As consumers are increasingly going online for their shopping, stores, malls and outlets across the world are being abandoned, creating derelict spaces in some of the most affluent cities. Some have been left to rot after falling out of favour, while others are suffering after their entire customer base has left. From spooky shopping malls to a long-forgotten underground market and a derelict branch of Harrods you probably didn't know existed, here are derelict stores that time forgot... 

The Sears department store in Ottawa, Canada, was one of hundreds of Kmart and Sears-branded outlets closed after Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2018. Founded in the late 1800s and once the largest retailer in the world, Sears was bought by Kmart for $11 billion in 2004 but was hit badly by the 2008 recession and the rise of Amazon. In January, the company won its bankruptcy auction and, as of April, some 425 stores remain open. This one was demolished however.

Founded in 1870, La Samaritaine grew from being a small shop into one of Paris' grandest department stores, encompassing four buildings and more than 516,600 square feet of retail space. But the Art Deco store began to decline in the 1970s and the 1990s saw it shutting off bits of retail space. In 2005, it closed altogether after failing to meet safety standards. It has remained empty ever since, although extensive refurbishments will see the site finally open to shoppers again next year.

Founded in 1948, US chain Toys 'R' Us became one of the world's best-known toy brands. But with the rise of competitors such as Amazon, it faced an increasingly competitive market. Toys 'R' Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2017 and last year announced that it was closing all its US and UK stores. The brand remained prominent elsewhere though and in January the company emerged from bankruptcy as Tru Kids. It now plans to open stores in the US. 

The very public failures of 16 famous businesses

With its partly collapsed ceiling, debris on the floor and dark retail spaces, this shopping mall could easily be the set for a horror movie. Also named 'ghost mall', the Wayne Hills Mall in New Jersey has stood abandoned since the 1990s, becoming more and more creepy every day. Earlier this year, the derelict remains were finally demolished as part of a redevelopment plan for the site.

Advertised as the biggest shopping centre in the world, the New South China Mall in Dongguan was mostly vacant for more than 10 years after its opening in 2005. The retail attraction was designed to house 1,500 shops and to attract 70,000 visitors a day, but instead its empty halls failed to meet the needs of the city's mainly low income population. Only recently, after extensive renovations, the retail spaces have finally been filled.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and separatist fights in the early 1990s, many former Communist-era buildings in the region of Abkhazia, northwest Georgia, have been abandoned. Situated by the Black Sea, the Zhoekvara shopping centre once housed shops for the Soviet elite who spent summers in the area. Now in a state of disrepair, only crumbling ruins remain.

What became known as the Kunsthaus Tacheles opened as the Friedrichstraßenpassage department store in Berlin in 1908. Twenty years later it fell into the hands of German electricity company AEG and was badly destroyed during World War II, eventually falling into disrepair until it was taken over by a radical artist collective after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The artists eventually left in 2012 and the entire surrounding area is currently being redeveloped.

The crumbling remains of the Acropolis outdoor shopping mall stand in Ciudad Satélite, one of the oldest suburban developments of Mexico City. Built in the 1980s, the mall's popularity declined in the 1990s, although little is known about the exact reasons. Reports indicate that it failed due to high pollution levels in the area, making the outdoor shopping experience somewhat unpleasant.

Until it shut in 2016, Austins department store in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry was thought to be the world's oldest independent department store. Opened in 1830, the five-storey Edwardian building was renowned for its selection of Irish crystal, homewares and linen. But it closed its doors without warning in March 2016, with the loss of 53 jobs, amid concerns about asbestos in the building. Last year it was announced that planning approval had been granted for redevelopment of the site.

On 26 April 1986, one of the world's biggest nuclear disasters happened at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what is now Ukraine. A day later, the nearby city of Pripyat was evacuated with residents told they'd be able to return shortly. But the city remains a ghost town due to radiation, left much as it was when its citizens fled over 30 years ago. Residents haven't returned but tourists come to visit the site and see abandoned buildings such as this grocery store, where signs still hang above the aisles.

Hong Kong's Central Market, a 1930s Bauhaus style-building, was abandoned for more than a decade before permission was granted to redevelop the site, thought to be worth $1.6 billion (£1.3bn). The building stands largely empty with a few stores along a renovated pedestrian corridor, but there are plans to turn the Grade II-listed historic building into a cultural and retail centre, preserving some original features including the atrium and the external facades facing Jubilee and Queen Victoria streets.

Hawthorne Plaza Mall in Los Angeles County was a popular shopping destination when it opened in 1977, but two decades later the 40-acre retail site was shut. Plans to redevelop the centre as part of a $500 million (£398m) overhaul have yet to come to fruition. In the meantime, it has played an apocalyptic backdrop in music videos for singers Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, as well as for films including Minority Report and Gone Girl. 

BHS was founded as British Home Stores in 1928 by a group of US entrepreneurs. It expanded throughout the UK and to far-flung destinations including Moscow, the Falkland Islands and Hong Kong before being acquired by retail magnate Philip Green for £200 million in 2000. But after a series of loss-making years, the company entered administration in 2016, leading to the eventual closure of stores such as this one in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street. Many former BHS units remain empty.

This burnt out butchers shop is located in the French ghost town of Oradour-sur-Glane, which saw 642 of its inhabitants massacred by the Nazis just days after the Allied landings in Normandy in 1944. The German SS troops then set fire to buildings and cars in an apparent attempt to hide their atrocities. After World War II came to an end, president Charles de Gaulle declared the town a memorial and reminder of the devastation of war. The SS unit was never brought to justice.

Once boasting 140 stores, images of the decaying Rolling Acres Mall in Ohio became symbolic of the US retail apocalypse. Having opened to great fanfare in 1975, it slowly lost customers and also became known for criminal activity, with the body of an apparent murder victim found behind the mall in 2011. The last tenant left in 2013 and demolition began three years later. But there is now a glimmer of hope for the site, with an Amazon fulfilment centre said to be part of a major redevelopment. The photo here was captured by photographer Seph Lawless.

Bodie is a town preserved in an "arrested state of decay" by California State Parks. Founded in 1859 after gold was discovered nearby, it boomed to several thousand people within years. But the settlement, like others of its kind, fell into decline and by the 1940s nearly everyone had left. In 1961, the Wild West ghost town was designated a National Historic Landmark. The preserved Boone Store, which dates back to 1879, contains dozens of artefacts from years gone by.

America's abandoned towns falling into ruin

It is a little known fact that iconic London department store Harrods once had another branch in Buenos Aires. Founded in 1914 when the Argentinian capital was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, the store expanded over the years but was badly hit by the country's struggling economy and eventually closed in 1998. There are now multi-million dollar plans to revive it as a retail outlet and hotel.

One of several British retailers that went into administration last year, electronics chain Maplin closed down all its shops after failing to find a buyer. The business was hit by less consumer spending and more expensive imports due to a slump in the pound. High streets across the UK and Ireland were left with abandoned Maplin shops.

Earlier this year New York department store Henri Bendel shut its flagship location at Fifth Avenue (pictured) after nearly 125 years in the business. The long-standing retailer was known for selling luxury women's accessories in its distinctive brown and white striped bags. But in late 2018, owner L Brands announced it would close all 23 stores in order to focus on its other brands such as Victoria's Secret.

For years, this pretty Art Deco facade was all that remained of the former Tea Rooms café at Museum Street, Bloomsbury, in central London. According to urban explorer Weburbanist, the cosy little shop that had welcomed guests since 1960 closed its doors in 2000 after owner Eugenio Corsini had passed away. The facade was only painted over most recently, but attempts to revive the shop as offices didn't last long. The location is reportedly nailed up again.

Humberstone is an abandoned former saltpetre mining town in Chile. Founded in 1872, the settlement was named after British chemical engineer James Humberstone who made his fortune from the mineral used to make fertiliser. In its heyday, the company town housed 3,500 people, with residents buying all their provisions from the central store (pictured). But the invention of synthetic fertilisers eventually marked its downfall and it was abandoned in 1960. The ghost town is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The abandoned New World shopping mall in Bangkok was left to ruin more than two decades ago in 1997. Without a roof which was destroyed by a fire, the floor floods quickly during the rainy season. Neighbours therefore came up with the unlikely idea to use the derelict building as an urban aquarium and breed fish in the water. The thousands of carp, tilapia and catfish finally had to be relocated though, but the crumbling mall remains an eerie sight.

The ruins of the Porter Brothers general store stand in the Death Valley ghost town of Rhyolite. The gold rush town was born in 1905 and within two years had electricity, a stock exchange, stores, a school, hotels and even an opera house. But the financial panic of 1907 hit the prospecting town hard and by 1920 nearly everyone had left. In a town full of saloons, Porter Brothers was known for not selling liquor, with a sign on its shopfront declaring "All Things Good But Whiskey".

All 2,500 Payless ShoeSource stores across North America were closed after the 63-year-old company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February – the second time in three years. The company had struggled with heavy debt and cited "unanticipated delays" with its suppliers as a reason behind selling off much of its stock at heavily discounted prices. Its franchise operations and Latin America stores were expected to be unaffected. 

Incredible abandoned places in every US state

Manchester's underground market opened in 1972 and was the place to go for everything from shoes to perfume for nearly 20 years. It was the place to hang out on Saturdays with nearly 100 stalls including Stolen From Ivor – the first place in the north of England to stock Levi's jeans. However, the market was shut down in the late 1980s as the nearby Arndale shopping centre proved to be increasingly more popular. Its main entrance was concreted over.

This Coles supermarket originally opened as Coles New World in the Australian state of Victoria in 1978, according to anonymous urban explorer Abandoned Melbourne. The superstore then reportedly closed its doors nearly exactly 30 years later due to rising competition in the area. The urban explorer keeps the exact location of his discoveries secret, to discourage vandals, but said the building was owned by former Aussie rules player Chris Langford.

The Alps Ski Resort was one of South Korea's first winter holiday destinations when it opened in the 1980s and attracted tens of thousands of skiers each year. But declining popularity of winter sports led to the resort near the Demilitarised Zone abruptly closing its doors in 2006, leaving store owners like Oh Geum-Sik (pictured here in his ski rental shop) out of work. The derelict resort hit the news last year amid concerns over future plans for sites of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyongyang.

Poolway Shopping Centre in Birmingham was a vibrant community hub when it was built in 1961, with a post office, fountain and a medical centre, as well as a good mix of shops. But time took its toll and the independent stores eventually started moving out. The last companies left last year, leaving the shopping parade as something out of a ghost town. The area is now earmarked for redevelopment.

The tiny store Clough's Bookshop in Cherry Valley, New York, was closed last year and is still on the market for $55,500 (£44,900). One of the building's particularly notable historic features is that it was previously a telegram office where Samuel Morse is said to have perfected Morse Code. In good news for bibliophiles with a bit of cash to spare, the entire bookstore inventory is also up for sale.

Borders was founded as a bookstore in 1971 but by the time it closed 40 years later it had moved into selling music and DVDs. This move to becoming a multi-purpose entertainment retailer was later deemed part of its downfall, along with opening too many stores and not reacting quickly enough to the e-book revolution. Borders UK went into administration in 2009, leading to store closures, followed by the collapse of the US company two years later.

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