Malls

[Senator]

Retail has been dead for 10+ year, they just do not know it yet. It is far too easy to buy something, sight unseen, and have it delivered sometimes even the same day. Online there is more selection, and likely more discounts. No gas expenses, no fighting for parking, no 'wilding teens' to have to deal with.

Malls here have some vacancy, but they are still doing OK. On a recent trip around lake Superior, I saw many failed stores, but that may be because of the location.

As the individual cities minimum wages increase, and force malls to pay more, it may hasten the decline.

 

[HGTVfan]

My nearest mall is doing really well the last time I went, which was within the last year, but can't exactly remember why I was there. There were many stores "coming soon" and crowded on a weekday.

Strangely, just visited a stand-alone JC Penny store to kill time before a movie - it was amazing. Clean, well stocked and organized, I was greeted multiple times by workers that actually made eye contact and smiled at me. It had light traffic at 10am when I first checked it out, but was downright crowded when I came back after the movie (early afternoon).

I bought over $400 worth of clothes (probably actually closer to $200 if you figure the retail price on the tags was the real value of the items) for $17. It would have been $27, but the very nice cashier told me about an online coupon since my total went over $25. And he showed me a survey (simple - took all of 5 minutes) and I earned a coupon for 10% off clothing, shoes, accessories and jewelry for my next visit.

I was flabbergasted at the amazing deals and selection and well, EVERYTHING. Nice, attentive sales staff and a clean store with insanely cheap prices? And they're hiring! So I have no idea how they make money on prices cheaper than the local thrift stores but they must be doing well to be so well maintained and needing more workers.

I had the same experience recently at JCPenney. Three sales people in a row greeted me and smiled. It was moderately crowded on a weekday morning. There was construction going on where they were expanding the in-store Sephora.

The Sears in this same mall closed in January and has been torn down to make way for a Dick's Sporting Goods, PetsMart and Lucky's grocery store. I guess they will be freestanding buildings.

A more local mall in my area has been torn down and a new center is being built with lots of my favorite stores - HomeGoods, Kirklands, TuesdayMorning, Ulta etc. plus lots of restaurants, a fitness center and an upscale movie theatre (dine in your seat while watching). I think it will do well but it is sad that the many nearby seniors have lost their walking spot in our brutal heat (Florida).

I lived in the D.C. area in the 1980s and the White Flint Mall was extremely popular. I was surprised to read a few years ago that that mall is dead with the last store, Lord & Taylor I think, on the way out.

 

[Ready]

A brand new mall actually just opened in my neighborhood about two years ago. It is right on the ocean and the builders spent $150M to develop it. It has about 20 restaurants in it, and every one is busy every night. There seems to be no limit to how many people are willing to come by and spend money to eat out.

On the other hand, there are about 40 retail stores in the mall, mostly boutique beach type stores, not too many chains. And even on the nights where every restaurant has a wait time for a table and people are hanging out in the mall courtyard, I almost never see people wandering into the retail stores. They are like ghost towns. You would think that while people are waiting for their table they might at least browse, but they just don't.

And yet more retail stores keep opening. Do these merchants ever wander around the mall to see how other retail stores are doing before they sign a lease? I have to think that most of these stores will be gone within a few years, and the mall will be pretty much just restaurants, bars and entertainment.

 

[Aerides]

My nearest mall is one of the higher end ones in the country. Anchor stores are Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomies, Nordstroms. Macy's is the cheap one, and then a Sears down the "old" end.

There's a Louis Vuitton and Gucci Flagship store in the middle. Oh and Tesla. Two starbucks. Sephora...Pottery Barn+Williams-Sonoma+Crate&Barrel... I could go on.

It's always busy, both starbuck's always have lines. Parking is always full (the secret is the roof-top parking by Saks, always get the front row).

But yes some non-brand stores still fold even here.

 

[euro]

Pretty much the same in my area as what's already been reported. Indoor malls are on a decline. Anchor stores are going belly-up. We have a couple of examples where indoor malls got converted to outdoor (strip) shopping areas, and that seems to have worked well in those places. I think even people who don;t shift their purchases online no longer prefer the indoor mall concept.

 

[jollystomper]

A lot of malls in my area open early to let senior citizens (i.e., many of us on this site ) go walking. Most of the year they do not seem to have a lot of people, but from Thanksgiving thru New Years with all of the Holiday shopping they get very crowded.

The closest mall to us seems to doing well, but the trend is definitely towards outdoor open air shopping centers, with wide sidewalks and restaurants with open air dining.

 

[Sojourner]

Some of the big malls here in metro Atlanta seem to be doing pretty well, while others are clearly dying. The ones nearest me are doing OK, at least judging by how crowded they are on the rare occasions I visit them. And the only reason I do still visit them is to shop for clothes at places like Macy's or Dillard's or to shop for shoes at DSW.

If you haven't seen it before, this is a fascinating photo gallery of "dead malls" across the U.S. that have begun to collapse after years of sitting idle.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/completely-surreal-pictures-of-americas-abandoned-malls

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

My nearest mall is doing really well the last time I went, which was within the last year, but can't exactly remember why I was there. There were many stores "coming soon" and crowded on a weekday.

Strangely, just visited a stand-alone JC Penny store to kill time before a movie - it was amazing. Clean, well stocked and organized, I was greeted multiple times by workers that actually made eye contact and smiled at me. It had light traffic at 10am when I first checked it out, but was downright crowded when I came back after the movie (early afternoon).

I bought over $400 worth of clothes (probably actually closer to $200 if you figure the retail price on the tags was the real value of the items) for $17. It would have been $27, but the very nice cashier told me about an online coupon since my total went over $25. And he showed me a survey (simple - took all of 5 minutes) and I earned a coupon for 10% off clothing, shoes, accessories and jewelry for my next visit.

I was flabbergasted at the amazing deals and selection and well, EVERYTHING. Nice, attentive sales staff and a clean store with insanely cheap prices? And they're hiring! So I have no idea how they make money on prices cheaper than the local thrift stores but they must be doing well to be so well maintained and needing more workers.

You got $400 dollars worth of clothes for 17 bucks, this is why they are dying. You are an awesome shopper, congrats

 

[Dash man]

King of Prussia Mall just finished an expansion. When Sears closed a few years ago a couple of other stores quickly filled the space. The JC Penny store is closing, so it will be interesting to see who fills the space.

 

[aja8888]

I had the same experience recently at JCPenney. Three sales people in a row greeted me and smiled. It was moderately crowded on a weekday morning. There was construction going on where they were expanding the in-store Sephora.

JC Penney is still reeling from the massive loss of business after the Johnson "Apple marketing" experiment that failed miserably. They are trying their hardest to win back their customer base in a shrinking market.

 

[Walt34]

Enough... Today's question for you, is "How is your local mall doing?"

They're critical and the prognosis is not good. Sears left ~2 years ago and J.C. Penney just gave it up and closed last month. Last time I was in there was about 2 years ago and I wondered how they paid the electric bill let alone employees. Once in a while DW will go up to the larger one 30-40 minutes away and she reports that one seems to be doing okay but to me that's not worth the effort. So much easier to just order online and wait a day or two.

OTOH Chili's and Panera Bread recently opened new restaurants on the property, but freestanding, not connected to the mall. I read the mall is going to do some type of renovation but forgot what it is. I might walk through when it's done out of idle curiosity but don't envision doing much shopping there anyway. We're at the stage where almost anything we buy is to replace something that broke or wore out, not get new stuff.

 

[Marita40]

I live 20 minutes from the Mall of America and haven't set foot in it in about 15 years. I don't know how it is doing. The movie theater there used to draw us occasionally but it is gone. I go to the smaller local mall every so often, usually for utility clothes stock up (eg underwear, summer shorts and t-shirts, pjs) at Penneys or Kohls.

 

[Koolau]

Ala Moana mall has continued to upgrade to stay busy. It seems to be working, though there's nothing there I'm interested in nor would I pay the money for it if I were. It seems strictly for the tourists - upscale tourists, many from OUS. The place is usually packed. YMMV

 

[scrabbler1]

The nearest mall to where I live is the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream (Long Island), NY. I go there a few times a year, but mainly to its satellite stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot. Being retired, I often go during off-peak times such as 11 AM on non-holiday weekdays. But even at those times, Wal-Mart is a major PITA.


This mall has been in some hot water lately because a local government agency had granted it some big property tax breaks which greatly increased the local property tax bills paid by Valley Stream residents. Everyone points fingers at everyone else, of course, and most of the agency's directors lost their jobs. Meanwhile, attempts to take back those tax breaks have been met with threatened lawsuits by the mall's owners. It's a mess.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

The nearest mall to where I live is the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream (Long Island), NY. I go there a few times a year, but mainly to its satellite stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot. Being retired, I often go during off-peak times such as 11 AM on non-holiday weekdays. But even at those times, Wal-Mart is a major PITA.


This mall has been in some hot water lately because a local government agency had granted it some big property tax breaks which greatly increased the local property tax bills paid by Valley Stream residents. Everyone points fingers at everyone else, of course, and most of the agency's directors lost their jobs. Meanwhile, attempts to take back those tax breaks have been met with threatened lawsuits by the mall's owners. It's a mess.

I think I went there, isnt that where the security guard got trampled to death during a black Friday sale?

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Yep thats the one,Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death - The New York Times. Ill rule out malls during that time of the year.