Westdale Mall has been on the decline for years. Circa 1993, it was a nice place to be, but after the demise of Montgomery Ward, everything started going downhill. Today, many shops are vacant and closed up. One of the busiest spots seems to be the city’s lone Chick-fil-A franchise, with many customers entering the mall for the express purpose of eating at this restaurant.
Ironically, the areas directly surrounding Westdale Mall have built up tremendously over the same time that the mall has been floundering. The past decade has seen the addition of new Target and Wal-Mart stores, a new movie theater, and multiple chain restaurants such as Steak-n-Shake, Taco Time, and Texas Roadhouse (one of the most popular restaurants in the city).
What happened to the mall? Can it possibly recover? Should it recover, or is the era of brick-and-mortar shopping malls so far gone that it’s not worth it any more?