For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated with dead and dying shopping mall and retail outlets. Having worked in retail when I was in my teens might play into it, but I’m not sure.

When I have free time, I can get lost for hours online looking at sites like Dead Malls and the Sick Malls Blog.

It always surprises me when a major retailer shuts down one of their locations. Most, if not ALL of them do research on locations to make sure that there will be enough traffic to justify building there.

Lately, because of the economy I’ve seen a lot more locations shutting down and boarding up. Sometimes it’s due to a company going bankrupt (like The Cooker) but a lot of times it’s just the thinning of the herd. Here’s a few pics of some former restaurant/retail locations:

Waffle House

Krispy Kreme

The Cooker

Jack In The Box