My Empty Mall

I blame the Internet for this nationwide trend. Waldenbooks was in the leftmost store; unlike B. Dalton before it, it succumbed to Border's struggle with Amazon.com. Its neighbor, Mister Music gave way to smaller and smaller music players, defeated — like On Cue across the hall — by iTunes and the iPod. After years of struggling for relevance in a world of online and mobile access to TV and radio, Radio Shack on the corner closed its doors just when hobby electronics started taking off. Sears catalogs bypassed general stores in price and selection; the end of its catalog 100 years later happened as Amazon.com and Wal-Mart rose to prominence. Now that anchor of the mall is gone too. Malls were where we went to see what's new and run into those we know ... now there's Facebook, where we post our thoughts and online purchases. I find it a poor substitute for face-to-face interactions.