The Curious History Behind the American Shopping Mall

Until recently, nothing symbolized the American experience quite like shopping malls. They served as bastions of consumerism, providing a one-stop shop for buying needs in the sprawling expanse of a communal space. Recent years have been unkind to the shopping mall, however, thanks to the proliferation of online shopping. While the golden age of American shopping malls has long since passed, many malls continue to cling on by adapting to shifting consumer sensibilities.

Starting with simple street markets, the idea of a shared shopping space slowly but steadily grew throughout the centuries. After World War II, an enigmatic architect and fierce socialist named Victor Gruen built the first real shopping mall and started a craze of shopping malls opening around the country. As such, let’s explore the curious history of the American shopping mall and learn how one man’s socialist utopian vision became a symbol of American capitalism. (For unique histories, discover unforgettable events in every state’s history. )

To write an article detailing the curious history behind the American shopping mall, 24/7 Tempo consulted a range of news, history, and financial publications including Atlas Obscura , The Smithsonian Magazine , and World Finance . Next, we uncovered the beginnings of the mall in ancient cultures before detailing the rise of the American shopping mall thanks to architect Victor Gruen. After that, we confirmed aspects of our research using sites like Minnesota Monthly , The Guardian , and The New Yorker .

Shopping Mall Origins

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It’s hard to say exactly where the idea of the shopping mall originated. Hundreds of years ago, many countries in the Middle East featured covered bazaar markets selling a wide range of goods and foods. Europeans took note of this phenomenon and translated it into covered alleyways with shops running end to end. The first covered shopping passage came about in Paris in 1798. Called the Passage du Caire, it updated the bazaar-style layout by incorporating glazed roofing, and eventually, gas lights for visibility at night.

European cultures took to this new dimension of shopping. In time, variations on the original Paris mall popped up across the continent. The Burlington Arcade opened in London in 1819. Larger varieties like the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II opened in Milan in 1877. This mall helped popularize the term “galleria,” which would see increased usage with the later American shopping malls. The Arcade in Providence, Rhode Island, laid claim as the first American shopping arcade when it opened in 1828. The Arcade hinted at the future American shopping mall with its enclosed shops and multiple floors. It would take another century, however, before the mall we all know and love took shape.

The American Variation

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To uncover the curious history behind the American-style shopping mall, however, we must harken back to the 1950s. In the post-war period, things were on the upswing after World War II brought years of chaos and instability. America had endured years of bloodshed and emerged victorious so the public consciousness took on a new sheen. People start having babies and begin imagining new possibilities. By and large, the masses became optimistic, a feeling further bolstered by a prosperous economy. At the same time, the emphasis on urban living in large cities lessened, with many Americans moving into the newly realized suburban communities.

It may seem strange now, but the suburbs were a new concept of living back then. People living outside the cities in enclaves was not a new phenomenon. Advances in transportation technology like fast trains and cars, however, allowed people to live far away from the cities but still commute to them for work. Plus, the 50s became the first time when the average American could afford their own vehicle. This facilitated migration and commuting to a sizeable degree. The booming economy also increased the average person’s purchasing power, giving them more space in their budget for shopping.

With so many people moving into the suburbs, a new, untapped market developed. While many were willing to drive into the cities for work they preferred to do their shopping closer to home. Taking cues from its European counterparts, Appleton, Wisconsin showcased an early iteration of the shopping mall when it opened the Valley Fair Shopping Center in the spring of 1955. It featured modern innovations like centralized heating and cooling, restaurants, and semi-detached stores. While it came close to the modern conception of the shopping mall, it took an Austrian architect and immigrant to make manifest this vision.

Victor Gruen

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Born as Viktor David Grünbaum in Vienna, Austria, he grew up in a well-to-do Jewish family before studying architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. During this time he became a committed socialist and ran the political cabaret at Naschmarkt, a popular open-air fruit and vegetable market in Vienna. After graduation, he worked under architect Peter Behrens before opening his own architectural firm in 1933. Specializing in remodeling stores and apartments, Grünbaum likely developed an understanding of the future of shopping. World War II was quickly encompassing Europe, however. After Germany annexed Austria, Grünbaum saw the writing on the wall and emigrated to the United States in 1938.

According to Viktor, he landed in New York City “with an architect’s degree, eight dollars, and no English.” Not long after setting foot on American soil, he changed his name to Victor Gruen and took work as a draughtsman. Early success with his design for the Lederer boutique on Fifth Avenue led to more shop design commissions. These included Steckler’s on Broadway, Ciro’s on Fifth Avenue, and eleven branches of the Grayson’s clothing store. During wartime, Gruen moved to Los Angeles and opened Victor Gruen Associates, his first American architectural firm. Under that umbrella, Gruen and his team designed an open-air shopping complex in Detroit, Michigan called Northdale Mall. This project proved a success, and Gruen was hired by the owners of the Dayton Department stores to create what would become arguably his highest achievement–The Southdale Mall.

The Northdale Mall

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Many iterations had come before it, but nothing had the vision, complexity, and consolidation of consumption and living quite like The Southdale Mall. Its success took root earlier in Gruen’s career in 1943 when he was asked to submit a prototype proposal for what a shopping mall might look like after World War II. Along with Elsie Krummeck, Gruen submitted a proposal to Architectural Forum magazine that emphasized the communal aspects of shopping. Their early design featured community staples like the library and post office integrated into the shopping experience. Furthermore, the pair prioritized look and feel, incorporating visually attractive elements that might make shoppers spend longer wandering the complex.

While stranded in a snowstorm in Detroit in 1948, Gruen took the opportunity to introduce himself to Oscar Webber, the owner of Hudson’s, the second-largest department store in the country. Presumably seeing the future, Gruen proposed a shopping center in the Detroit suburbs that would feature Hudson’s as a flagship store. Webber initially demurred at Gruen’s idea. Within a year, however, he had a change of heart and hired Gruen to build the aforementioned Northdale Mall. The success of this project led Webber to introduce Gruen to the Dayton family, owners of a chain of stores by the same name. The Dayton Family was looking to expand and Gruen entered their lives at a momentous moment.

While the Dayton Family had some ideas on expansion strategies, Webber insisted they work with Gruen. By the summer of 1952, Gruen and Donald Dayton unveiled plans for what would become the first American shopping mall. Though it had yet to be built and required a budget of $10 million to complete, public response to the initial proposal was positive. Thanks to many commentators calling the project a utopia, the city of Edina, Minnesota voted unanimously to change zoning ordinances, allowing space for Gruen’s mall. (For sports history, learn about the biggest sports stadiums in the US. )

The First American Shopping Mall

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Lest we forget, Gruen was a committed socialist. He considered America’s burgeoning suburban culture too car-centric and intended to build a shopping complex that served as more of a communal space than a drive-through grabbag. Taking cues from his hometown of Vienna, Gruen wanted to create a place for people to eat, drink coffee, socialize, and shop. Gruen revamped previous iterations of the open-air mall by imagining the eventual incorporation of doctor’s offices, schools, and even homes. At the same time, however, he recognized the importance of keeping shoppers buying, so he included eye-level window displays in the mall’s stores to keep people interested. In the words of Gruen and his economic consultant Lawrence P. Smith, the Southdale Mall would “take care of today’s needs and today’s living” and provide “ a new outlet for that primary human instinct to mingle with other humans. “

On October 29, 1954, workers broke ground on what would become the Southdale Mall. Indeed, over 800 construction workers were needed to build an unheard-of three-story, 800,000 sq ft shopping center. Spread across 500 acres, the Southdale Mall featured 5,200 parking spaces and 72 shops for lease. Minnesota suffered severe winters, however. The budget ballooned to $20 million after Gruen included a roof and central heat and air system capable of maintaining the mall’s temperature at an agreeable 75 °F. On October 8, 1956, the Southdale Mall opened, attracting 40,000 people to its opening ceremony. Word quickly got out and the mall received another 188,000 visitors throughout the following week.

By all accounts, it was a hit. It continued to attract thousands of customers each week thanks to the inclusion of well-known stores like Woolworths, Walgreens, and Dayton’s. Gruen had originally envisioned something like a mini-city with shops, houses, and even public services. This was not meant to be, however, as the first true American shopping mall centered entirely around stores. The public may have loved it, but it did not win the admiration of fellow architects. Upon visiting the newly finished Southdale Mall, famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright said Gruen “should have left downtown, downtown.” He further critiqued the complex when he suggested that the “ garden court has all the evils of the village street and none of its charm. “

The Rise of the American Shopping Mall

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The opinion of lauded architects mattered little, however. The shopping mall became an unprecedented hit. It appeared at the perfect time, providing for the wants and needs of an evolving American culture. Gruen wisely rode this wave into the 1970s, with his architectural firm building over 50 shopping malls in the interim. Since Gruen invented the modern notion of the shopping mall, he became known as something of an architectural iconoclast. As such, various cities employed his sense of vision to redesign neighborhoods. These towers and plazas received mixed reviews. Gruen, however, continued building shopping malls including the Greengate Mall in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and the Lakehurst Mall in Waukegan, Wisconsin.

By the mid-70s, the shopping mall took on a life of its own. It provided a one-stop shop for all purchasing and service needs. Furthermore, it functioned as a perfect place to showcase new stores and architectural designs. For the otherwise isolated suburban wife and mother, the shopping mall was a godsend. It quickly eclipsed the previous urban shopping centers and grew into a true phenomenon. Throughout the next two decades, shopping malls became the premier hub for retailers looking to break into an untapped market. They also served as a seemingly infinite money tree for enterprising real estate developers.

In time, malls grew to such a degree that they started crowding out the shopping market. By the 1980s, many towns already featured a mall. Nevertheless, overzealous developers would build new malls in the same towns. These new malls would compete with older malls on the grounds of luxury, size, or novelty. Once the novelty faded at one mall, shoppers would emigrate to the competition. It would take another two decades for the American shopping mall to decline in popularity. This cannibalization of mall culture, however, would hint at the phenomenon’s eventual demise.

The Fall of the American Shopping Mall

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By the dawn of the new millennium, shopping malls dotted the American landscape to a remarkable degree. Thanks to an overabundance of these complexes, however, many malls became badly maintained and their glory faded. So many malls sat without enough customers to make them profitable. Thanks to bad management and obsolete marketing techniques, large department stores often attached to malls like JCPenney and Sears found themselves at a sizeable disadvantage.

These problems became more pronounced with the proliferation of large bargain stores like Wal-Mart, TJ Maxx, and Target. While shopping malls centered on a focused consumptive space, big bargain stores consolidated that experience even further. Quickly, many shoppers realized they make all of their purchases in bargain stores. These locations provided better prices and mimicked the feeling of a mall but kept it in a single store. In short order, shoppers increasingly found themselves magnetized to big box stores while eschewing their previous mall visiting habits. This helped transform the reputation of shopping malls pretty quickly. They went from a utopian vision of shopping to a lifeless sprawl of underemployed shops.

However you slice it, shopping malls began losing the battle to bargain retailers. Unable to compete, many department stores like Sears and Macy’s faced leveraged buyouts. This gave indifferent investors a controlling interest which they used to saddle the companies with debt before liquidating them completely. As the years progressed, malls went from veritable palaces of communal shopping to islands of empty shopfronts encased by oceans of asphalt.

Their size and variety, once considered their benefit, became a liability as malls featured increasingly spooky and empty corridors. While outdoor shopping malls could tear down an underperforming section and build something more attractive, the indoor mall was at the mercy of its conglomeration. As put in Atlas Obscura, “In the 1980s, there were roughly 2,500 malls in the United States. Today, there are approximately 700.” The rise of the internet and online shopping by proxy put a stake in the heart of the already dying American shopping mall.

Online Shopping

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Online shopping has more or less replaced the function of the American shopping mall. It took a while for the Internet to provide for people’s purchasing needs but eventually, it utterly dominated its competition. With the rise of massive online retailers like Amazon, most consumers can easily get everything they need with the click of a button. The experience of visiting a shopping mall was a big part of the overall package. These days, however, people have put more emphasis on the efficiency of shopping in the contemporary era.

Now, most shopping takes place from the comfort of your own home, with malls left by the wayside. In the current year, it’s rare to find shoppers spending hours wandering through the mall, stopping for an extended lunch before returning to shopping. That said, some malls have survived by adapting to the changing needs of consumers. Some malls are transforming into mixed-use development spaces to account for changing market demands. Others like the Asian Garden Mall in Westminster, California are surviving by pivoting to the needs of a certain population.

Uncertain Future

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Even with the steady decline of malls, it’s hard to see the future outcome of the mall shopping experience. The fate of malls was called further into question amidst economic setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite opening at the beginning of the pandemic, however, the American Dream Mall in Rutherford, New Jersey is thriving by incorporating attractions like ski slopes, an indoor water park, and roller coasters. A study by the Coresight Research Group showed that “sales and foot traffic in malls has increased 10 to 12 percent” as of 2022. Perhaps the forced hermitage of the pandemic helped reawaken people’s love for communal shopping experiences.

The modern American shopping mall takes on new dimensions and reputations as the years progress. Though the phenomenon proliferated across the country, Victor Gruen ironically disavowed his invention in 1978. He said, “I refuse to pay alimony for those bastard developments. They destroyed our cities.” Even though Gruen turned his back on his creation, he served as a noted inspiration for Walt Disney in creating Disney World.

Whatever the case, the American mall is undoubtedly weakened by the internet but manages to hang on. The future is unwritten. Even the most awarded economist can’t predict exactly how shopping sensibilities will shift in the coming years. The pandemic paradoxically endeared people to the idea of getting out to shop more. Indeed, world events may inform the identity of malls going forward in increasingly unexpected ways. As such, the curious history of the American Shopping Mall may continue in a different form. (For other historical structures, discover the oldest amusement parks in the United States. )

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