Business

Millennials Tried to Kill the American Mall, But Gen Z Might Save It

The next generation of U.S. buyers isn’t shopping like their parents.

Illustration: Kurt Woerpel for Bloomberg Businessweek
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Gen Z keeps confounding Corporate America.

They’ve shunned beer, they want companies to take political stands and they trust Kardashians to make their makeup choices. But perhaps the biggest surprise about this new cohort of teenagers is the most unexpected of all: They love the shopping mall.