While the Greendale Mall in Worcester has been struggling for years, it's not necessarily an outlier: Malls practically everywhere are facing increasingly difficult challenges, both from online retailers, changing consumer habits and rising property costs. According to Credit Suisse, more than 8,000 retail locations will close this year, about four times as many as last year and far surpassing the roughly 6,000 that closed in 2008 during the Great Recession.

What should malls do to stay relevant going forward?