As department stores continue to die off, with mall landlords are adding this fun feature to attract more visitors and designer stores which want to set up nearby

As department stores continue to die off, with mall landlords are adding this fun feature to attract more visitors and designer stores which want to set up nearby READ MORE: Major US discount retailer to close as many as 315 stores By Rachel Bowman For Dailymail.Com Published: 14:55 BST, 7 August 2024 | Updated: 15:12 BST, 7 August 2024 e-mail View comments Department stores are diminishing in the retail space, but landlords are finding success in adding experience-based attractions such as ritzy food halls to bring in visitors. Sales at department stores fell last year and fell flat in the first five months of 2024, according to U.

S. Census Bureau data. One of America's biggest department stores - JCPenney - faced falling sales and announced it is shutting down four locations last week.

Now landlords - like the owners of Legacy West in Plano, Texas - are opting to turn their retail spaces into food halls to attract more customers and designer retailers who want to set up shop. 'We said, "Instead of going after a department store, let's do something that's more fun and more interesting and that will drive a lot of traffic,"' Mark Masinter, a partner on the Legacy West food hall project, told The Wall Street Journal . Major department stores - such as JCPenney - continue to close as sales fall flat in the first five months of 2024 Now landlords - like the owners of Legacy West (inset) in Plano, Texas - are opting to turn their retail spaces experienced based attractions such a.