Some examples from California:
City of Napa: Created a pedestrian "paseo" parallel to the traditional "First Street." Very pretty from an architectural standpoint, but not all that economically vital. Similar to the more successful example in Santa Barbara, a larger and much more affluent city.
Walnut Creek and Santa Rosa
Walnut Creek is a classic example of an "Edge City" They have a traditional "Main Street" environment that has remained somewhat successful (with many restaurants). Immediately next to this "Main Street" and directly connected is an outdoor mall anchored by three (I think) department stores. Very pleasant and very successful, with excellent pedestrian spaces, landscaping, and screened parking. The City is steadily improving the downtown area, with older "strip mall" type development being replaced by denser, more urban development (except in the old downtown, though, there is a reliance on national and regional chains, inevitable I guess.
Santa Rosa: Another City with a traditional main street (somewhat tarted up with wavy right-of-way, benches, and trees). There, the mall is a tradional enclosed mall right next to the main street. There is some attempt to integrate the two "sections," but the Santa Rosa Mall cannot disguise the fact that its a regional mall plunked in the center of town. Oh well, at least its not out in some greenfield site.