
There doesn’t seem to be much research or scholarship done on the subject, but there should be more study of shopping centers “left behind,” sort of like the Bates Motel, when a major traffic artery is rerouted onto a new axis. Such is the case for many 1960s and 70s era shopping centers along the Missouri Highway 141 corridor. Perhaps the most infamous example is Woods Mill Center, which sits just to the southwest of what is now the massive and congested interchange of 141 and U.S. Highway 40/Interstate 64. This strip mall never recovered from the traffic being rerouted to the limited access highway to the east, and despite being so close to so many automobile trips, never could regain their business. Inhabited by title companies and other businesses that did not rely on pass-through traffic, this property was recently purchased by Maryville University for a video game stadium.

It will be interesting, as the culture and business of consumption evolves, to see if places like Tanger end up like this in the coming decades.