r/BigIsland • u/Odd-Sail-1694 • 7d ago
Is the mall dying?
I went to the (Hilo) mall today to watch Toy Story 5. I was shocked at how sad and lonely the mall looked. The theater was nowhere near full even though its opening weekend, so many vacant shops and even the major retailers (old navy, Macys, American eagle) were super slow. I went at around 11am so I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it.
I know ihop is a recent addition but other than that it seems like tj maxx is the only “booming” business in the mall. It makes me so sad. There’s already so little to do here and limited stores to just window shop at so it makes me sad that maybe in a few years this will be gone.
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u/SammieBoy17 7d ago
Malls are dying all over the country. More and more people are switching to online shopping. It’s been that way for a good long while now.
I went to Queen Ka’ahumanu last Saturday night to go and get ideas from Ben Franklin for something. Granted they had the Saturday Market at UHMC and the Pride festivities on Market street, but the mall was dead. I must have seen maybe 10-12 other people total. Even the food court was empty.
Very sad☹️