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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,599
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

We have a 60 year old regional mall that is still going strong.  I think that's probably due to a great location and the fact that they have constantly changed over the years to stay up to date.  It started as an open air shopping center and then became an enclosed mall when that was the style.  Interior has changed over the years and lots of outparcels added.  The anchors are Dillard's and Macy's. 

Back in the 80s a new mall was built about 15 minutes away and had some of the same stores, anchors included.  That mall was a beauty, but now it's on its last legs like so many others around the country.  Another mall, built in the 70s, is shifting to become a "lifestyle complex" with shopping, entertainment, offices and residential.  Meanwhile the regional mall is still thriving as a shopping center, thank goodness.  

"Breathe in, breathe out, move on." Jimmy Buffett
Honored Contributor
Posts: 19,405
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

We have one about 20 minutes away that was built in 1970, and is still going strong! Also in the town that I live in there is a mall built in 1980 that is on its last leg!

 

It is so sad, because I remember everyone so excited to have a nice Mall, and then over the years, the owners never did anything to upgrade it, and as stores closed, they never bought in new stores to replace the closed ones, so unfortunately I think it will close after this Holiday Season.

 

I don't see how the few stores that remain are able to afford the astronomical rent any longer! sad! 

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,317
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

Yes....I live about an hour+ away in three different directions from large cities.  All have malls and they are still in business.

 

 Store names have changed over the years but the anchor stores are still there.  I frequent the mall as often as I need to.  I do not like online shopping unless it's a necessity.   

 

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,038
Registered: ‎06-03-2018

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

We still have our mall in my town. It's not huge but has some nice stores. I used to go often to do my part in keeping them open!  Not so much now. But once things are safer I will be back. I hate the thought of losing our local malls. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 24,109
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

I think malls have become too homogenized. They're all largely the same these days. Every mall has more or less the same chain stores. I wonder how a mall that was filled with locally owned, nonchain stores would do? Maybe have turnkey stores set up by the mall owner for different categories. Clothing stores with racks, dressing rooms, mirrors, etc. all set up and just waiting for stock. Various retail stores set up with shelves, racks, etc. All a store owner would need to do is bring in their stock and they'd be up and running? The mall could absorb much of the upfront costs for starting a business and then share in the profits down the road. Maybe call it the Mom and Pop mall for Mom and Pop type stores? 

 

A lot of categories of stores have largely disappeared these days. Small hobby stores that focused on one type of craft or hobby are largely gone. We used to have a knitting store in town that only sold knitting supplies. We had a small store that sold mostly acrylic painting supplies and taught art lessons. Those types of stores largely got killed by the Michaels and AC Moores. Small pet shops have been killed by the Petsmarts and Petcos. Small sporting goods stores have been killed by the big sporting goods chains. Filling a mall with specialty stores run by locals catering to a local market might work out pretty well if you could contain the costs (much of which are the local property/business taxes.) 

 

Each mall could have its own local identity in that way. The mall could even run an entrepreneur workshop and support the prospective store owners. Help them reach out to suppliers, and guide them along the way. It could be an interesting experiment in the right market. Have the stores cooperating with one another instead of competing against one another. It could work.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,324
Registered: ‎04-28-2010

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

A couple of years or so ago, I heard that some malls are or are going to be turned into apartments/condos.  

 

On the top floors above the stores.

 

Just wondering how that venture is going all around the country. ?

'More or less', 'Right or wrong', 'In general', and 'Just thinking out loud ' (as usual).
Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,029
Registered: ‎04-03-2016

Re: Long Term Shopping Malls

Our once beautiful mall but a shell with handful of stores.  I stepped for first time in 10 months into my dear Macys.  I strolled through what departments I usually visited, they are downsized and stocked with limited items.  

I wanted to cry, thinking of the clerks I always saw, the clothes I had happily found over the years, the perfumes we enjoyed spritzing, the ideas I had come up with , ane the feeling of success I felt when leaving.  Those days are gone.  Shopping -  I don't know how to attack it anymore!