That's rude. It's a valid perspective. I dumped thousands of dollars in arcade games in the 70's and 80's and spent at least as much buying tshirts and toys and pizza or walking down to the theater and watching a movie.
For me there was a sense of adventure going to the mall because the products would change unpredictably. It was like a living art piece that served great food and could lead to unexpected purchases. It was also fun in the pre-internet era of having the chance to run into someone you knew randomly whereas social media creates a seemingly constant contact.
For many it was also the only place around where parents/adults would be happy to let kids hang out completely unattended.
Exactly, 20 dollars would lead to an entire day of adventures.
I was more responding to the idea that the primary reason girls were at the mall is because they were following boys who were playing video games.
In the 80s the malls usually had 1) an arcade, 2) at least one bookstore, sometimes two, 3) a toy/hobby store where you could buy RPGs and wargames, 4) a music store or two, and 5) 'food' of some kind. Good memories, though I rarely go to a mall these days.