Worked in a mall for a decade. As money moves out so do retail stores. Small mom and pop shops barely sustain because of little to no labor cost. Small businesses that do have to hire employees close down fast because labor cost becomes unsustainable due to low margin business. Worse is when big box stores moves out, they tend to be the attraction that drove people to the mall in the first place, and smaller stores got business from being "discovered" along the way in high traffic locations.