The Cheesecake Factory Continues to Keep Our Economy Afloat

Over the past few decades, the American mall has been dying a slow, painful death. Gone are the days of teenagers loitering near Nordstrom, eating Auntie Anne’s pretzels, and stealing CDs from FYE. An up-and-coming pop star today would never go on a national mall tour a la Britney Spears or Tiffany, either. If Olivia Rodrigo were at your local Westfield, people would fear she owed money to the mob or something. But there’s one thing about the mall that hasn’t changed in 2023, and it’s seemingly the one big thing keeping malls afloat.

I visited my hometown’s mall last year. Although a handful of stores were vacant, most of the mall stalwarts like H&M and Macy’s were right where I’d left them. There were a few newer concepts, like CBD shops and a “selfie museum.” Most importantly, though, the chain restaurants were all still standing: Yard House, TGI Fridays, and The Cheesecake Factory.

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The report also found that more successful malls typically also had “non-traditional tenants” like movie theaters, bowling alleys, and amusement parks, as those are more attractive to consumers in the age of convenient ecommerce. The American Dream mall in New Jersey, for example, is more amusement park than mall. It has Nickelodeon Universe, the country’s largest indoor theme park (take that, Mall of America), and DreamWorks Water Park, the continent’s largest indoor water park. There are also flashy snack destinations like an Oreo cafe, MrBeast Burger, and candy department store.

Not to be outdone, the mall in my hometown transformed one of its long vacant anchor spaces into a big arcade/bowling alley combo, or, as I like to call it, a knockoff Dave & Buster’s. Many suburban malls will continue to collapse if they fail to adapt to changing consumer habits, but it looks like the mall I knew and loved will stay standing for at least a little bit longer—thanks in no small part to The Cheesecake Factory.

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