If Malls Survive, So Can Books!

 

Before leaving the Twin Cities for home in New York, I stopped off, out of curiosity, to visit The Mall of America. It was less than 15 minutes from the airport, so I figured, why not? 

The Mall of America, located just outside the Twin Cities, in Bloomington, MN, is the largest shopping mall in the United States. It boasts of having over 5.6 million square feet of retail space — and it is host to over 520 stores. It has a comedy club, movie theater, aquarium, and an amusement park. Plus, it offers lots of restaurants and fast-food dining options. It even has a bookstore, a Barnes and Noble. 

The mall is huge,  but totally conquerable. Even though malls have been dropping like flies once Amazon grew into the behemoth that it is now, The Mall of America has been enduring. It has made the act of shopping a tourist destination activity.  

Malls peaked around the turn-of the-century. Covid’s arrival five years ago sealed their fate. And yet, this mall, at near-retail capacity, had a vibrancy running through its miles of shops. The place was quite crowded on an ordinary spring Saturday, when I visited. 

I wonder how all of these stores can stay in business. Many of them compete for your attention and money, just as millions of books compete for readers. There were several stores in each consumer category: restaurant, fast food, teen clothes, women’s stuff, shoes, etc. Similarly, there are many books that fall under different genres, each trying to stick out. 

Is there room for everyone to get a piece of the pie? 

Business Insider, in an October 2022 article, shared this: 

“Ten years from now, there will be approximately 150 malls left in the US, Nick Egelanian, president of retail consulting firm SiteWorks, told The Wall Street Journal. 

“That's down from around 2,500 locations in the 1980s and 700 today,” Egelanian said. 

That is just wild! 

Bookstores, however, after bottoming out during The Great Recession and Borders’ bankruptcy closing some 15 years ago, have been on an upswing. There are more bookstores today than from a decade ago. 

If malls can still make it in this economy of change and 24/7 international online product availability, then books will too. In fact, malls can literally drive sales for books, because they can draw crowds to the bookstores contained in the malls. 

Books have not been replaced by the Internet, nor have brick-and-mortar stores been completely supplanted by digital retail — but both have absorbed hard hits from the online world. They seek a symbiotic co-existence. 

Physical books exist because they feel familiar to olde people. And because kids need to hold them and turn the pages. And because they have a texture and feel that humans want to experience. Printed books can be shared. They can also be gifted, donated, regifted, and displayed. Some 80 percent of the book market is in printed books. Audio is 10 percent. So are e-books. 

I did not buy anything at the mall, despite sauntering past hundreds of stores, not even at the B & N. I was just gawking, being a tourist, watching others shop ‘til they drop. Consumerism drives capitalism. When it comes to bookstores and malls, here is to hoping Americans feel they can never get enough.

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.4 million pageviews. With 5,300+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum