In the age of online shopping, why are we still heading to malls?

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“People like to just go and see things, touch things,” Patterson said.

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But the allure of a shopping mall isn’t just the opportunity to buy something new. It’s also to be around other people.

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“I think people are lonely,” said Mollie Magee of West Vancouver, who ventured downtown to Pacific Centre with a few friends to make a return and to peruse the beauty-products store Sephora.

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“They want to come to the mall and they want to spend money because we are lacking other things. So, it’s kind of like an outlet for them.”

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Mollie Magee shopping at Pacific Centre Mall in Vancouver on July 22, 2026. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10112282A

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Shopping centres, particularly those in suburban areas, can also act as a cultural hub for a community. Patterson said they can be “gathering places” as much as centres of commerce.

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“I’ve spoken to a few landlords that are, say, in very multicultural areas or in areas like Richmond, which have a very specific demographic,” he noted. “These shopping centres are, in some ways, becoming almost de facto community centres because they are hosting events, and people are coming in to enjoy themselves.”

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Social media and technology enterprises such as Amazon and DoorDash, which have nixed the need for people to head out to shop and eat, have forced the “erosion of social infrastructure,” said Seth Abrutyn, a professor of sociology at the University of B.C. Connecting with others at physical malls helps to battle back against that isolation.

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“We talk about roads and bridges as physical infrastructure, while in sociology, we talk about malls and other public civic space as social infrastructure,” said Abrutyn. “They afford individuals and families the opportunity to commune with the community in ways that do not really replace small-town public life, but approximate those feelings.”

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Abrutyn said there is something “fulfilling” for many people in being in a busy shopping centre.

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“And not just the intellectual experience of ‘I’m around people,’ but the sensual experience of noise, smells, bodies in motion, and other familiar aspects of humans doing things together,” Abrutyn explained.

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In order for a mall to succeed, there are a few key stores that are typically present, said Patterson.

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“They’ll have the top stores, like say, Apple, Browns Shoes, lululemon … Aritzia,” he noted. And if it’s a shopping centre with a luxury emphasis, it will have a Louis Vuitton.

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Another big factor in whether or not a mall makes it big in Metro Vancouver is its accessibility.

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“Being within a certain population area or being accessible, whether or not that’s on a highway or, even better, public transit,” Patterson said.

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Entertainment options are another essential element that separate a successful mall from a struggling one, he added.

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“Having interesting stores or interesting attractions with stores, having a mix of brands and perhaps entertainment, some restaurants, maybe a food hall,” he said. “There’s a certain number of shopping centres in the country that are superstars in terms of their productivity per square foot.”

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A few of these “superstars” are in Metro Vancouver. Patterson points to CF Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver, Richmond Centre, Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, Park Royal in West Vancouver, and Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby as being among the region’s top-performing malls per square foot.

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The largest malls in the region are Park Royal, Metrotown and Tsawwassen Mills in Delta.

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Metro Vancouver’s “mega malls” stack up well when compared with other similarly sized shopping centres across the country, such as Yorkdale in Toronto and Chinook Centre in Calgary.

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“Metro Vancouver punches above its weight in terms of shopping centres,” said Patterson. “It’s got some really great, productive malls with great stores.”