High-end malls like some in Oakland County are expected to continue to perform well far into the future in spite of a changing mall landscape in the state's wealthiest county, and across the state and country.

In fact, contrary to the popular notion that brick and mortar retail is dying a slow death at the hands of Amazon.com and online retail in general, data suggests that retail is doing better than it was several years ago.

CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service, says that mall vacancy rates in metro Detroit were 8.4 percent in the first quarter of 2013. Last quarter it was 6.7 percent and this quarter it is forecast at 5.5 percent.

In addition, rents per square foot have been increasing, suggesting an increased demand for space. In Q1 2013, it cost $23.34 per square foot to lease in a mall, while last quarter it was $25.17, an increase of 7.84 percent.

Malls such as Twelve Oaks in Novi, owned by Bloomfield Hills-based Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO); Somerset Collection in Troy, owned and managed by Southfield-based The Forbes Co. (which was unable to comment for this story); and the Taubman-owned Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, will continue to thrive as they offer unique and destination shopping experiences, said William Taubman, COO of Taubman Centers.

He said an intricate interplay between the evolution of online shopping and changing demographics is responsible for shifts in shopping patterns, harming some malls.

"Everyone talks about the Internet and Amazon, and it's very important, but it's sort of Donald Trumpian — it's over-simplifying and making a sound bite out of a complex and much more evolved situation," he said.

Millennials (the Pew Research Center defines them as those born between 1981 and 1996) tend to have less disposable income because of things like student loan debt and slow wage growth, translating to more budget-oriented shopping.

That has hindered some centers, and once-thriving malls such as Summit Place Mall in Waterford Township and Northland Center in Southfield both face the wrecking ball this year as online shopping has emerged and demographics have shifted.

But malls such as Somerset, Twelve Oaks and Great Lakes Crossing have weathered the onslaught because they offer high-end destination retail and experiences, Taubman said.