Yeah, watch yourself.

Malls are notorious for stupid fender-benders as people rally race for parking spots, pull out without checking their mirrors or blind spots, and generally neglect to pay attention to the 8 different directions from which traffic might be coming.

In the midst of all this, they're probably not looking for a cyclist so stay on your toes.

I'm not in your saddle so I don't know what the perimeter road looks like versus the main road nearby, but my inclination based on what you describe would be to pick the actual street.