A large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores.
The term mall originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, it began to be used as a generic term for the large enclosed shopping centers that were becoming increasingly commonplace.
In recent decades, malls have declined considerably in North America, and some have closed and become abandoned. In many European countries and Asian countries, shopping malls continue to thrive.
