mallternative

plural mallternatives

1. attributivederogatoryoftensometimesuncountableAny style or genre that is ostensibly counterculture or alternative, but actually mainstream enough to be encountered at a mall, or among the type of people who frequent a mall.

   1 more example

   As the "over-the-counterculture'" has grown, as once cutting-edge alternative styles and products have become "mallternative," Newbury Comics has benefited from the market moving in its direction. Black leather biker jackets, body piercings, tattoos, and jarring hairstyles, which once could shock the counterculturally challenged, today are part of a lifestyle choice that barely raises eyebrows.

   1997 August 24, Jim Sullivan, “Counter culture”, in The Boston Globe Magazine

2. countableAn alternative to a mall, particularly an open-air urban shopping district.

   Although several energy-depleting surface parking lots remain, Mass Avenue's interesting mix of business and people is quickly turning it into a full-fledged window shopper's mallternative, full of energy.

   2004, Kyle Ezell, Get Urban!: The Complete Guide to City Living, Capital Books, →ISBN, page 163