Focus Brands Auntie Anne’s had 1,152 domestic units to end 2020, a drop of 59 from the previous year, according to its FDD. Of that amount, 1,140 were franchised. Last year, 622 enclosed mall franchises earned $346,939 in average net sales, or a 33 percent decrease year-over-year. The figure doesn't include 12 mall franchises that opened in 2020 and 45 mall-based franchises that permanently closed. Additionally, 94 outlet center franchises brought in $430,405 in average net sales in 2020, or a 23 percent decrease compared to 2019. The amount excludes one outlet center franchise that opened and three that permanently shut down. Because of COVID restrictions, malls have suffered greatly through most of the pandemic. Monthly visits dropped 95 percent in April 2020 year-over-year and 80.8 percent in May, according to Placer.ai’s index of over 50 top-tier malls. However, traffic is returning. March’s mall visits were down 23.9 percent compared to 2019, the smallest gap since the pandemic started. Then again, some suggest the demise of malls was underway pre-COVID and that the pandemic just accelerated the process. In August, Coresight Research estimated 25 percent of the U.S.’s 1,000 malls will shut down in the next three to five years.