It's pretty interesting to see the trend away from traditional malls to strip malls now. I can only assume they are cheaper to maintain since you are not paying to heat/cool/clean entire corridors between stores really.
I would like to think it is because people are healthier and want to walk more, but I bet it is really because you can now drive to store X, buy what you want, get back in your car, and then drive to store Z on the other of the mall faster and without having to go by Claire's/Forever Jailbait/etc or whatever other store you can't stand.
First off how often do you go to traditional indoor fortress style mall anchor stores?
I mean places like Sears, JC Penny, Macy's, Von Maur, Dillards, Nordstroms?
Those stores have lost a lot of their market share and luster over the past 15-20 years due to discount stores like Wal-Mart and Target eating away market share.
The indoor specialty shops in malls have taken even more of a hit with a lot of stores specializing in hard to find at big box items like specialty scented candles, offensive t-shirts , lingerie, specialty movies and music, all of these things can be conveniently shopped for and even price checked online. This is really what's killed indoor malls.