Future Proof's origin story looks and sounds familiar because I wrote "CNBC reviewed the history of malls, including the role of architect Victor Gruen in designing...the Southdale Shopping Center in Edina, Minnesota, and how they fit in the history of suburbia" in CNBC explains why U.S. malls are disappearing, plus Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers saved for now, tales of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic. I could have written about Gruen's disowned contribution to the creation of shopping malls earlier, as I mentioned "the video series Sam of Brick Immortar has created on the history of malls" in The rise and fall of the mall from Business Insider, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse and pandemic. I never used those videos, which turned out to be a good thing. Sam has since changed the focus of his channel and made most if not all of his Retail Apocalypse videos private. Darn. I was closer to Sam than any of the other Retail Apocalypse YouTubers and I miss his presence in that space.
Future Proof seems to agree with me that "blaming Amazon for the loss of brick-and-mortar retail is a popular but slightly lazy reason" for the decline in anchor stores. He points to poor public transportation and the disconnection between malls and mass transit in North America, noting that malls in Europe, which are better connected to public transportation, are thriving. That reminds me of one of CityNerd's peeves about shopping centers, particularly lifestyle centers and power centers, being bad urban land uses. I might use those videos, as well as his tongue-in-cheek video about Spirit Halloween, in future Retail Apocalypse posts.
Finally, the paid promotion by Ground News reminds me that I promised a comparison and contrast between AllSides and the Media Bias Chart three years ago. I haven't done that, but I'm planning on writing posts with a longer shelf life than the daily or weekly news cycle for the rest of this month. It might be time. Stay tuned.
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