I loved malls. They were efficient. Literally one-stop shopping — and eating and being entertained. Malls at Christmas were beautifully decorated.
Two things. First, Costco served your first point even better than malls did. Second, because they were part of my culture when I was younger one of the reasons I have coffee at malls was to be there to enjoy all the decorations while I was drinking my coffee. I agree with you on that.
It’s also like another person said too in another post regarding the white people malls and the non-white people malls. Though it’s always a pain to get to, when I’m visiting relatives in Seattle I occasionally will go by Bellevue square. It’s a nice place to have a walk and meet for coffee. But the old malls from my younger days (sea-tsc mall and Southcenter) are not pleasant places for me. Not my kind of culture.
Malls at Christmas...sadly they do not decorate much for Christmas. I was in Boston MA strolling around Copley/Pru mall and my wife said that 25 years ago they were spectactulary decorated for Christmas, now she says there is 5% of what they had.