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The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

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Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#11

Post by JetAlone »

lurquer wrote: post #4

Having lived through the peak of the US Mall years, I blame the downfall on... Nintendo. The mall was a social center for teens. A lot of money got pumped into the malls from that age group. Teen boys would go for the arcade. Teen girls would follow, checking out the guys. Many stores catered to that demographic (Spencers, HotTopic, makeup and cheap jewelry stores, etc.) In short, it was a place to go on casual dates…

I think you're onto something here, as far as that being one, first major impetus that got taken away. Surely people went to toy stores etc, some of them in malls, to buy Nintendo games, and then bought something else while in there. So I wouldn't call that the destruction per se, but I see where you're coming from.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#12

Post by gregwebs »

prepend wrote: post #2

Is it fair to compare value and tax revenue of the 9 downtown blocks to the mall? Aren’t malls usually built in cheap areas because the land has low value, while downtown is typically, well, down town. Also the mall space is including parking lots and the 9 blocks have parking somewhere but not in those 9 blocks.

The downtown could have good public transportation options along with many living or working close by as well. When there is parking it is more likely to be a denser parking garage.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#13

Post by toomuchtodo »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #6
lurquer wrote: post #4

Having lived through the peak of the US Mall years, I blame the downfall on... Nintendo. The mall was a social center for teens. A lot of money got pumped into the malls from that age group. Teen boys would go for the arcade. Teen girls would follow, checking out the guys. Many stores catered to that demographic (Spencers, HotTopic, makeup and cheap jewelry stores, etc.) In short, it was a place to go on casual dates…

Can't tell if satire or woefully unaware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallrats

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#14

Post by _fs »

lurquer wrote: post #4

Having lived through the peak of the US Mall years, I blame the downfall on... Nintendo. The mall was a social center for teens. A lot of money got pumped into the malls from that age group. Teen boys would go for the arcade. Teen girls would follow, checking out the guys. Many stores catered to that demographic (Spencers, HotTopic, makeup and cheap jewelry stores, etc.) In short, it was a place to go on casual dates…

Don't forget record/tape/SD stores as well. We all know how the audio business turned out.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#15

Post by axaxs »

One interesting article I read but can't be bothered to find now mentioned how we could better utilize malls by making top floors of condos. It was such a simple but seemingly good suggestion. Already have huge amounts of parking, tons of floor area for convenience, and stores would change to those that better served the tenants. And as that happens, more people from outside would be incentivized to visit.

Perhaps there are reasons it wouldn't work, or is a bad idea. Perhaps I was enamored with the idea of rolling out of bed and getting Chick Fil A or Cinnabon in my pajamas.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#16

Post by Guest42 »

jcims wrote: post #8
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't tell if satire or woefully unaware.

That's rude. It's a valid perspective. I dumped thousands of dollars in arcade games in the 70's and 80's and spent at least as much buying tshirts and toys and pizza or walking down to the theater and watching a movie.

For me there was a sense of adventure going to the mall because the products would change unpredictably. It was like a living art piece that served great food and could lead to unexpected purchases. It was also fun in the pre-internet era of having the chance to run into someone you knew randomly whereas social media creates a seemingly constant contact.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#17

Post by SilverRed »

rootusrootus wrote: post #9

Our local mall went through a period of decline, as old stalwarts like Sears, Montgomery Ward, and JC Penny went out of business or left. But then it got renovated, new stores moved in, and it's as busy as ever. I think it just took a different selection of stores to attract customers back. And the redesign made space for a number of medium-size anchor stores like REI who have doors facing out rather than into the ma…

I saw someone say the problem is there are just too many malls in America. In Australia it seems every mall is packed to the point where you can hardly walk through them, but all so that the number of malls per person in Australia is much lower than in America.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#18

Post by nitwit005 »

lurquer wrote: post #4

Having lived through the peak of the US Mall years, I blame the downfall on... Nintendo. The mall was a social center for teens. A lot of money got pumped into the malls from that age group. Teen boys would go for the arcade. Teen girls would follow, checking out the guys. Many stores catered to that demographic (Spencers, HotTopic, makeup and cheap jewelry stores, etc.) In short, it was a place to go on casual dates…

It might have helped, but my default hypothesis for anything entertainment related is that people will stop finding something interesting after a while. You can never get the novelty back.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#19

Post by freeone3000 »

axaxs wrote: post #15

One interesting article I read but can't be bothered to find now mentioned how we could better utilize malls by making top floors of condos. It was such a simple but seemingly good suggestion. Already have huge amounts of parking, tons of floor area for convenience, and stores would change to those that better served the tenants. And as that happens, more people from outside would be incentivized to visit. Perhaps th…

Having residential above retail is super common in non-American cities. It works pretty well in Montreal -- condo buildings usually have a grocery store and coffee shop in the lobby, while a strip of three-story buildings might have two stories of residential above things like a collectibles store or a martial arts dojo, with a grocery store on the corner.

The problem with doing this with malls is you have minimum quality requirements for residences. Daylight requirements are a particular concern -- you can sell corners and edges, but you're left with a big space in the middle you can't use, unless you're willing to make the corner apartments expand that far. Once you start doing that, the condo costs comparable to detached houses, and there you lose out to The American Dream(TM). The real wins here would be in splitting apart the stores and putting housing above each one, and replacing "destination" shopping with neighborhood shopping.

Re: The reason the local mall is failing (2018)

#20

Post by pm90 »

axaxs wrote: post #15

One interesting article I read but can't be bothered to find now mentioned how we could better utilize malls by making top floors of condos. It was such a simple but seemingly good suggestion. Already have huge amounts of parking, tons of floor area for convenience, and stores would change to those that better served the tenants. And as that happens, more people from outside would be incentivized to visit. Perhaps th…

This is actually what happens in many new developments in the US today, so called mixed use developments. Example, there is a lot of these in Austin, Texas; the one that I will mention is called “The Domain”: bars, stores and residential complexes all within walking distance, connected to downtown via bus and rail. It’s pretty amazing.

It’s probably a model that will be replicated across the US if the urbanization trends continue.

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