Every week, headlines argue about store closures, e-commerce pressure, and cautious consumers. And yet, at the same time, malls are expanding in Saudi Arabia, luxury brands are redesigning their physical presence in China, flagship stores are becoming media assets, and Asian marketplaces are setting the global pace for retail scale.
This contradiction is exactly why Malls Money exists.
Not to summarize the news.
Not to repeat earnings calls.
But to track where retail growth is actually happening, and why.
What Malls Money is
Malls Money is a weekly signal-based newsletter about how modern retail scales, adapts, and makes money across markets, platforms, and physical space.
We focus on:
Asia, the Middle East, and Europe
Physical retail, not just e-commerce
Flagship stores, malls, and retail platforms as growth infrastructure
Each issue connects real-world developments with strategic meaning. Not trends for trend’s sake, but signals that explain why brands, developers, and platforms are moving the way they do.
What we mean by “signals”
A signal is not a press release.
It’s not a hype cycle.
And it’s not a single store opening.
A signal is a pattern.
When luxury brands quietly shift from malls to shopping streets in China, that’s a signal.
When Asian marketplaces rival Amazon in GMV, that’s a signal.
When physical flagships start behaving like media channels, that’s a signal.
Malls Money is about spotting these shifts early, before they become obvious — or over-discussed.
What we deliberately ignore
We do not chase:
Daily retail news recaps
Short-term sales fluctuations
Generic “retail is dying / retail is back” narratives
Those stories are everywhere already.
Instead, we look at structural moves: where capital is going, where brands are experimenting, and which formats are quietly winning.
Who this is for
Malls Money is written for people who build, operate, invest in, or shape retail ecosystems.
That includes:
Mall owners and developers
Retail and brand strategy teams
Platform and marketplace operators
Investors are watching physical-digital convergence.
If you’re looking for shopping tips, this is not it.
If you’re trying to understand where retail growth is reorganizing, this is exactly it.
You don’t need to read every issue line by line.
Each edition is designed to give you:
2–4 key signals worth remembering
Context on why they matter
A clearer mental map of where retail is heading
Think of it as a weekly calibration, not a news dump.
Why now
Retail is entering a phase where:
Growth is regional, not global
Physical space matters again, but differently
Asia is no longer “catching up”; it’s setting the pace
Malls Money exists to document this shift in real time.
If that perspective is useful to you, you should subscribe.
Not because this is another newsletter.
But because understanding retail today requires looking at different signals than before.
Weekly signals show how retail is reorganizing across markets, platforms, and physical space.