This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

"We Are Extremely Over-Retailed" Picturing The Death Of America's Malls

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Starting in the mid-1990s, "the mall genie was out of the bottle," says one mall analyst, "and it was never going to come back." While about 80% of the country’s 1,200 malls are considered healthy (vacancy rates of 10% or less), that compares with 94% in 2006; and more than 30 million square feet of malls are more than 40% empty, a threshold that signals the beginning of what one one analyst called "the death spiral."

 

As The NY Times reports, like beached whales, dead malls draw fascination as well as dismay, "nobody ever thinks a mall is going to up and die," but as the following images show - dead or dying they are.

 

“It’s depressing,” Jill Kalata, 46, said as she tried on a few of the last sneakers for sale at the Athlete’s Foot, scheduled to close in a few weeks. “This place used to be packed. And Christmas, the lines were out the door. Now I’m surprised anything is still open.”

“I have no doubt some malls will survive, but major segments of our society have gotten sick of them,” said Mark Hinshaw, a Seattle architect, urban planner and author.

“It is very much a haves and have-nots situation,” said D. J. Busch, a senior analyst at Green Street. Affluent Americans “will keep going to Short Hills Mall in New Jersey or other properties aimed at the top 5 or 10 percent of consumers. But there’s been very little income growth in the belly of the economy.”

“We are extremely over-retailed,” said Christopher Zahas, a real estate economist and urban planner in Portland, Ore. “Filling a million square feet is a tall order.”

“Everybody has memories from childhood of going to the mall,” said Jack Thomas, 26, one of three partners who run the site in their spare time. “Nobody ever thinks a mall is going to up and die.”

Nearly 15 percent are 10 to 40 percent vacant, up from 5 percent in 2006. And 3.4 percent — representing more than 30 million square feet — are more than 40 percent empty, a threshold that signals the beginning of what Mr. Busch of Green Street calls “the death spiral.”

Industry executives freely admit that the mall business has undergone a profound bifurcation since the recession.

“Our business is more regional and high-end focused,” he said. “There are gradients of dead or dying or flat, but anything that’s caught in the middle of the market is problematic."

 

“The mall genie was out of the bottle,” Mr. Simmons said, “and it was never going to come back.”

Read more here...

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:06 | 5625901 MarketAnarchist
MarketAnarchist's picture

Don't worry, the recovery is just around the corner...

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:10 | 5625916 Jeff the Terrible
Jeff the Terrible's picture

Over retailed? Amazon replaced retail. That's why it has a P/E of about 1,000,000

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI6tBwVjyOY

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:12 | 5625934 BC6
BC6's picture

SRS should do another 1 for 2 reverse split on this excellent news.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:16 | 5625942 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

major segments of our society have gotten sick of them,”

I can't breave...  Literally.  Something in the preservatives they spray on new fabrics makes my head stuff up in half and hour or so.  Can't wait to get out of there.

I've seen malls repurposed as office space, but it's not a pretty sight.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:21 | 5625954 bovine-reuptake...
bovine-reuptake-inhibitor's picture

Anyone building a mall should be required to keep it open for a minimum of 17,000 years.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:24 | 5625964 Slave
Slave's picture

Don't worry guys, the neocons will fix it come 2017.

/sarc

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:36 | 5625992 jbvtme
jbvtme's picture

with the internet i can get my leaf blower overnited. who needs malls?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:05 | 5626096 Stackers
Stackers's picture

still building mini-strip malls in Texas as fast as they can. 20-30 store strips with a big box anchor store seem to be the 21st model. I dont think it's so much a glut of real estate that is killing mega-malls, but the fact that nobody likes to go to them anymore. A city seems to be able to support 1 big mega-mall, but the suburbs can't support 10 more surrounding the city. The Gallaria is the only one left in Houston and it is always jam packed, but all the suburb malls were gutted and remodeled into strip malls in the late 90's

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:19 | 5626171 XitSam
XitSam's picture

Mall Death has more to do with neighborhood demographics than the economy. Scottsdale Fashion Square has always done well while other malls in phx have a varied history. Anyone remember Valley West Mall? Cristown? Thomas Mall (before reinvention)? Tower Plaza? Collonade Mall? Town & Country? 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:25 | 5626189 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Westfield Valley Fair and Santana Row in San Jose, CA, and The Great Mall in Milpitas, CA. When those go, I know malls are gone for good.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:52 | 5626275 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

How many of these strip mall developers are getting a few anchor stores in on super cheap rent and then flipping them to Chinese investors? I see this in Dallas where new malls go up and are vacant in five or six years with new ones going up across the street. Whats up with that?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:25 | 5626392 SafelyGraze
SafelyGraze's picture

one word:

simon property group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Property_Group

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:51 | 5626719 Shocker
Shocker's picture

Recovery year ummm 7

 

Layoff / Business Closing List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com

-

-

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:35 | 5626808 weburke
weburke's picture

amazon pe in 2012...3659.08

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:12 | 5626869 Dubaibanker
Dubaibanker's picture

I did break this news as well as analyzed it about 48 hours ago.....

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-03/peak-dream-death-young-american...

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 05:13 | 5627085 fiftybagger
fiftybagger's picture

I've shorted that sucker before and lost.  Good luck to anyone who does.  It's the Goldman of REITs.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 02:02 | 5626945 Real Estate Geek
Real Estate Geek's picture

A NY Times article pinned to the top?  FFS, this is supposed to be ZH, not HuffPo.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 14:25 | 5628852 JRev
JRev's picture

Calculating the American Consumer collapse since 2000: http://deadmalls.com/ 

Yes, it's a real thing.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:53 | 5626277 quintago
quintago's picture

it takes an analyst to figure out that people have run out of physical things to buy and fuck? The physical has been supplanted by mobile device purchases and associated crap, and porn.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:51 | 5626503 BlindMonkey
BlindMonkey's picture

I haven't come anywhere near peak fuck yet. Speak for yourself.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:01 | 5626743 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

Did anyone ever figure that if the malls sell crap made in China that the people who buy at the mall would soon run out of money?

 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 09:20 | 5627325 sleigher
sleigher's picture

They rebuilt that Santana Row?  I remember when it went up in flames.  All wood construction for a mall.  I never quite got that but whatever...

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:00 | 5626548 Frank N. Beans
Frank N. Beans's picture

Same with Metro Center.  And you're right, the malls doing better are in the higher bracket areas of town.  But other malls are trying to make do with discount stores now like Costco and Goodwill in place of Dillards and Macy's.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:23 | 5626638 markpower49
markpower49's picture

Blacks ruined malls, just like they ruin everything else.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:37 | 5626812 froze25
froze25's picture

Its not blacks it the "thugs". They are the twenty - thirty year old "men" that just hang out. No one wants to be around that. They ruined a strip mall by me, now a BJ's is there having to pay for membership keeps them away.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 08:49 | 5627276 smlbizman
smlbizman's picture

i agree with ur thoughts...but its the bus lines that ruined the malls....

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:04 | 5626721 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Mall Death has more to do with neighborhood demographics than the economy. Scottsdale Fashion Square has always done well while other malls in phx have a varied history. Anyone remember Valley West Mall? Cristown? Thomas Mall (before reinvention)? Tower Plaza? Collonade Mall? Town & Country?

 

Yeah...I first watched "Star Wars" in 1977 at ChrisTown Mall over in Phoenix. That was on 19th Avenue and W. Bethany Home Road. 

 

I remember them all.

 

Then I remember the Automatic Weapon Firefights in the middle 1990s at Metrocenter. Of course South Phoenix just moved into the Northwest Valley. Demographics? Yeah. You, unfortunately, have that correct.

 

I lived over on the Northeast Corner of 37th Avenue and W. Dunlap Avenue. 3646 W. Dunlap Avenue.

 

Yes. I remember it far too well. I really want to forget about it. But Phoenix has a way of impressing the most negative memories onto one's mind.

 

Phoenix is a shithole, a 60 mile wide ghetto. It has been that way for decades.

 

Sure there are brighter areas like Scottsdale and Tempe as well as some parts of Mesa and Chandler.

 

If I were you I'd get the hell out.

 

 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:19 | 5626782 Where My Dawg At
Where My Dawg At's picture

Not sure I entirely agree with your demographic theory but I sure do remember those malls. I also remember Park Central. What's interesting to me in terms of the Valley is how Westridge (Desert Sky) has re-branded itself as very hispanic with much success. It's a lot nicer than Metro Center is anymore.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 02:33 | 5626979 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Westridge Mall is on West Bell Rd, if I am not mistaken, the demographic draw being from Peoria and Glendale. Those suburbs do have a large Hispanic population although they are still predominantly white.

 

Loop 101 dumps you right at that mall if you exit on Bell Rd. I have not been to Phoenix for about three years but the last time when I was there visiting relatives it still was nice.

 

And Metrocenter has devolved into a nightmare. It used to be better before the South Phoenix migration to the Northwest Valley. Now that was a demographic shift as the Northwest Valley was predominantly white when I lived there.

 

Then I had the fun of hearing the Automatic Weapon Gunfights at 1 in the morning.

 

And that was back in the middle 1990s. I am almost certain that it has devolved into something much worse.

 

Gang violence, as I have understood, is a growing problem, now, in Glendale.

 

Unfortunately the Northwest Valley lacked in high caliber employment because they did not put in the factories. After Honeywell closed its plant then the Northwest Valley's skilled began relocating toward the Industrial Parks in Chandler, Tempe, and Mesa.

 

Now I understand that even Arizona State University even has closed its Westside Campus.

 

Only low skilled Service Industry jobs are in that section of the Valley...unless something has profoundly changed to which I am not aware.

 

If you live there then the best alternative is to leave. That place is going to explode Post Collapse.

 

 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 04:51 | 5627080 IdeasRbulletproof
IdeasRbulletproof's picture

You forgot park central, which was probably the first outside mall. Now the outside malls are making a comeback.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 19:47 | 5630437 XitSam
XitSam's picture

I did forget it but remember it well.  Goldwaters, Penney's, Diamonds (Dillards).  A B.Dalton with really knowledgeable book people. Watch the first episode of That 70s Show.  The denim shirt with the little pockes that Fez is wearing? I bought that same shirt at Penney's at Park Central. 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 08:06 | 5627196 wally_12
wally_12's picture

Today's Oakland Press, MI, headline: "Summit Place Mall Condemed". A 2 million SQ Ft mall started in the 1950's. I watched the cow field tore up for construction. The Pontiac State Mental hospital was across the street. A beautiful structure torn down for strip malls, now deteriotating. The area was middle class back then. Now, mostly welfare housing. The owner's, located in California, alledge the property worth 10 million, the township value, 3 million. Christmas shopping was a treat. Now racoons and mold according to township officials.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 08:08 | 5627198 Refuse-Resist
Refuse-Resist's picture

Dateline -- Baton Rouge Louisiana...

 

First they built Bon Marche mall.  It was a nice mall where you could bring your family, eat at the food court etc. Then the ghetto thugs showed up and drove away the spending customers. Mall declines.

So they build Cortana mall.  Same series of events precedes its demise.

So they build The Mall of Louisiana.  Same series of events precedes its demise.

The first two are ghost malls. The third is regularly filled with unsavory thuggish people who use public transport to get there and intimidate the nice people.

 Will they build yet another mall in hopes of avoiding the ghetto thugs?  I said fuck that and left there for good.  No new mall is going to fix a city with a 50% black population.

Fuck.

That.

Shit.

 

 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 09:23 | 5627335 yrbmegr
yrbmegr's picture

The Galleria has the advantage that nobody minds losing money there.  It comes out of the advertising budget.  It's jam-packed all the time, but most aren't buying.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:12 | 5626141 CClarity
CClarity's picture

Repurpose parts of malls for Memory Care - Adult Day Care.   Put some people to work conducting activities.  Plenty of parking for family members to bring their adult day care people by - or run shuttles.  

Look at demographics, growing "segments" and repurpose.  It's not that difficult!

Recycle s--t there too.  Stop filling landfills.  Sort through "refuse" in the malls.  Some adult care clients could actually do the work.

Make them light weight prisons for the not hard core criminals.  They too could sort through recycling.  (though this is too nice a job for the banksters - they should do hard time)

i tako dalje!

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:24 | 5626183 manofthenorth
manofthenorth's picture

Rent the empty malls out to Hollywod to film more ZOMBIE movies !!!!!!

We do not need more shoppers, we need more zombie movies. Lots of zombies looking for work.

Problem solved.......NEXT !!!!!!

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:36 | 5626900 ebear
ebear's picture

Rollerblade paintball!!

Bitchez!

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:48 | 5626928 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

Urban Paintball war!! Fucking excellent. I would pay for that in a heartbeat.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:52 | 5626510 soylentgreenispeople
soylentgreenispeople's picture

Yes but you have to go out to get blown

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:43 | 5626012 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

"“Our business is more regional and high-end focused,” he said. “There are gradients of dead or dying or flat, but anything that’s caught in the middle of the market is problematic.""

If that's a shock to anyone here, you might want to check your pulse.  There is no point trying to sell things to people who have been leaned on as the government's piggy bank for decades.  We're done.  We're tapped out.  

Not far from my house in Media, PA right on Rt. 1 is the Granite Run Mall that's been there for DECADES.  It's closing for all the reasons said in the article.  They're tearing it down and putting up luxury condos and shops- a high end pre-planned community.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:51 | 5626054 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

I got dragged to Granite Run all the time when I was going out with a woman who lived in that development across Rt.1 that had streets named for race horses. They never did fix that stupid, ridiculously short left turn lane at the intersection with 452. I guess they never will now.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:56 | 5626081 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Now that it's going to be a high end "luxury community" I'm sure it'll get fixed.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:49 | 5626261 in4mayshun
in4mayshun's picture

I was in a mall in Costa Mesa, Ca near Newport Beach once. I crap-you-not a dude walked in and dropped $10,000 on high end boxes of chocolates as Xmas gifts. If you've never been to Newport- you can throw a rock in any direction and bounce it off 3 different $100,000 cars.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:06 | 5626323 moonshadow
moonshadow's picture

haha tell me when u throw that rock i wana watch

Wed, 01/07/2015 - 01:22 | 5631386 rayduh4life
rayduh4life's picture

I once paid street urchins to plaster that mall parking lot with flyers! 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:38 | 5626443 hoos bin pharteen
hoos bin pharteen's picture

$10,000 for a box of chocolates? That is some expensive bulimia fodder.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:51 | 5626932 willwork4food
willwork4food's picture

$10K??? I have GOT to run for politics...

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 02:17 | 5626947 Dr.Vannostrand
Dr.Vannostrand's picture

South Coast Plaza....plenty of high end housewives and divorcees ;)

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:27 | 5626400 Ned Zeppelin
Ned Zeppelin's picture

BET Bruce Toll's company bought the $125MM Granite Run Mall note for $$25MM. But they're still stuck with Sears, Penneys, Boscov's, all dinosaurs.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:51 | 5626271 Freddie
Freddie's picture

Sounds like Free Republic web site filled with war heads and Israihell firsters.

Malls died with the middle class.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:38 | 5626449 ersatz007
ersatz007's picture

Can one buy nail guns at the mall?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:28 | 5625969 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Maybe we could rework them into mini factories making cheap plastic shit, toys, over priced clothes and shoes, and cut out 8,000 miles of supply lines and BS...,  nah, never work;)

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:38 | 5626011 OceanX
OceanX's picture

I was thinking they would be housing...

 

Preview of coming attractions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1p9jlQUW0k

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:42 | 5626023 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

You laugh but...........I suspect there will be a point in the near future when America will be seen by the world as a cheap source of manufacturing labor. First it was Japan, then China and other southeast Asian countries, now Africa is coming down the pike. How far away is our turn to join the 'cheap labor' rotation?

<Gotta crush the currency first folks.>

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:46 | 5626033 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Not with our laws, rules, taxes, fees and regs, CD.  You could pay the labor literally ZERO and it would still be too expensive for most to operate in the US.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:05 | 5626118 Sages wife
Sages wife's picture

Unless they were drone operator jobs. In which case our kids would line up for days and pay their allowances to be there. Rhymes with NIRP. Wow, 'allowance'. Is that still a word?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:10 | 5626140 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

When the Empire has fallen and the reserve currency finally departed, all those impediments will quickly be brushed aside in order to be 'competitive'. What a novel concept, wouldn't you say?

In a twist on the old wall street saying "Don't mistake brilliance for a bull market" how about "Don't mistake competitive American productivity for owning the global reserve currency".

When everyone else needs what you are selling/printing it ain't hard to be a 'great' salesman. However, when the shoe is on the other foot.....

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:03 | 5626311 g speed
g speed's picture

I don't like to complain but maybe its time to rethink "competitive"  ---seems to me that most are thinking entirely to much inside the box. 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:21 | 5626376 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

(Financial) Inbreeding eventually leads to severe mental illness.

<Or is it the other way round?>

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:44 | 5626482 Arius
Arius's picture

you might be into smt.  however, got to go through some kind of division first ... who will pay the debt etc.

i give it 5-7 years from now ... people got to eat

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:06 | 5626856 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

you might be into smt.  however, got to go through some kind of division first ... who will pay the debt etc.

 

That debt is unpayable. Our total outstanding debt, Public and Private is 300% of our annual GDP. That does not even include the unfunded liabilities.

 

What will it be repaid with? Worthless Dollars? It is UNPAYABLE. That is the tragic reality. Yes. IT IS TRAGIC.

 

And as for people eating? The Government will not be the saviour of mankind. They will have no Capital.

 

I do not foresee 5 to 7 years. I am amazed that it has lasted this long.

 

It can happen any day Arius.  Over 20% of our population is on Food Stamps....eating Lobster and Filet Mingon...NOT. Currently it is not enough to scrape by.

 

When the people go hungry then they will revolt.

 

That is the sad truth. Yes people have to eat. I agree. But they will have to feed themselves and not be reliant upon a bankrupt Government. Because of that current reliance many are doomed to succumb to slow starvation and an early death.

 

It will not be pretty at all.

 

 

 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 07:02 | 5627144 U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D
U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D's picture

Over 20% of our population is on Food Stamps....eating Lobster and Filet Mingon...NOT. Currently it is not enough to scrape by.

FALSE:  Lobster Eating EBT Surfer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__cahZprhFE

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:48 | 5626496 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

The world is run by the mafia. Not too many solutions happening within that paradigm, regardless of intellect.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:52 | 5626717 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Watch.....

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:23 | 5626182 Things that go bump
Things that go bump's picture

I don't know where they are going to find a cheap workforce here. Our well-armed youth are going to be finding it infinately more appealing to engage in all types of illegal commerce as well as pimping, robbing and kidnapping for ransom.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:11 | 5626591 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

you talking about Colombia, Mexico, the US or all the above.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:52 | 5626268 post turtle saver
post turtle saver's picture

... which is why Toyota builds all their trucks here

... which is why Honda builds all their minivans here

... which is why BMW builds all their SUVs here

hell, I could go on and on... that may change if the recent strength in the dollar takes root for the long haul, but the plain fact is there's a lot of mfg that goes on in the US because it's cheaper to do it here than elsewhere... maybe not "China Cheap" but certainly cheaper...

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:46 | 5626488 Renewable Life
Renewable Life's picture

But that's all based on never ending fiat printing inflation fantasy that says, don't worry Americans, you can afford that $85,000 BMW on your $45,000 after tax salary, just finance it at 7% for 15 years NOT 6, and everything is fixed!!!

Will see who thinks it's cheap to manufacture in America when the RCS is gone and the dollar is floating in the wind with the others and $ 85,000 cars reprice to $25,000, that's when the rubber will meet the road.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 10:27 | 5627602 post turtle saver
post turtle saver's picture

... well, then it will be really cheap... you get that, right?

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:14 | 5626871 Rock and Hard Space
Rock and Hard Space's picture

Other than the Toyota Camry - which is dropping too - most American "made" cars are nothing but assembled foreign parts made here to avoid import taxes that the Big 3 paid to have enacted.

The problem is from Merck, to Levis, to Walmart, to GM or BMW, they IMPORT the VAST majority of items.  And cheaper than they used to buy from Americans.

So yes, in DOLLAR amount it appears that things are "made" here, but the truth is much different and if you took a drive around many parts of the country you would see it.

The malls followed Walmart's lead (and the UAW's) and EXPORTED their BEST customers' jobs.

And they wonder where the customers went?  Not to Amazon tools, but to the 0.1%, the US & State Govs and the 3rd world.

And those in the middle, whom have SEEN the destruction, still refuse to truly acknowledge it.  They cover it up with "manufacturing renaissance" (OMG, that one is side-splitting), part time jobs and H1-B/underpaid new grads from the 3rd world.

Complete faith that we can't fix us.  We are literally too captured, too brain-damaged, too scared of reality to EVER fix a damn thing.

Guess I really need to break away from places like these and stop worrying about it.  Why worry about the unfix-able inevitable? It literally does/will do, no damn good.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:56 | 5626293 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Laws don't mean shit. Mexico has some pretty tough employment laws but they have lots of ways around them. we have illegal aliens living and working here. Hows that for LAWS?

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:23 | 5626884 Rock and Hard Space
Rock and Hard Space's picture

Laws do mean shit, for us little guys.  I've seen Feds and City shut down two businesses within a few blocks of my shop. One for illegals and one for building codes.

People get convicted (at an ASTOUNDING success rate, our prosecutors run the best success numbers in ANY industry, anywhere, at anytime) everyday based on bad law and worse enforcement.  Businesses are forced out of business every single day for one of the million laws we have, or twenty.

Laws only don't matter for some.  Especially the rich, the guv employed, and some other specially designations.  For the rest of us they are licking their chops to use the "laws (that) don't mean shit" to take what little we have left.

Our cars, our jobs, our businesses, our money, our labors, our children, our health.

You bet your ass they still "mean shit."  Unless you are special, odds increase by the minute you will find out yourself.  Good luck with that.

ps- there will be a time when really laws won't mean shit.  What will mean shit is your ability to buy off the bureaucrat.  People simply have NO idea the standing army of state, local and federal bureaucrats we have.  There will come a time where the laws WILL matter harshly, unless you can buy off the guy ahold of your arm/stuff.  THEN it won't matter and the black market would truly become worth it.  For now, the risks of loss of already earned assets and my freedom is enough to keep my trying to toe the line.  It's a bitch of a fight though.

Peace.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:49 | 5626927 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

They don't mean shit when it comes to protecting our rights. They will always be used to control us, the little people. Its what they are designed for. They are only used on the big guys when they fall out of line the the agenda.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:12 | 5626146 spinone
spinone's picture

We'll be mined for our scrap metal and intellectual property.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:44 | 5626249 Silver Sativa
Silver Sativa's picture

We have no "intellectual property." When Michiu Kaku says that over 80% of STEM students are international imports (Indians, Chinese, other Pacific Asianers), America, and American students, got left behind.

The other thing you mention, "scrap metals," ergo physical commodities, will be taken from us by invading armies, probably the Chinese.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:27 | 5626398 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

The concept of America being 'invaded' by foreign armies is so incomprehensible to the average Joe it isn't even in the 'what the f**k' thought box. Everyone is absolutely certain some wild eyed terrorist will pop out of their local internet cafe, but nobody can conceive of the possibility (some might say eventuality) we would actually be invaded and under siege in the 'homeland'.

It won't be the first time Washington DC was burned to the ground.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:44 | 5626476 Hulk
Hulk's picture

But this time the Northern aggressors will come from the South !!!

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:28 | 5626889 Rock and Hard Space
Rock and Hard Space's picture

Why would China need an army when they have already been gifted purchase of said assets by the federal government?

Once things really start crashing, I look for our home mortgages (with what 60% of homes sold in the past seven years paid for with fed cash?), and deeds thanks to Holder's previous law job, to China. Probably for pennies on the dollar, or iPad screens and computer chips.  Not to mention keyboards and insulin and penicillin and Swanson Chicken Dinners.

Even the decently informed seemed to remain closed to reality, they don't have to invade, the rich bastards and CONgress have already plans for selling them our shit.

Scary times ahead.  At least it won't be boring.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:30 | 5626893 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

The other thing you mention, "scrap metals," ergo physical commodities, will be taken from us by invading armies, probably the Chinese.

 

Over my DEAD body.

 

As for those STEM students...I was one of them and I am not a "international import".

 

Guns are somewhat useful in sniping the invader. However I will be more reliant upon Explosives and Poisons as well as Biological Agents. (How hard is it to piss and shit on some Punji Sticks anyway?)

 

Furthermore I have studied asymmetric warfare, Guerilla Warfare.

 

I will not be somebody else's doormat. I reserve all rights to self defense.

 

Far too many of us exist and will band together to repel foreign invaders, Post Collapse..

 

There are militias in San Diego ready to repel invaders from the South. At one point, a few years ago, they have engaged Mexican Troop incursing into US Territory. The Mexican Troops were serving as active cover for a Drug Cartel Op which went sour in this case.

 

Of course the Fed has stepped in, infiltrated, and shut that down. But those people still exist, ready to engage and repel invasion.

 

But post collapse that obstacle of the Federal Government will be removed. The gravest threat to our own citizens in America is the Federal Government. Post collapse that institution will be mostly neutralized.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:36 | 5626903 Rock and Hard Space
Rock and Hard Space's picture

I love your zeal.

Wish I could believe in it like you do.

Instead I know that without some sort of EMP or other that would wipe out communications and the evil of militarized technology North America WIDE, the agreements/treaties were already signed by Bush to call in the Canucks and Mexican Armies.  On our soil, working for OUR federales.  And that is but one thing to contend with.  You think they would be fighting "others" with you? Or, like I, do you think they will be fighting you?

Are you all prepared for that?

Peace.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 02:10 | 5626957 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

The United Staes will be the very last domino to fall as we have the World's Reserve Currency. Empires decay from the extremities with the progression of failure leading to the core.

 

The Canadian Government, as well as the Mexican Government, will both fail soon before the USA fails.

 

Again those foreign troops will be unpaid and, in the end, will desert to fend for their own families.

 

Certainly there will be mauraders incursing across American Borders. People whill be hungry and foraging (stealing) anything that they can get their hands upon. Certainly the local militias will need repel them.

 

I do not foresee that Mexican and Canadian Troops doing the US bidding during the final stages.

 

But just because I do not foresee it does not mean that it is not a possibility. I just do not see it as a probability.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:32 | 5626679 Nexus789
Nexus789's picture

Robotisation and automation will now delete a lot of job types - could offer to work for free but there would be no jobs. Passed peak employment (for humans) ages ago.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:32 | 5626898 Rock and Hard Space
Rock and Hard Space's picture

Not to mention peak food and peak resources and peak non-productive/parasitic classes too.

Peak everything that makes up life as we know it.  Accept it and move forward, or prepare to watch the show in shock and horror.

Either way it should be interesting.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 08:10 | 5627202 Refuse-Resist
Refuse-Resist's picture

First they have to exploit the largest pool of untapped human resources, North Korea, where men will work all day for a bowl of rice.

 

Compete with that you free trade globalist motherfuckers.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:09 | 5626131 serotonindumptruck
serotonindumptruck's picture

These dead malls could also be re-purposed to serve as makeshift FEMA camps when the SHTF in USSA.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:42 | 5626025 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

this made me laugh. just the thought of how anyone could require anythign for anyone else for 17,000 years reminds me of the indian or abrahamic myths and religions. or valhalla or a hans christian anderson fairy tale. 

 

only, in those fantasy worlds, they never mention 'malls' per se. hahahahha. 

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:04 | 5626565 Miffed Microbio...
Miffed Microbiologist's picture

That smell is formaldehyde. Yes, a carcinogen and extremely toxic. The histology dept workers must wear badges to monitor exposure. Some have gone on disability with respiratory problem after so many years. But it seems it is deemed ok for us to wear clothing sprayed with it with only a recommendation to wash before wearing. Another gift from clothing manufacturers from China.

http://www.naturalnews.com/037038_new_clothes_toxic_chemicals_washing.html

Miffed

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 05:51 | 5627108 markettime
markettime's picture

I can't think of much I would even want to buy at a mall these days. Can't say I want to eat the food there, and it seems like the things they sell are all really high margin items that I really don't need or can get online for much cheaper.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:19 | 5625947 Arius
Arius's picture

Looking at those pictures it reminds of the old investment saying: "you buy when there is blood on the street".

 

Of course they omitt to tell you the second part of the story: those who buy are the ones who did the killings and caused the rivers of blood.  Otherwise, the bystanders are reasonably scared they dont know for how long the killings will go on ... only the insiders know that.

 

Ahhh never mind ... the malls are good investment especially now tthat hat there is blood in the street ... disclosure this is not meant as an investment advice.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:21 | 5626786 zeroderivatives
zeroderivatives's picture

Over retailed? Amazon replaced retail.

Yeah, Amazon has got sales but now all they need is profits. 

http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/9/4/why-amazon-has-no-profits-an...


Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:22 | 5626880 Antifaschistische
Antifaschistische's picture

how about the fact that most of these malls were built in the middle of once nice neighborhoods....but now are surrounded by something more appropriately considered "the hood".   Why is this?  Many theories...but people do not want to shop in these neighborhoods any longer.   Start charging an entrance fee to the mall and you'll clean up most of the mess.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 09:39 | 5627374 Moustache Rides
Moustache Rides's picture

redacted

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:10 | 5625917 Newsboy
Newsboy's picture

How to repurpose these areas is the question.

Got a really good idea?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:18 | 5625932 New World Chaos
New World Chaos's picture

They will make perfect headquarters for militias or Mad Max gangs.  Wide, clear perimeter, can drive vehicles inside, too big to drone, multiple cooking facilities, sporting goods stores, rooms with roll-down bars... 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:23 | 5625955 Arius
Arius's picture

FEMA camps?

 

smt for the gov. they got deep pockets and nobody cares

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:55 | 5626068 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Turn 'em into dragstrips.  Let the kids have some fun in the fast cars their parents bought for them.

Oh, and I'd go, too, of course.  Cecil County Dragway (MD) and Atco Dragway (So. NJ) are both too far for me to just "spin by and make a few passes".  It's more of a pre-planned outing when I go.

I even have the perfect mall picked out to level, pave flat and install the christmas tree, tower and chrondecks.  Yes, I called the timing system chrondecks because I'm THAT old-school about things.  Oh, and cutting a perfect light needs to show as .500 (sportsman tree) or .400 (pro tree) on the tape, none of this Fast-n-Furious .000 being a perfect light bullshit.  

I need to go work on a car now.  This whole conversation is starting to make my itchy to turn wrenches and do something REAL.

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:02 | 5626307 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

I've got a nice 56 merc with a 460 I can make you a heck of a deal on. It needs some wrench turnin.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:07 | 5626330 knukles
knukles's picture

EMP proof ride.  Kewl, dude

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:02 | 5626558 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

If I could only get her done, but the older I get, the slower I get. I think I have given up.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:47 | 5626915 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

The smell of Nitric Acid mixed with Methanol (Nitromethane), combined with the odor of Burning Rubber does clear the sinuses.

 

Now that post brought back some memories.

 

Go Snake. Beat that Mongoose. Hot Wheels. And who can forget Cha Cha, Big Daddy, the Brute (has the record for Top Fuel Funny Car wins), and the Hawaiian?

 

The circus daredevil atmosphere of the early times was fucked up by corporatism and the NHRA (No Hot Rods Allowed). Drag Racing became a victim of its own success...just like NASCAR.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 10:14 | 5627548 STP
STP's picture

Tom, you've got to go to Famoso, for The March Meet, coming up in Bakersfield!  Nostalgia drags, vintage Floppers, front engined dragster and best of all, AA/FA Fuel Altereds and it's serious racing!  They're rebuilding engines between rounds.  It is bad ass!  I've been going for six years and in fact, spent three days there!  If you liked Lions and OCIR, you'll love Famoso!

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:39 | 5626018 Miss Expectations
Miss Expectations's picture

Here you go...can drive vehicles inside?

The Blues Brother's mall scene

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTRXnuoK1ss

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:32 | 5626177 Ness.
Ness.'s picture

Great clip.  I grew up going to that mall (Dixie Square).  The south side of Chicago was once a vibrant place to work and raise a family.  Those days are long gone.  I witnessed the collapse of this part of town.  Sad.  About a year ago a came across a story in the daily mail about the fall of malls (retail) and they referenced the Dixie Sq. mall from your clip.  A great read and actually hits on alot of points we're seeing today.  Unknown fact is that hollywood after completely trashing the mall left without cleaning up the ruble or compensating the owners or city.  

The video on the link is worth your time (Pink Floyd tunage).  

For around 20 years, the hot bed of gang activity and vandalism sat untouched.

After at least one murder, a rape, arsons, roof collapses, and a failed $76 million redevelopment attempt, the Chicago suburb had enough of its infamous landmark.

The mall was torn down in 2012 using $4 million in disaster relief funds given to the state of Illinois after Hurricane Ike,..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2316114/The-story-25m-shopping-m...

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:06 | 5626123 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

Perhaps communities can get together and offer the space to homeless militia groups in return for protection from local law enforcement.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:18 | 5626164 J Pancreas
J Pancreas's picture

Humorously enough, if you happen to play Fallout or New Vegas on the 360 or PS3, its exactly where the gangs hold up in. Bethesda must have an insider in .gov for the bottle cap currency idea.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:33 | 5626684 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

Does reality copy art; or does Art copy reality; we probably won't live long enough to find out; but it's an interesting question. Intriguing post.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:14 | 5625939 spinone
spinone's picture

Turn them into livable urban centers

 

https://www.cnu.org/sites/files/mallsintomainstreets.pdf

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:29 | 5626194 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

Here it comes...free housing and a guaranteed wage. To pay for it, $1/gal gas tax (additional). Should be easy, since we are now accustomed to $4+ gas.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:26 | 5625971 El Hosel
El Hosel's picture

Greenhouse / housing..... Turn them into greenhouses and have employee housing on site.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:51 | 5626273 Sages wife
Sages wife's picture

You bet. Multi family housing, vertical hydro gardening with LED lighting and endless ceilings and surrounding space for solar panels. Community child care, indoor running and cycling tracks. An opportunity for 'government' at the grass roots level. Consensus equals success. Find the 'mall' that suits your familys' lifestyle. We are all far more alike than different, despite what our commercial culture dictates. 5000 sq ft sovereignty for every Western family will very soon be unsustainable. It's already here. We need to join up. Tough road ahead. No doubt.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 12:03 | 5628013 zuuma
zuuma's picture

"Multi family housing, vertical hydro gardening with LED lighting and endless ceilings", etc

That is a wonderful, utopian, imagined repurposing you have there.

You are obviously channeling Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek/ facist world of compliance & control.

Alas, it would require 100% people posessing the ideal middle class work ethic, as well as a shared morality not seen since the 50s, to work.

How will you staff your utopia? Or defend it?

What you have now is a few "qualified" peeps around, but mostly feral morlocks. The morlocks of today are useless eaters with no more compunction over killing something for a meal than alligators or hyenas. Many of them were gestated with crack, meth or alcohol coursing through their little brains.

They popped out of mama ready to fight. Think of the mutants from "I Am Legend" or "Omega Man".

Think they will feed the bunnies or water the sprouts? Or help administer the small "community". Well, of course they will.

Maybe not quite like you imagine, though.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:27 | 5625975 lotsoffun
lotsoffun's picture

bulldozer meet concrete.  concrete meet land fill.  all you guys are going to get along.  in no time, the flowers, trees, and birds will return.

homeless don't need lots of wasted cubic space.  give them some tents and seeds.

devils island was a great idea.

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:39 | 5626234 Eternal Complainer
Eternal Complainer's picture

Hold it just one moment!
I think I thought I saw some green shoots sprouting out from between the cracked pavement of the parking lot of that first picture.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:12 | 5626349 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

there you go; there's a silver lining to everything; but especially to Silver ! Ha-Ha.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 21:58 | 5630914 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Nothing But Flowers -- Talking Heads:

Here we stand,
Like an Adam and an Eve.
Waterfalls,
The Garden of Eden.

Two fools in love
So beautiful and strong.
The birds in the trees
Are smiling upon them.

From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline.
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it's nothing but flowers

There was a factory
Now there are mountains and rivers.
you got it, you got it

We caught a rattlesnake
Now we got something for dinner.
we got it, we got it

There was a shopping mall
Now it's all covered with flowers.
you've got it, you've got it

If this is paradise
I wish I had a lawnmower.
you've got it, you've got it

Years ago,
I was an angry young man.
I'd pretend
That I was a billboard.

Standing tall,
By the side of the road.
I fell in love
With a beautiful highway

This used to be real estate,
Now it's only fields and trees.
Where, where is the town?
Now, it's nothing but flowers,

The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we'd start over,
But I guess I was wrong

Once there were parking lots,
Now it's a peaceful oasis.
you got it, you got it

This was a Pizza Hut
Now it's all covered with daisies!
you got it, you got it

I miss the honky tonks,
Dairy Queens, and 7-Elevens.
you got it, you got it

And as things fell apart,
Nobody paid much attention.
you got it, you got it

I dream of cherry pies,
Candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies.
you got it, you got it

We used to microwave,
Now we just eat nuts and berries.
you got it, you got it

This was a discount store,
Now it's turned into a cornfield
you got it, you got it

Don't leave me stranded here...
I can't get used to this lifestyle!

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:49 | 5626042 FutureShock
FutureShock's picture

Homeless Shelters after the collapse, mid range prisons.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:33 | 5626161 spinone
spinone's picture

After the crash, no one will be doing house improvement anymore, and the Home Depots and Lowes will be repurposed.

 

I've always thought they would make great military headquarters.  Near the highway, the outdoor/nursery area will make a detention center (what do they need 20 ft fences and spotlights for anyway?) - the shelves inside aren't even bolted down - those can be offices and barracks.  There is a big garge door for a few humvees.  Just an idea.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:49 | 5626494 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

Yeah, I do; as a matter of fact; move to Uruguay, and read about the final days in the local paper.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:10 | 5625920 CH1
CH1's picture

Haven't been to a mall in years... and I do NOT miss it.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:12 | 5625935 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

The only reason that I have been in the mall during the past several years is because they have a Radio Shack, and sometimes I need LEDs, switches, resistors, etc...  I fucking hate going there.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:39 | 5626015 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Ah yes, ol' Radio Shack. Good to see they're still around. Back in the day, we bought most of the parts for our Time Machine there. Unfortunately, that project didn't turn out so hot.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:02 | 5626101 Bemused Observer
Bemused Observer's picture

Radio Shack was a good store. So was Home Depot, and many others.
But you know what I notice these days? These stores don't really HAVE much in the way of variety anymore. Except for light bulbs in the case of Home Depot...God, do they have light bulbs! Light bulbs out the ASS! But for anything else, it's always, "We don't have it in stock, but you can go online..."
Also, in malls, just like everywhere else, everyone is staring at a device, typing tiny messages with their thumbs. The whole 'public gathering' feel, which they encouraged with their potted-tree filled food courts, is totally wasted on these folks. Most probably aren't fully aware of where they even ARE.

I think many decide to skip the sad display and shop online, where they will end up anyway because none of the stores has what they're looking for.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:55 | 5626285 in4mayshun
in4mayshun's picture

Your Radio Shack sells transistors? Ours just sells cell phones and igadgets.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:07 | 5626334 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

"Most of these people aren't even fully aware of even where they ARE"---Yeah, exactly; I get that feeling too and it doesn't mean anything good. They're in "virtual world"; which somehow I don't think is going to help fix this one. But, then; everyone says I'm crazy, and i worry too much.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:10 | 5626142 neidermeyer
neidermeyer's picture

Same here ,, a mall run is a demand from the wife ... she NEEDS something from Victorias Secret...

 

The old Detroit Lions stadium sold for only $550k ,, and was sold for scrap... just a thought.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:27 | 5626193 VAD
VAD's picture

The RS near me doesn't sell useful stuff any more, just phones and idoodads.  The ambiguously-gendered staff wouldn't know a resistor if they tripped over one.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:53 | 5626516 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

This thing you're typing on called a computer is hooked to the internet; and you can buy any and all electronic parts on line; especially surplus for 10 or 20 cents on the dollar. All this small stuff comes in your mailbox. I still have about 1,000 1/4 watt metal film dogbone resistors left over from when I designed and built my own shortwave receiver; I also build fuel injection controllers for cars, and race cars. It's all there, on line. You don't need an Radio Shack. Start with the "Electronic Goldmine" from Google; it's in Arizona, physically; and work your way around. If you need a new part like a MAP sensor; there's Digi-Key; infallible same day shipping, zero errors; excellent prices.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 00:21 | 5626791 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

It's for a vice.  E-cig.  I make my own and use NiMH batteries.  When it breaks after being dropped over and over, I'm not going to wait for the postman.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:26 | 5625968 lotsoffun
lotsoffun's picture

to the degree it is possible, i do business with establishments that have 1 (ONE) cash register.  i also generally pay in cash.

i have a credit card in my pocket, for emergencies and one at home if i lose that one, or it locks up without my understanding

(both the above have happened twice).

it is that simple.  i won't even bother to explain, because, i know i'm preaching to the choir.  sorry guys.

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:44 | 5626030 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

This is when I started reading Zero Hedge, but hadn't signed up to comment.

http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-trillion-commercial-real-estate.html

 

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 09:40 | 5627389 Slowdrip
Slowdrip's picture

Remember it well OP, same story here, didn't ever sign up to post comments. Nostalgic, seeing the old Zero Hedge header, and the original names posting comments. Wonder if Andrew123 is still around?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:12 | 5626153 ajax
ajax's picture

 

 

Read J.G. Ballard's "Kingdom Come" for a truly great "mall" story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/j-g-ballards-final-novel-...

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:45 | 5626251 Ward cleaver
Ward cleaver's picture

Yep, maybe build a new mall in Atlantic City.
It's all coming together. Hope and "do you have any change"?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:04 | 5626319 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

"We're over-retailed--" Jesus Christ; that's not English. doesn't anyone speak English anymore ? Obviously, I lived too long.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:39 | 5626457 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

Ha-Ha. Oh, yeah; it 's just around the corner alright; but you better hold on tight, cause that's a hell of a 20MPH curve that's coming up and we're doing about 110. !! Whee !!

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:40 | 5626913 Rock and Hard Space
Rock and Hard Space's picture

Our current results are proving that without real productive industries there can never be a true recovery.

Federal USDA SWAT teams are not productive, nor are most of the assembly of foreign parts jobs, or burger flippers, or academics, or any government worker.

As long as the productive are dramatically overshadowed by the wealth-sucking (including the poor and uber rich) parasites - and we are, oh my gawd, we are - there is absolutely no returning this place to anything we like to think of as normal.

Good luck to us all.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:08 | 5625903 Earl Slaughter-...
Earl Slaughter-- Truck Driver.'s picture

Yay!

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:10 | 5625906 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

Some of those photos are White Flint Mall north of DC. Sad place, stays open with valet parking, security and a 75% empty inside last I visited in the summer.

 

Ah, as of yesterday the Mall is now offically closed. Should have happened 2-3 years ago.  Somebody had an interesting life: 

No. of stores and services 125 (124 vacant)
Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:24 | 5625961 Escrava Isaura
Escrava Isaura's picture

 

 

White Flint is 10 years ahead of what is about to come.

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:49 | 5626049 Herodotus
Herodotus's picture

In Michigan we have black Flint of Michael Moore fame.

 

 

 

 

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:13 | 5626152 Four chan
Four chan's picture

tons of dead malls here, including the first mall northland.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 21:37 | 5626221 RallyRoundTheFamily
RallyRoundTheFamily's picture

Eastland Mall still open but what a shithole

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 22:15 | 5626355 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

uh-uh. thirty months. wanna bet ?

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:25 | 5625963 Handful of Dust
Handful of Dust's picture

There was  a mall in northeast Dallas I think Garland? where the only two stores open in the entire mall were a bridal gown place run by two very nice hispanic ladies and the Italian Pizza place run by a guy named Guido from Sicily who could not understand how this could happen in America. I tried to explain this trend here but he still could not fathom it.  However, he had the best pizza in the Dallas area by far. I thinnk he shut down by now and moved.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:26 | 5625965 Arius
Arius's picture

Gee if thats the situation DC ... imagine whats the situation elsewhere when they dont have the gov. deep pockets ... enough with negative talk lets say smt positive

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 20:32 | 5625982 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

Oh believe me, outside the well oiled financial pockets it's all rotting away.

Mon, 01/05/2015 - 23:37 | 5626691 SAT 800
SAT 800's picture

Okay; "something positive". happy now ?

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 01:59 | 5626941 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

With the collapse there will be the removal of the dishonest and corrupted individuals from the positions of power whom brought the collapse about in the first place.

 

Now that is why I embrace it as that is a very positive result.

 

In fact I will celebrate the day that corruption has ended.

Tue, 01/06/2015 - 05:04 | 5627082 Grumbleduke
Grumbleduke's picture

In fact I will celebrate the day that corruption has ended.

 

Planning to live forever, or just execute every last human being on the planet?

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!