storewanderer wrote: ↑November 28th, 2020, 2:00 am
I thought they are trying to do. If they can go the mixed use route they need to get a grocery operator in there
Arden itself is not going the mixed use route at this time, however the former hotel right beyond Sears is currently being developed into 737 market rate apartments.
Sac RT is also selling off land nearby for some developments adjacent to the transit stations. If access to the transit station is improved, I could see Sears and their parking lot becoming a higher density mixed used area.
Arden still has partial local ownership from the Friedman family of Fulcrum Development. Fulcrum is a large mixed use property developer so they definitely have the experience.
Dead (for all intents and purposes): Manchester Center, After Sears closed there is no anchor tenants and the neighborhood is deteriorating, the mall could have a second life as an office mall or could be bulldozed for redevelopment
Dying: Sierra Vista Mall: One of the few remaining Sears stores is there and Kohl's is going strong but, the rest of the mall is empty.
Surviving: Fashion Fair: Mall is almost always full but, could lose Forever 21 and JC Penney in 2021 to liquidation. This is one of the better Macerich properties in their portfolio.
River Park: Outdoor mall is set in a very high end part of Fresno and is in no danger.
Dead (for all intents and purposes): Manchester Center, After Sears closed there is no anchor tenants and the neighborhood is deteriorating, the mall could have a second life as an office mall or could be bulldozed for redevelopment
Manchester is a funny mall. They built that detached movie theater rather than attaching it to the inside of the mall. Given the carousel that was inside the mall you would think they would have attached the cinema and installed more family-focused activities and retail stores in the mall to attract families. There are obviously many families near the mall. There was a mall in Reno where something like that happened in the mid 90's; the mall is long gone (closed shortly before Gottschalk's as a chain announced liquidation), the detached cinema is still there, and they are in the process of putting a massive mixed use development on the site.
Manchester opened various food tenants in the parking lot like Habit and Chipotle that clearly take traffic from whoever is trying to sell food inside the mall.
The Sears was in much better condition than the rest of the mall was a number of years ago when I was last there. I didn't realize Sears lasted as long as it did.
Dying - Eagle Ridge - opened 1996. This was a decently sized mall back in the day. It featured a JCPenney, Dillards and Sears, with a separate outparcel Sears Auto Center and Toys R Us.
The Toys R Us I believe had already closed down prior to my 2012 visit to the mall. The Sears and Auto Center had closed a couple of years ago, and the JCPenney has recently closed, leaving Dillards as the only anchor.
When I visited the mall at the end of 2019, it was still well maintained and seemed to have a large amount of traffic. There are a few national chains in the Mall such as Aeropostale, Foot Locker, Rack Room, Hibbetts, and Bath and Body Works. But the rest is all small mom and pop type stores. There may still be a Taco Bell in the food court.
Surviving - Lake Shore Mall - opened 1992. This mall originally opened with Kmart, Bealls, Belk and JCPenney. Sears was added along with an Auto Center in 1999. None of the anchors were new to the area, they were all replacements of former stores located in strip malls, likely dating to the 1960s and 70s, with the Sears being a replacement for a former 80s appliance and tool store, which replaced another 70s location.
Originally there was also a Luby's Cafeteria in the mall, but it closed around the early 2000s and was a paintball place for a while before becoming vacant again.
The first sign of decline that I noticed was around 2009-10 when the national tenants in the food court began to leave the mall. A&W left and Sbarro's also around this time. There was also briefly a Subway in the food court around 2001-2002 but it only lasted a few years. Since then various privately owned eateries have moved in and out but mostly the stalls have been vacant.
There is also a movie theater located adjacent to the food court, but its location does little to nothing to bring traffic into the mall itself.
The Barnie's Coffee became a Starbucks around 2004, but then Starbucks moved to an outparcel at the new powercenter in 2007, and the store changed back to Barnie's.
Kmart closed in early 2018, and Sears closed during 2019. As of one month ago, JCPenney closed. Bath and Body Works has left the mall to move to the powercenter, which leaves Rack Room and GNC as its only national in-line tenants.
It did gain Planet Fitness in late 2019, although this replaced a line of inline tenants, and part of the former Luby's Cafeteria space. The GNC relocated across from the Planet Fitness. This leaves Belk and Bealls as the two anchors for the mall.
Outparcel anchors include Red Lobster, Chilis, Outback Steakhouse, and Cody's Steakhouse, as well as a Post Office, and a couple of small strip malls of offices and salons.
I would qualify this mall as surviving because it still contains the two anchors, which get moderate traffic, as well as the new gym. Long term I don't see this mall making a comeback to it's early 2010s or late 2000s days due to having three large vacancies.
storewanderer wrote: ↑November 28th, 2020, 11:46 pmManchester is a funny mall. They built that detached movie theater rather than attaching it to the inside of the mall.
Most mall tenants don't want a movie theater near them because they hog up all the parking spaces when they are crowded. Same with gyms.
klkla wrote: ↑November 30th, 2020, 5:55 pm
Most mall tenants don't want a movie theater near them because they hog up all the parking spaces when they are crowded. Same with gyms.
Which never made a whole lot of sense - if you are going into a gym to work out, unless the weather is really bad why would you mind a little more exercise getting into and out of the facility?
storewanderer wrote: ↑November 28th, 2020, 11:46 pmManchester is a funny mall. They built that detached movie theater rather than attaching it to the inside of the mall.
Most mall tenants don't want a movie theater near them because they hog up all the parking spaces when they are crowded. Same with gyms.
That is why these movie theaters are usually at the back of the mall or in some other spot where there is more parking...
Then again with where are currently sit due to COVID, movie theaters are probably a moot point.
I don't know what is going to happen to the malls, either...
The most likely explanation is that theaters don't want to pay common area fees. The early ones were often in a "convenience wing" or, if indoors, in a section of the mall w/o other anchors.
buckguy wrote: ↑December 2nd, 2020, 5:04 am
The early ones were often in a "convenience wing".
That's pretty much how it worked in the mall I most remember as a kid in Pa. It was at the Viewmont Mall on the outskirts of Scranton and the theater was added onto an existing strip of stores which never had mall access right from the beginning when the mall opened in the late 60's. The theater opened sometime in the mid 70's and had two or three screens and actually was considered quite advanced for its time. That part of the mall featured a tavern, floor covering store, supermarket, local chain fast food restaurant and a game room and while attached to the mall itself it sat on sort of a back lot and was built with plenty of spare parking to begin with so it easily handled the crowds the cinema brought in.
The Christmas shopping season is in full swing. It is a busy Friday and even with the stay at home order in effect for all San Francisco Bay Area counties, the malls are packed. The parking lots are full, and the streets leading to the malls are jammed. Even the supermarkets are full with tons of cars and shoppers.
Sunvalley Mall in Concord, California which was dead a few weeks ago, is turning around. McDonald's and many other restaurants have reopened. The shops are about 90 percent open. Unfortunately, people are not social distancing and people are not staying at home. Perhaps they think that the vaccine coming out will make everything go away?
I went to a hospital lab today and an employee said that they are vaccinating employees right now. There is a wait list, and some people want the hospital to take its time. There is hesitation to taking the vaccine.
Restaurants that are not in the mall are doing poorly. There is a ban now on outdoor dining in all Bay Area counties, and those restaurants are not getting much business unless they have a drive thru.
