Attention Shoppers. Hello? Is this thing on?

Is it just me, or are you going to malls a lot less than you used to? Growing up I went all the time, and even after I got married and started a family we would go fairly often. There is no shortage of evidence that we’re not the only ones staying away from shopping centers in droves, despite efforts to re-imagine the mall from an architectural standpoint. There is even a website chronicling the decline of these retail meccas. Of course, the easy answer is the economy has people spending less, and there is no doubt truth to that. But the mall was once more than just a place to get your ear’s pierced or buy a gift for a friend. There was a social component as well. Has Facebook, Twitter and texting replaced that need for a place to go and just hang out? Critics have a variety of theories and ideas for the future of malls (and some malls are doing just fine, thanks.

It seems to me that if malls want to get people back in their air-conditioned halls they had better do something than add a Chili’s or hope the sale at The Sharper Image draws in the crowds.

My question is, what story is the mall telling? What’s the compelling reason to go there now? It’s not the sales and it’s not the place to just hang out, so what’s the narrative? Maybe it’s time for malls to start developing that narrative.

What if a mall developed a story, complete with characters? Maybe a romance or a mystery. The story could incorporate the stores that are in the mall and blend in fictional characters: employees and patrons. Now it’s starting to sound like an anthology, like the Love Boat with recurring characters or The Twilight Zone with stand-alone stories.

Could a mall have a Facebook page, or a Twitter feed? What about a YouTube channel? Those all actually sound like pretty good ideas to me. In Los Angeles, there is a famous theater experience called Tamara which takes place in a large house. The audience chooses which characters they will follow and can switch throughout the performance as they run from room to room. Would something like that draw crowds to a mall? It would certainly get people talking.

The most successful brands are the ones that tell a story – or help you tell a story to your friends (or yourself). Ultimately a mall is just a store that has lots of stores in it. It’s time they started telling consumers a story of their own.