Changing shopping habits are transforming America’s malls

In 2018, like many other department stores, Macy’s in Burlington, Vermont, closed its doors. In 2021 it reopened as a school. Toxic chemicals had been found at Burlington High, and the empty Macy’s offered an airy stopgap until a new building could be ready in 2025. Pupils have grown used to studying in a library created out of the china department, where books sit on backlit display shelves, and eating lunch below a Michael Kors sign (a teacher has stuck a “café” sign next to the designer’s name). They especially like riding on the vast glass escalators, says Lauren McBride, the principal.