My visit to the once vibrant Montgomery Mall in Montgomeryville, PA was a shocking confirmation of what I had been predicting about retail stores since 2008. Next to the term Dead Mall in the dictionary should be a picture of the current version of the Montgomery Mall. If you need visual proof, here is brief video showing how it is deader than ever.

We didn't go to the mall to shop. My wife bought me a watch from Macy's (online purchase) for Christmas. I haven't worn a watch in over a decade and now that I'm retired, have no need for a watch. So we were going to get a refund and then walk around the mall for some exercise, because the weather outside is bitterly cold. The Mall had three anchor stores: Macy's, JC Penney, and Sears. The Sears closed in 2020. JC Penney declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2021, but still operates as a zombie like entity on the opposite end of the mall from Macy's. Macy's hasn't declared bankruptcy yet, but their business plan appears to be closing 50 to 100 stores per year, until there are none left.

We arrived at the Macy's at about 11:00 am on MLK day. Ghost town USA. The few employees we saw outnumbered the customers. A store filled with jewelry, clothes, shoes, and other useless crap had no customers. It took us ten minutes to find someone who could process a return. Both Macy's and JC Penney are clearly in an extend and pretend phase. The entire pitiful mall is pretending to be viable, when it is clearly deceased. What a far cry from its heyday – 1977 until approximately 2007. With three rambunctious boys, my wife spent many days at this mall trying to wear them out. When they were teenagers, I would drop them off on Friday nights so they could cruise around the mall with their friends. Those days are long gone.

The two story Montgomery Mall, with 1.1 million square feet of retail space, was built in 1977 by Kravco. Before smart phones, social media and online ordering, malls were the place to go for shopping mothers and teenagers escaping from their parents clutches. Malls were swarming with people, because they were convenient and accessible. They were the mecca of consumerism, enabled by the all powerful credit card. I have lived in Montgomery County since 1990, with three malls encircling me: The Plymouth Meeting Mall, where my employer's first store in the U.S. (IKEA) and their headquarters were located; The Montgomery Mall; and the king of all malls in King of Prussia.

At its peak, the Montgomery Mall had over 90 stores/eateries. Major tenants, excluding their anchors, included: H&M, Disney Store, Uniqlo, Boscovs, Tweeter, Dick's Sporting Goods, Strawbridge's, and dozens of the usual smaller mall outlets. The bustling food court consisting of Chick-fil-a, McDonalds, Sbarro, Subway, and a Chinese place met all the healthy eating requirements. Yesterday, the number of occupied outlets totaled less than 15. It was a pitiful mixture of dynamite retail juggernauts like Cell Phone Care, Dilshal Halal Cuisine, Montgomery Dental, a pop-up Spirit Halloween store, and a mixture of wireless and jewelry repair stores. I think a store selling Vacancy signs would best suit this nearly dead mall.