Retail Watchers

Simon, which is the largest U.S. mall operator, is buying rival mall operator Taubman. Taubman is a a relatively high end mall operator. The $972 sales per square foot is much higher than Simon.

Taubman malls have a distinct look. You can tell a Taubman built property by the marble floors, sunken seating areas, the pure white ceilings with dynamic lighting. There is a theme that runs through many of their properties. The grand court has a glass elevator and there are many skylights.

Taubman is not realy big on food courts. Some malls have gotten rid of their food courts in recent years, while others do not have food courts at all. Sunvalley Mall in Concord, California added a food court a few years ago after getting rid of the old food court decades ago. The new food court is a failure. It was overrun by rats and many of the restaurants were closed repeatedly due to rat infestations. Several restaurant spots in the food court are now abandoned. The once popular sushi buffet restaurant was closed permanently due to rats. The entire mall has a rat problem that the mall has given up on even trying to recruit new restaurants. They just put in a seating area where there were once restaurant spots. It looks so bad. Simon needs to get this property under control. It is a huge mall with a maze-like underground level that has been taken over by colonies of rats. It is like something out of a horror movie.

Now I see why I was familiar with the name Taubman. They were the partner with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in redeveloping City Creek Center in Salt Lake City, UT.

The Tauban decor is very Mormon church like: Marble, pure white ceilings, skylights to heaven, metal, gold railings... I can see why they chose Taubman.