Why Teens Aren't Going To The Mall As Much As They Used To

[FarCenter]

There are a few reasons why teens aren't hanging out at malls, according to the report:

1. Teens are browsing their mobile devices to find new products. This makes them less likely to be excited by mall offerings.

2. Young people are only buying clothing when there is a real or perceived need for it. Forget impulse purchases made during a trip to the mall.

3. Teens don't need the mall for entertainment. Social networks make teens feel connected to one another without actually hanging out.

These trends are troubling for teen retailers.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-teens-arent-shopping-as-much-2013-11

[MADem]

1. They don't wanna get shot.....? nt

[Berlum]

2. #4 - The really cool kids who are part of the In Crowd now congregate at the Malt Shop

[851-977]

3. Is the trend different for non-teens? nt

[In_The_Wind]

4. The adults I know aren't going to malls either.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Gone are the days of gathering at malls, skating rinks, movie theaters, parks, and

all-night diners, I guess.

[MineralMan]

6. For a while, and still at some malls, teens weren't welcome there

after a certain time of day. Even at other times, they were often hassled by security staff.

Way to go, malls. Make your current and future customers uncomfortable there. Personally, I hate going to malls, but I'm an old fart.

Oh, yeah...Get off my lawn you rotten kids!

[FarCenter]

9. Some malls resorted to playing classical music over speakers where kids would congregate

[MineralMan]

12. Pretty stupid, huh? Make malls uncomfortable for a demographic that

stores in the mall specifically cater to. Even worse, those teens will soon be adults. Do the malls think they'll forget that they were unwelcome there?

And brick and mortar stores wonder why they're failing? Oh, well...I hate shopping in malls anyhow. I've just about gone 100% online for shopping now.

[Lucky Luciano]

16. They are welcome - conditioned on spending money. nt

[cynatnite]

7. The stores and the merchandise are very outdated...

That's why they don't go here. Our mall is awful.

[Quantess]

8. Teens have less spending money these days?

Since getting a job is increasingly difficult for teenagers? Just a guess.

[gvstn]

10. They forgot curfews

They are quite common on weekends.

http://nreionline.com/property-management/mall-owners-continue-rfine-their-approach-teen-curfews

Satire: http://www.delawareliberal.net/2008/06/18/breaking-christiana-mall-to-ban-african-americans-on-weekends/

[MineralMan]

11. Here are some links to explain some of the reasons:

http://www.mallofamerica.com/guests/escorts - Under 18 restrictions on escorted teens at Mall of America.

http://business.time.com/2013/01/24/hey-kid-wheres-your-mom-malls-ratchet-up-restrictions-on-unsupervised-teens/ - Bans under 17 after 6 PM in St. Louis Malls.

http://tricountymall.com/youth_escort_policy/faq - Ohio Mall puts restrictions on teens at mall.

Google Age restrictions at malls for many, many more such restrictions.

The kids are just saying, "Screw you. You don't want us there, we'll shop online."

This policy will hurt the malls even more when these kids are adults and still won't go to the malls that kept them out when they were younger. Moronic policies.

[adirondacker]

13. "I love the smell of commerce in the morning."

Brodie, Mallrats.

[KittyWampus]

14. Define "Mall". There are 3 kinds: Behemoth Outlet Malls, Clustered Retails & Anchor Strip Malls

Or the modern version of strip mall.

The behemoth malls are gigantic with many people going on weekends. Buses bring people in from out of town. Riverhead has one and the weekends are packed.

Anchor strip malls generally have a Kohl's Dept store, Marshalls/TJMaxx plus a food store and then some more retailers. These are always busy.

The Clustered Retailers are the ones that I think are probably least relevant anymore… the large structures under one roof with a big name Dept store on all four ends like Macy's, JCPenny, Bloomingdale and then filed with load of other stores and food courts.

[JVS]

15. They're too busy sexting and bullying each other to death to go to the mall.

Also, before the minimum wage hike back in 2007 things had already gotten to a point where teenagers didn't work at the mall because they pay was so low that they'd rather have more free time than work for peanuts. Also, a lot of youth spending died in the late 90s when downloading music became easier and cheaper than going to the mall. Then there's the issue of decreased rates of driving and increased gas prices. Back in the 1990s it cost me nearly nothing to get to the mall, so it seemed as good a place as any to hang out.