Our apologies to Mark Twain for borrowing some of his famous words, but it appears reports of the death of retail shopping malls have been greatly exaggerated. That is, at least if the mall in question meets the demands of contemporary shoppers.

For southeastern Connecticut, this is good news. A sparkly new 80-store outlet mall opened at Foxwoods Resort Casino in May and casino officials shortly thereafter reported the mall increased foot traffic at the resort enough to spur the hiring of 200 non-gaming employees.

There is no doubt the mall opening, reportedly the first in a decade in the country, goes against the trend. Online shopping has changed the face of bricks and mortar retail. Malls all across the country are being shuttered or struggling for tenants. One national retail consultant predicted up to half of all American shopping malls would fail within 20 years.

Still, those who planned Foxwoods’ Tanger outlets seem to have appropriately anticipated and accommodated new driving factors for success for contemporary retailers. Today’s financially healthy malls are destinations more than places to buy needed items, according to a recent Forbes magazine economics and finance column. Also, 18-34-year-olds— those much sought-after millennials — now comprise nearly 40 percent of mall customers and their preferences must be satisfied.

As such, modern malls are as likely to be anchored by a gym or other non-shopping business and successful retailers today are employing social media marketing strategies to lure customers into their stores. The Tanger outlets have both these: a casino complete with restaurants, theaters, hotels and spas as an anchor, and retailers using the Twitter-sphere and other social media platforms to help drive business.

New jobs and a successful first month of mall business are nothing to downplay as the region continues to be mired in economic sluggishness. But the types of jobs being created — front-desk agents, food and beverage servers, lounge hosts and hotel services workers — tend not to be the type that offer salaries and benefits upon which families can build stable futures. But they can help as a second family income, a start-up job, or provide post-retirement extra income.

Tanger and Foxwoods must continue to work to keep ahead of trends, adjusting and reinventing their offerings so they continue to satisfy fickle consumer preferences into the future. As incentive, they can recall how recently it seemed the lure of the casinos themselves would know no bounds.