As online shopping intensifies, outlook dims for mall stores

WASHINGTON (AP) — Online shopping is reaching such a critical mass with American households that many of the icons of the traditional mall —from Macy’s to The Gap and J.C. Penney — face an increasingly uncertain future.
A government report Friday suggested a modestly healthy consumer, with retail sales up 1.3 percent in April. Americans are eating out more at restaurants. They’re buying more cars. But the main beneficiaries of spending in the past year have been Ama