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Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

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Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#111

Post by xwdv »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #88
beambot wrote: post #79

Malls could be the best co-working offices. Ample daytime parking, baller food courts, medical facilities, hair dressers, dentists, cafes, movie theaters, entertainment, etc all under one roof.

Malls as coworking space would be literally the arcologies of dystopian cyberpunk. No windows, no natural light, never going outside in the real, natural world. Just one giant homogenised hermetically sealed world. It wouldn't be "best" for many people. Maybe "convenient" for bosses who don't like how much productivity they lose when a Meat Flavoured Productivity Unit has to go get a haircut or imbibe sustenance....

What kind of malls do you have in your area to have no natural light? Pretty much every mall I’ve ever been to has tons of skylights and rooftop windows.

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#112

Post by barbazoo »

mertd wrote: post #84
abfan1127 wrote: post #25

Malls seem like the perfect mixed use type property. Stores on 1 floor, offices on 2nd floor, then 2-3 floors of housing. 1 of the big department stores could be a grocery store.

That's what a normal town looks like pretty much anywhere outside of North America. I don't know town planners love exclusive zoning so much here.

100% agree. It drives me bonkers that even now with towns and cities expanding and new town centres forming, there's still a strict separation between residential and commercial use. Why not allow spaces for light commercial use in apartment buildings?

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#114

Post by bysin »

emkoemko wrote: post #107

is this a American thing? here in Canada malls are doing well and we keep building even more sometimes next to busy malls... its strange even they tell us Toys R Us is gone? yet they are not closed here basically all the malls have a Toys R Us.. whats up with the states?

Online retail happened, and it's not just America [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_mall#Changes_in_the_retai...

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#115

Post by freddie_mercury »

xwdv wrote: post #111
freddie_mercury wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Malls as coworking space would be literally the arcologies of dystopian cyberpunk. No windows, no natural light, never going outside in the real, natural world. Just one giant homogenised hermetically sealed world. It wouldn't be "best" for many people. Maybe "convenient" for bosses who don't like how much productivity they lose when a Meat Flavoured Productivity Unit has to go get a haircut or imbibe sustenance....

What kind of malls do you have in your area to have no natural light? Pretty much every mall I’ve ever been to has tons of skylights and rooftop windows.

That's generally only in the common areas, not in the retail spaces that make up the vast majority of the actual floorplan and where any converted offices would actually be.

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#116

Post by laylomo2 »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #88
beambot wrote: post #79

Malls could be the best co-working offices. Ample daytime parking, baller food courts, medical facilities, hair dressers, dentists, cafes, movie theaters, entertainment, etc all under one roof.

Malls as coworking space would be literally the arcologies of dystopian cyberpunk. No windows, no natural light, never going outside in the real, natural world. Just one giant homogenised hermetically sealed world. It wouldn't be "best" for many people. Maybe "convenient" for bosses who don't like how much productivity they lose when a Meat Flavoured Productivity Unit has to go get a haircut or imbibe sustenance....

Malls are already coworking spaces. People already work in them, full time, for different companies.

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#117

Post by jleyank »

SkyPuncher wrote: post #73
treeman79 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of parts of the country have unpleasant weather much of the year.

I live in the northern Midwest. Our mall closed this past year and is being made into some sort of mixed-use outdoor space. The reality is the cold weather doesn't really bother people who are use to it. I'm happy to spend time outside jumping store to store because I'll be dressed appropriately.

Within limits. Some of the large cities in the cold parts of Canada have their malls underground connected by subway or metro. With some planning, non-natives can stay underground for months. It takes a little getting used to walking around in -20c weather or colder.

Across the border in Vermont, some of the strip malls have a glass-enclosed front layer for similar thermal protection.

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#118

Post by smoovb »

emkoemko wrote: post #107

is this a American thing? here in Canada malls are doing well and we keep building even more sometimes next to busy malls... its strange even they tell us Toys R Us is gone? yet they are not closed here basically all the malls have a Toys R Us.. whats up with the states?

Right. The state of malls in US is quite a contrast to Asia where new malls keep being built, especially here in Thailand.

Malls across Asia represent the height of social interaction.

Teenagers come and hang out. Social events like fashion shows, food fairs, car shows all are held in the clean comfort malls Public area. If you have a child that does any kind of singing dancing or musical instrument the recital is most likely to be held at the mall.

Meeting someone for dinner is easiest done at the mall restaurants - which includes some many chains but also unique sole proprietor restaurants.

I’ve yet to go to a popular mall where the parking lot is not absolutely packed. In this case you use the malls built-in car wash services while you take a stroll.

The pandemic has certainly taken a toll on Thailand’s malls as well, but it does not look their position in society will be uprooted by online shopping anytime soon.

Check out photos of the recently built Icon Siam to see the latest in mall monstrosities.

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#119

Post by Spooky23 »

brudgers wrote: post #87
shard wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one point is that there are only so many stores one mall can support, depending on the local population size. If land is expensive, then building on top of the mall to further utilize the land can become economical. As to whether offices or apartments are the better choice, that would depend on the local supply and demand of each.

Major projects take a couple of decades to get out of the ground. What was the demand like for housing ten years ago? What is the demand for office space like today? What was the demand for retail twenty years ago? (Low, low, and low) [1]. I agree there are only so many stores a mall can support. At that point the economically sound strategy is to stop building. It's not to layer on incidental complexity that provide…

You really captured the real driver of a lot of real estate policy — the cash.

Money people need things as simple as possible to package risk.

Re: Mall department stores were struggling; the pandemic has pushed them to the edge

#120

Post by brightball »

flubert wrote: post #13

"Malls are dying" seems like a "the suit is back" sort of meme. I've literally been hearing this for 20+ years. And the mall near me seems busier than ever. Someone must be pushing this for some reason. People shorting mall real estate?

It seems to entirely depend on good mall management honestly. The mall near me is a Simon mall ($SPG) and it’s doing great. Part of that is because they refuse to have vacancies and seem to actively recruit appealing businesses to locate there.

Many malls in nearby towns are filing bankruptcy.

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