Are mall Dojos more common these days? Given the mall vacancies.

BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 56 points –

Better than being out in the middle of an industrial area.

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With the cost of rent in malls I would say they will not likely make a comeback.

Industrial rent is far cheaper.

It's really depressing how malls were built for unsustainable 80s-style commerce and the holding companies basically squeeze them dry instead of trying to reinvigorate them

I've seen some attempts, either by leaning hard into entertainment or building high density residential.

Additionally, with the rise in abandoned malls and decline in mall cop patrols, are we heading toward a double-whammy in the form of booming mall rat and mall ninja populations?

I had never even thought about this but it is more common than not to find dojos and dance studios in the industrial sections of cities.

Malls are cool. Dojos are cool. What's the problem?

Malls are cool again?

It's that some ironic retro coolness?

I’m out of the loop personally but it wouldn’t surprise me given how many things we’ve seen make unexpected comebacks.

I lived through the first time they were cool, and now they're getting cool again as people realize buying everything from Amazon sucks.

Malls have never been out of style at least in Asia’s megacities. The malls in US are just terrible that’s why they died out.

I adamantly believe that the American mall died because Orange Julius went out of business. Like what's the point of even going to a mall if you can't get an Orange Julius to go with your Hot Dog on a Stick and Auntie Anne pretzel?

Partnered with Dairy Queen in Canada, I still get one every time I go to the mall.

Follow up stupid question, but what's a mall dojo?

Guessing, but just what it sounds like - a martial arts training gym. Generally, they are low revenue businesses, relegated to subleasing from other athletic gyms (like gynmastics facilities), out of community recreation centers, or in industrial warehouse areas. Sometimes you'll find them in strip malls, as well.

Theoretically, vacancies put pressure on mall owners to lower rents, perhaps to an affordable level for these dojos. Lowering rent also makes the mall less valuable than a vacancy. And owners don't like lowering value if they can afford it, because they can leverage existing values.