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Comment by fsckin | Hacker News Reader

Macy's with 5 shoppers is nothing. If you want to see how bad it can get, check out DeadMalls[0], where they classify and document malls that are already dead or otherwise dying.

Rackspace just moved their HQ into one of these dead malls[1], which is highly interesting.

[0] http://deadmalls.com/ [1] http://www.planetizen.com/node/59071

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Omigosh, I love exploring dead malls. They're so eerie and surreal. The one I recently went to was ornate - huge tile floors, brass highlights, gigantic hallways, and giant fountains. Yet there were drips in the ceiling, a thin layer of dust on the floors, and half the lights were off. There were maybe a dozen people in the mall. Half the store fronts were filled with fake placeholder things. It was like uncovering a zombie Pompeii.

I encourage everyone to check out their local dead mall, especially one that you visited when you were a kid. Lots of strange nostalgia to be had for sure. Bring rollerblades or a skateboard if you want to get adventurous.

I've never been to a dead mall, but I think I know what the feeling would be like. I remember some years ago going to a Kmart (I don't remember why). I think besides one person running the cash register, and a janitor, I was the only person there. The shelves were fully stocked, it was pristine, and eerily silent.

It was like I was in a research lab's clean room or something.

Dead malls are surprisingly common in China, just that they were never live and just overbuilt enough to never have tenants.

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