Gen Z Social Shopping Trends Explained: How Fandom Events and Community Spaces Are Reshaping Malls
A desire to connect with their peers in person is driving Gen Z's return to malls as causal weekend hangout hubs.
Stage: Building · Momentum: High · Forecast confidence: Moderate
The generation raised on smartphones is showing up at shopping centers more often than their parents and grandparents, and they’re not always there to buy something. That shift is already reshaping how mall operators, brands and event planners think about physical retail — and the next 18 months will test how far the “mall as hangout” model can stretch before it either matures into a durable format or fractures under its own hype.
What’s happening
In-person shopping is climbing among Gen Z, defined here as people aged 14 to 29. A survey by financial technology platform Adyen found that 73% of 18- to 27-year-olds shop in-store at least once a week, compared to 65% of Baby Boomers. Mall foot traffic is following the same pattern, with younger shoppers driving the category’s resurgence.
They’re also showing up without a shopping list. Gen Z visitors describe the mall as a social destination — a place to eat, drink, meet friends and pass a few hours — rather than an errand.
“You can kind of make a day out of it, you can go for a couple hours, get something to eat, maybe get a matcha or a coffee,” Tyler Hartman, 20, told WXYZ Detroit about his routine mall trips.
Annabelle Saco, 24, of Bloomfield, Michigan, put it more bluntly to USA TODAY: “The mall is an experience. You go there and you see all different kinds of people and it’s just getting out of your isolation in your home.”
Why it’s happening
Three forces are pushing this shift, and none of them are accidental.
The first is a deliberate pullback from screens. A study conducted by Talker Research on behalf of ThriftBooks found “more Gen Z (63%) and millennials (57%) getting offline than Gen X (42%) and baby boomers (29%),” with 54% of Gen Z reporting a designated screen-free time in their day, compared with 22% of boomers. That intentional disconnection is redirecting hours toward offline hobbies — hiking, painting — and, apparently, the food court.
The second is community. Elizabeth Lafontaine, director of research at Placer.ai, told USA TODAY that “the resurgence of the mall category directly correlates with Gen Z shoppers’ desire for community and in-person connection.” Malls offer something apartments and dorms don’t: a low-stakes public space with snacks, arcades, laser tag and a rotating cast of strangers.
The third is fandom. Retailers have caught on that pop-ups, exclusive merch drops, book signings and album events pull crowds that a standard store can’t. As Val Vacante wrote for Fast Company, “Retail is becoming a cultural gathering space where people connect around shared passions. Fans are powerful customers.”
“The resurgence of the mall category directly correlates with Gen Z shoppers’ desire for community and in-person connection.”
— Elizabeth Lafontaine, Director of Research, Placer.ai
What could be next
Expect the retail industry to lean harder into the hangout model — and expect the definition of “mall” to keep loosening. Three scenarios are worth watching.
Landlords will start pricing space by dwell time, not just sales per square foot. If Gen Z visits are measured in hours rather than transactions, operators will chase tenants that keep people on-site: matcha bars, arcades, gaming lounges, event stages. Anchor department stores that once defined the mall may keep losing ground to experience-first tenants. Reader action: If you’re a small-business owner or a job seeker eyeing retail, watch which categories are signing new leases at your local center. Food, beverage and entertainment openings are the leading indicator — apparel-only openings are the lagging one.
Fandom-driven pop-ups will become a permanent programming layer. The book signing, the exclusive merch drop, the artist meet-and-greet — these will move from occasional stunts to scheduled monthly programming, marketed the way concerts are. Expect ticketed or RSVP-only mall events to grow, along with waitlists and resale markets for “free” event passes. Reader action: If you or your kids follow specific creators, authors or franchises, sign up for mall newsletters and retailer SMS lists now. The best events sell out — or cap RSVPs — before general marketing hits.
Health researchers and school counselors will start citing mall trips as a legitimate social intervention. That sounds like a stretch until you look at the evidence base. “Social activities cause us to use our brains more than almost any other activity,” Dr. Andrew Budson, a neurologist and chief of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology at VA Boston Healthcare System, told Harvard Health Publishing. A 2016 study at the University of North Dakota found that “smaller friendship circles and weaker social support during childhood and adolescence were […] strongly linked to multiple lifetime suicide attempts.” If loneliness is the diagnosis and in-person time is the prescription, a couple of hours at the mall stops looking frivolous. Reader action: Parents worried about a teen’s screen time have a legitimate, low-friction alternative to suggest — and one their kid may actually accept.
The takeaway: the mall isn’t coming back the way it left. It’s coming back as a social utility, and the operators, brands and families that treat it that way will get the most out of the next chapter.
THREE SIGNALS TO WATCH
1. Placer.ai’s next foot-traffic report on mall visits by generation.
2. New lease announcements at major U.S. shopping centers weighted toward food, beverage and entertainment tenants versus traditional apparel.
3. The volume and scale of fandom-driven pop-ups — book signings, merch drops, artist events — scheduled at mall properties over the next two quarters.
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