With online shopping sweeping society as the preferred way of purchasing goods, pushing classic retails stores like ‘Macy’s’ to close over 150 retail locations, it’s prominent that the modern consumer is in need of something more.

Seeing malls like North Shore Square Mall, once a hub for socializing and shopping fall abandoned and recent tragedies like the Mall of Louisiana shooting showcases how the foot traffic is falling in malls. Yet, not all malls are disappearing and fading away–they’re evolving.

Lakeside Mall in Metairie, Louisiana is setting the perfect example of how to market to the modern-day clientele selling an unforgettable shopping experience with their goods.

The Feil Organizations’ Tricia Phillpott, Lakeside’s Regional Director of Retail Leasing, says Lakeside’s approach to the experience throughout the mall sets them apart. “We think a little out of this box. We added a play area monitored with a staff in it, we added nursing rooms, and changing rooms, you just don’t see that in a lot of centers. We felt like it was an important part of a customer experience here. There’s certain things that you can’t do online.”

The target demographic for malls is women ages 25-54, and the stores that the mall has directly impacts how interested their target audience becomes.

Lakeside shopper Lana Lawson details how Lakeside captures her attention. “I love going there. I think it’s because they have such a variety of stores like you go in there and there’s like four makeup stores, there’s like so many different places to shop. Their food court actually has good, edible options. It’s a place where people actually enjoy going, Lakeside is doing it right.”

The evolution of the mall could even lead to “clicks to bricks” which is where online retailers open up brick and mortar stores within the mall to meet their audience’s demands.

Dan Rice, Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing foresees this as a potential future to keep malls around. “One of the things that we might start seeing is primarily online retailers potentially coming into mall spaces and being a delivery or pickup hub, which would draw people in and make it good for other stores in the mall.”

Seeing malls continue to close down may be an upsetting image, but is a lesson on how customers’ think with their wallet and the only way to stay afloat is to evolve and expand with the modern consumer.