A rash of shuttered storefronts and liquidating department stores continues to plague many of metro Detroit's enclosed shopping malls, threatening the existence of some once prosperous properties that could not keep up with retail changes or have too much empty space to fill, the Detroit Free Press reported on Monday.

“We are definitely over-malled, and the malls are too big," said retail analyst and consultant Ken Dalto.

This reflects a worrying trend nationwide and is the result of nonstop growth in internet shopping and more closures of traditional mall anchor stores.

Many experts have concluded that traditional malls will have to transform to fill other community needs besides commerce if they want to survive, such as fitness centers, offices, and medical clinics, according to Business Insider.

Some analysts have predicted that up to 25 percent of malls nationwide could close by 2022, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“I don’t see how in this day and age someone can breathe life into the mall as it currently stands,” said Joseph Rheker, city manager of Harper Wood, a Detroit suburb that is considering a redevelopment project that would likely involve tearing down most of its mall.

However, some middle-income malls in the Detroit area have so far defied the common premise that only top-tier malls can thrive amid competition from online shopping. 

Macomb Mall in Roseville and Southland Center in Taylor have undergone significant renovations and tenant reconfigurations, and appear to be successful. 

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