Imagine apartments built into what used to be department stores, (Oh, you’re JC Penny 203? I’m at Sears 106). Get those old arcades up and running. Set up meal stations at the food court. Once people actually live there, stores will start to move back in.
If I’m unable to finish my life in my own home, that doesn’t sound like a terrible option.
My current job is in an office/call center that used to be a Famous Barr at a mall. It’s funny, I worked in that mall as a teen/early 20’s. Now I’m back working at the fucking mall XD (tho now I’m provisioning telephone service and processing telecom orders, not sweeping up in a movie theater or trying to upsell people at a shop)