Between 1970 and 2015, the number of malls in North America grew over twice as fast as the population. As anchor stores began shuttering locations and customers turned to malls less and less, these behemoth shopping centers also had no option but to close.
In Concord, one location exemplifies this decline more than others: the Steeplegate Mall on Loudon Road.
Fifteen years ago, the Steeplegate Mall was the largest taxpayer in the city. Its assessed value approached $72 million — today, it is assessed at a fraction of that, only $12.6 million.
What happened?
City reporter Catherine McLaughlin and investigative reporter Sruthi Gopalakrishnan join us on this episode of the Monitor weekly to discuss.
The theme music in this episode was produced by Lizzy McCormack with additional music from Lo-Fi Beat by YellowTree on FreeSound.org.mp3
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The Monitor Weekly is a Concord Monitor project produced and edited by Rebeca Pereira and Alexander Rapp.