Malls throughout the U.S. are experiencing high vacancy rates.  Once a popular format, many malls are now empty.  Green Street Advisors, an analysis firm that tracks real estate investment trusts (REITs), forecasts that 10 percent of large malls in the U.S. will fail within the next 10 years.  This paper explores the history of the mall format, the current status of malls, characteristics of successful malls and what is being done to reinvent malls.