The Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota is a converted Kmart. Photo jimmywayne22 on Flickr
Municipalities have been taking empty big box stores and converting them into public spaces, go kart tracks, museums, and office space. Most such conversions so far have been when a big box store abandoned one store to build an even bigger one nearby.
But with the current wave of superstore bankruptcies like Circuit City, many more will be empty soon. It seems imperative that something be done with them else the entire mall starts to empty out.