This is a story near and dear to my heart.

I hate big-box stores. Absolutely despise them. Wanna know what I dislike the most about big box stores? The ‘End-of-Life’ problem. When the bog box store closes – sometimes to move to a BIGGER box just a few miles away – they leave a hulking derelict behind. There are not many alternative used for a six million cubic foot concrete box. The impact is staggering. Once the big box store – typically the anchor for the surrounding smaller stores – leaves, most of the shoppers go with it. The next thing you know, you have an abandoned shopping center in your neighborhood.

Here is a great story on Sustainablog about people finding new uses for those abandoned big box stores.