Honestly, in my childhood opinion, it was fine, just trying out food and drinks (whether from shopping or restaurants), testing electronics and arcade games, maybe even buying some toys or going to indoor play areas.
Though the novelty of it soon worn out gradually, taking a walk and peek at around these areas for anything interesting is good once in a while, even if you're not buying anything.
Edit: on sec thoughts, should I place this in the urbanism community? And just so you know, I'm not an American, so I wouldn't know what butcherism might occur in the implementation of malls.
Malls are bad mostly because they’re an extension of suburban car culture. If they put a few stories of housing on top of every mall, turned the parking lots into greenspace, and gave each one a train station, they’d be alright.
Malls aren’t terrible in and of themselves, but they highlight a lack of things like public spaces, public amenities, public transit, etc. There’s nothing wrong with concentrated areas of development where people can access goods and services, but if they’re privately-owned and controlled and exist only to generate rents for landlords, they’re going to suck.
Honestly, I heart this.