want to leave and check out the competition.

thought it was a good idea, thought wrong.