I have always been a person who loves to shop in-store. I mean, yes, you can find unique and fun things online. But there is nothing like the experience of a day shopping at the mall. Who doesn't like to head to the mall and try on clothes, shoes, and jewelry before a night out? But thanks to COVID-19, things have sort of changed.

Many stores in the Kirkwood Mall have been forced to go back-and-forth with openings and closings because of the pandemic. So, it has been hard to know which stores are even open at times. Not only that, many changing rooms have been closed for months, so we can't even try on the clothes in-store anymore. So it makes sense that more people have done more shopping online since the start of the pandemic. But the uptick in online shopping because of COVID-related reasons is a bit of trouble for brick and mortar shopping centers.

Because shopping online has become so popular and stores have been forced to close due to the pandemic (both temporarily and permanently), malls are struggling. Including the largest shopping malls in Minot and Bismarck. KX News is reporting that the company owner of these malls, CBL has filed for bankruptcy protection. The Dakota Square Mall and the Kirkwood Mall will remain open and operating. Get the full story from KX News here.

I hope that our malls and stores can "weather the Coronavirus storm." I will always love going into my favorite places and seeing all the new loot in-person over adding items to my online cart.

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