https://www.statista.com/chart/9454/retail-space-per-1000-pe...
https://qz.com/1032723/theres-much-more-empty-retail-space-i...
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/retail-...
If there's a retail store within a mile of our house, I'll happily walk to it and do my shopping there. Especially when it's a pleasant day outside, that's an enjoyable way to get out of the house and get a little light exercise.
If the only kind of store left that sells what I need is one of the big box stores, so that going there means having to get in the car and deal with traffic and haul myself halfway across town and, seriously, ugh, that is enough of a chore that I'm already feeling vaguely annoyed just thinking about it. No thanks; I'll happily order online.
And I would rather starve in the woods than drive all the way out to the nearest shopping mall.
None of these are stores I'd want to browse.
The alternative is the mall, which is all brand stores. Basically one big ad space. Shopping there is like running IE with 100 toolbars!
Same issue with some of the big box stores now. All are restructuring to be brand specific. Best Buy? Separated by Brand now. Want to buy a headset? Get ready to go to 6 different places and only see the the brands that paid to be there (just like with Facebook, we're the product, not the customer).
Toys'R'Us did the same thing before its death. It separated by brand. Which wasn't as bad in a toy store. I can see going shopping for Lego or Barbie more likely than going shopping for Corsair or Logitech. But it still feels based on who paid to get the space rather than making it easier for the customer.
I'm in NY, Long Island specifically and they all get converted to Senior or Luxury apartments that cost way more than the average person can afford. But that's getting a bit off topic.
But it would be interesting to have some of those big places converted into cheap apartments. It's like you'd be getting a discount for having ads on your place of residence.
Today, to put it bluntly, the stores skew heavily toward women-oriented products (clothing, accessories, underwear). Which is fine, and probably inevitable (clothing and whatnot are the kinds of things people prefer not to buy online). But there isn't of as much interest or utility for anyone else.