As a person that just entered college and out of that time period, mall didnt do it for me because they are barren of things to do. There is nothing but things to buy and nothing of actual interest. I would rather go to a friends house and play games or watch a move at the theater than go to a mall because there is nothing there. The times when I went to a mall was because there was an arcade there that we would hang out at but that was the only point of interest. Other than that we would go elsewhere.
Yeah I should have used past tense. I don't think malls are cutting it now at all. But the "thing to do" there when I was young was to just with your friends without needing to spend any money, without any parents around, and in a busy enough place that you could get lost in the shuffle. Hanging out at a friend's house involves parents and going to the movies is expensive.
