Mall landlords struggling to find takers at a price they’ll accept

Post by thethirdone » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 5:30 PM UTC

mdorazio wrote: post #136

bcrescimanno wrote: post #130

Here's an anecdote about my experience at a mall yesterday. I needed some new shoes: I went to the Skechers store. There were 4 people working. Not a single one ever offered to help me. I had to walk up to the counter and the girl looked shocked when I asked her to get me my size to try on. She handed me the box and walked away. I never saw her again and walked out without making a purchase. I went over to Macy's to…

To play devil's advocate here... 1) Are you incapable of finding the right size shoes yourself? The boxes are usually laid out fairly logically and it's pretty rare for there to actually be anything of use "in the back". 2) Hiring people to provide the level of service you're asking for would significantly increase the cost of labor over the minimum wage kids that usually staff these stores. I'm fairly certain the co…

Post by touristtam » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 5:32 PM UTC

niftich wrote: post #72

guyzero wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoning can be an issue - there's an abandoned mall in Cupertino that's probably half a mile from the new Apple HQ. And to say it's prime land is an understatement - the entire area is desperate for new housing. Current proposal is for 2,400 housing units on the land. But previous zoning proposal that were ballot initiatives got defeated (hurray democracy) and it's required a state bill to force the city's hand for zo…

Residential vs. non-residential zoning always tries to tilt towards non-residential, because it has a better potential of return. Although both pay property taxes and both require utility services like water, sewer, and waste collection, non-residential properties attract both in-town residents and outsiders from other jurisdictions, who then typically spend some money in your town. Meanwhile, residential attracts ne…

Post by pofilat » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 5:34 PM UTC

guyzero wrote: post #47

projectramo wrote: post #2

I remember learning that in the 90s some companies had this useless asset: gas pipelines that spanned the country, but had dried up and were not being used. Other companies had a problem: how to acquire the rights to lay fiber from one end of the country to the other. Some very smart person realized you could lay the fiber in the old pipes. Question: what can be done with all that retail space? Is there a new use of…

Zoning can be an issue - there's an abandoned mall in Cupertino that's probably half a mile from the new Apple HQ. And to say it's prime land is an understatement - the entire area is desperate for new housing. Current proposal is for 2,400 housing units on the land. But previous zoning proposal that were ballot initiatives got defeated (hurray democracy) and it's required a state bill to force the city's hand for zo…

Post by orbitingpluto » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 5:34 PM UTC

projectramo wrote: post #2

I remember learning that in the 90s some companies had this useless asset: gas pipelines that spanned the country, but had dried up and were not being used. Other companies had a problem: how to acquire the rights to lay fiber from one end of the country to the other. Some very smart person realized you could lay the fiber in the old pipes. Question: what can be done with all that retail space? Is there a new use of…

Post by xamuel » Tue, Jun 12, 2018, 5:37 PM UTC

p49k wrote: post #44

Karrot_Kream wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoning makes this prohibitive in most of America unfortunately

They could go the Uber route and completely ignore all laws and regulations and get away with it somehow.