the Shopping Mall.

[vash]

i havent been in a long time. this past Valentines day force me there. i rode my motorcycle to make sure i got a parking space. my fear was stupid..it was a ghost town. my mall started charging for parking and that is not helping apparently.

i think the Mall is a goner. if i owned one, i would be drawing up plans for something else. condos or something. mixed use, condos on top, shopping underneath.

how is "mall health" in your area?

[drkshdw]

We have 4. Two are still going strong. Those are in the 'nicer' parts of town. The other two are gone.

One sits vacant and closed with plans to tear it down and build mixed condos/retail/office space. The other just sits there as a covered place for old people to walk and has the local DMV in it, a Weight Watchers weigh in place and that's about it.

Kind of sad really but we are a city of strip malls. Every intersection here is a strip mall. It's ridiculous how many strip malls there are here. And everywhere you turn, they're building little all-inclusive cities that people move into and never leave because everything they need is in that 'town'.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by vash

i havent been in a long time....

how is "mall health" in your area?

Haven't been in one in over a decade....never did go much. The one I drive by all the time has gone under and is now owned by the local university as part of their plans.

Malls = T-Rex ....only the skeletons will remain in a few more years imo.

[ckelly78z]

We have one main mall in town, it used to be a big thriving place of business, and weekend shows, now it is a skeleton smattering of stores, somehow staying open with dropping sales. Big retail has really bitten the dust with Amazon, and Walmart.com, so stores that didn't evolve like Sears, Penney, Elder Beerman, have slowly been cutting people, budgets, and stores.

[Ayles]

High end does not seem to be dead. University Village in Seattle is packed all the time. It's an outdoor mall and even in cold crummy weather the place is jammed. While the low end (sears, macy's, Jc Penny) anchored malls are ghost towns.

It's an outdoor mall and even in cold crummy weather the place is jammed.

[RKDinOKC]

Looks to me like they have been using shut down malls for indoor drone racing!

[scottmandue]

The two malls I have been to have been pretty empty.

The huge one is upping its game by remodeling and putting more high end shops.

The other is in a really nice part of town but seems pretty empty.

The only time we go to the malls is to catch a movie.

Kinda sad, online shopping is killing the malls... and with with the malls go the jobs for the young people.

[vash]

Originally Posted by peteremsley

It is anchored by Sears at one end and Macys at the other... .

nice! "anchored" commercial real estate folks always dropping that word.

i need to check out the mega mall in San Francisco.

[vash]

Originally Posted by peteremsley

They're the 2 big shops - one at each end...

yea, my wife taught me the lingo.

[OldSpool87]

Originally Posted by vash

nice! "anchored" commercial real estate folks always dropping that word.

i need to check out the mega mall in San Francisco.

Those anchors drive foot trafffic to the other tenants. Without a big draw the others will suffer. And without anchors, ownership absorbs more of the real estate tax burden. So, it’s a double hit to above and below the line.

The enclosed mall is an endangered species especially if not in or near a major metro like the Short Hills Mall in NJ or The Westchester in NY. These are considered upscale and can offer an experience in addition to a transaction on goods.

A lot of real estate investors I work with are transitioning their regional mall tenants from traditional retail to service to stave off the Amazon effect. After all, you can deliver a haircut…yet.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

A neighbor of mine where I grew up designed a local shopping mall. The mall thrived in the late 60's -70's and even 80's. He died about 15 years ago. His mall was demolished about 10 years ago.

I'm glad he went (due to old age) before his mall and didn't have to see it die.

Around here- the local mall cannot get tenants, and has been rented out creatively. For example- the local train club has one store for a display. Several gyms/ workout clubs have other stores. A local girl scout group has another store- perhaps it's a ballerina club (I can't remember). A slot car racing club has one store. Another slot car club will get another store.

I think the chain stores should become indoor go- cart tracks.


I like the place!

Here is a link(which might not work)

it didnt work- here's a cut and paste of the article-from a gag news site

TAUNTON - Staunton Mall VA voted "Most Relaxing for Mall Santas" for a third consecutive year. "It's a dream assignment," said Christopher Kring, a 38-year Santa veteran. "After years working in thriving malls with actual customers and live children, the Staunton Mall is a welcome, quiet oasis." With an average of 0.004 children a week and a quieter-than-a-library atmosphere, the Staunton Mall has long been a top destination for stressed and overworked mall Santas.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

This got me google searching my neighbor's mall from "back in the day"- and I found this surprising pelican appropriate pic:

[crb07]

A lot of malls will/are going broke. Some will always do well, like Aventura Mall in North Miami. Depends on the local area and economy.

[look 171]

Around here, target seem to go in there and rent these mega space out at one end of the mall. Most I see, their lots are still full. We like to go to this small chain restaurant in our local mall (Santa Anita, next to the track) and can't ever find parking. I assume its doing well. Other then that, I don't go to those places.

[rwest]

We got a mall around here called “Mall of America” that seems to be doing pretty good!

[wdfifteen]

Local malls are in decline. The streets to the malls are lined with big box stores and fast food that seem to be booming.

[Tervuren]

East and West of Charlotte, not so well, south and north of Charlotte they are buzzing.

[Crowbob]

The one around here looks like it got mauled.



(I'll be here all week).

[BeyGon]

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa still does $1.5 Billion a year.

[jyl]

We have four large malls in Portland and environs.

The highest end mall, Washington Square in Tigard, is doing great or at least very good. It is a destination for socializing, dining, movies, shopping. It helps that Tigard is a very suburban place. For an active, lively place with lots of people and lots of things to do, the mall is where is at.

The other high end mall, Pioneer Square Mall in downtown Portland, is doing okay. It is also a destination, with plenty of parking, movies, dining, and shopping in a downtown that is a pretty popular place to be after work hours but where streetfront stores are increasingly afflicted by homeless people hanging out front - but no homeless in the mall.

Those are both "A" malls.

The "B" mall near my house, in close in Northeast Portland, is the Lloyd Mall. It is not doing well. Two of its three anchors are gone, with Nordstrom and Sears closing. Many of its teen apparel retailers are struggling. The 10 screen movie theatre in the mall was closed and converted to "creative office space". The park right across the street has a not-unfounded reputation as a place to buy drugs and get stabbed. This is sad because the Lloyd Mall was [edit: NOT] the very first enclosed shopping mall in the US. However, it was bought by some very deep pocketed investors who are putting money into reviving the mall. It has been remodeled, modernized, the ice skating rink moved to a more central location, and the main entrance rebuilt to have a more appealing appearance from the street. The Nordstrom location is going to be revised into a place for small local businesses. The Sears location will be rebuilt into a movie theatre and more creative office space. The immediate surrounding area is undergoing a transformation with about 3,000 to 4,000 new apartments and condos built within the last two years or coming within the next year or two. It is served by light rail, streetcar, bus, a freeway offramp, and a major bicycle/pedestrian bridge over the freeway and multiple new bike routes will be added soon. New office development is starting and property values are shooting up. All these new residents and workers will be looking for what a mall can offer. The thing is that they won't be driving cars into the parking garage, they will be walking over from their home or office. And while there is a nice commercial street with shops and dining, it is full up with no room to add many more businesses. The original mall was designed solely for shoppers in cars, with a bunker like appearance. The challenge the owners have is to somehow connect the indoor mall to the neighborhood outside, and fill it with craft beer and entertainment instead of lookalike chain stores, which is not easy. I'm hopeful. I like that mall, took the kids there all the time.

There is another mall, Clackamas Town Center, that I don't know anything about. Been there maybe once in ten years. It's a fair drive away.

My feeling is that the very highest end "A" malls are holding their own, not growing but not really in decline. They have an easier time in suburban areas where there isn't much competition. Malls is urban locations are having a harder time and "B" malls are really suffering. "C" malls are dying off.

America is really over stored. During the period 1998-2008, everyone thought any half decent retail concept could support 5,000 stores and they were being built right and left. Unit growth of 15% plus same store sales growth of 5% made for 20% sales growth that would supposedly continue for decades, and supported high stock valuations. Now there are too many retail concepts overlapping and the easiest way to buy anything is with a mouse click, the right number of stores nationwide is half of what was believed before, low inflation and stagnant wages means low or no same store sales growth, and the people who are making all the money are not interested in teenybopper jeans or mass market women's casualwear. So -10% unit growth plus -3% same store sales means -13% sales growth and it doesn't take many years of that for a retail chain to go bankrupt. Shuttered stores, empty malls.

The fastest growing population centers are very urban, the disposable income is being spent on eating out, microbrews, rent and mortgage payments, travel, digital gadgets. What almost every traditional mall wishes it was, is a carefully designed "village" of shops and restaurants amid winding paths. A "Town Center" of shops instead of a mall.