The grand prize car at this dying mall is a 22 year old Corvette. Dead malls and the decline of the American shopping mall. For decades, malls were more than just places to shop. They served as social hubs, teenage hangouts, food court kingdoms, climate controlled town squares, and symbols of suburban success. Then the formula slowly began to collapse. Department stores lost their influence. Major anchor tenants shut down. Online shopping replaced many everyday purchases. Younger generations started spending more time on phones than wandering through malls. Once a mall lost enough foot traffic, the decline became self sustaining. Fewer shoppers led to fewer stores, and fewer stores gave people even less reason to visit. In another era, a car giveaway would have seemed flashy and exciting. Here, it feels strangely frozen in time, like the mall is still relying on an old playbook long after the crowds disappeared. The first fully enclosed shopping mall in the United States was Southdale Center, which opened in 1956.(Historic Vids)