Do Empty Malls Signal the Return of Vibrant Downtowns?
Decatur Metro | December 22, 2010 | 11:38 am
A couple different thoughts/stories invoked this question recently.
First, walking by Starbucks on Decatur Square last weekend, I got to thinking about the unique quality of that national chain. As I ambled by, watching a few customers sip their hot, caffeinated beverages at the outdoor tables on a chilly pre-Winter day, I thought to myself, you know people chide Starbucks for being on every street corner and in every mall, but that very flexibility to set up shop in any reasonably stable economic environment is a real rarity in the retail marketplace these days. In short, there aren’t really that many brands found in both malls and downtowns. While other chain restaurants are also found in both locations, Starbucks is certainly the most extreme exception to that rule.
The second event that revived this train of thought a couple days later was an AJC article that documents the decline of many malls in the Atlanta area. This again got me thinking. Do the lower occupancy rates of many Atlanta-area malls (chief among them North DeKalb) and recent bankruptcy filings of mall owners signal a new, less dominant retail role for malls in the second decade of the 21st century?
And if so, what does the urban retail future look like?
While the new trend in mall shopping – open-air malls chock full of the national food and clothing chains – are filling a portion of the gap left by the aged indoor mall, I wonder whether some mall-centric national chains will begin to experiment with a more Starbuckian model.
I’m no economist obviously, but it seems there’s real growth potential for the national chain – clothing, food or otherwise – who can find a way to make money entering stable downtowns areas with needs that can’t be served by current local businesses due purely to economies of scale.
If malls are less abundant than they used to be, these stores may have no other choice but to adapt…even if they can’t generate the per-store profits they once enjoyed.
Depending on the retailer and the community, this could be a real shot in the arm for various downtowns across the country, diversifying commercial districts and providing needed good and services in the future.
Sure we’re still a long way off, but with the recent revival of many downtown communities, the new opportunities may already be out there.
Pic above : Avondale Mall – demolished in 2007. (courtesy of Wikipedia)
I wonder how the model at Atlantic Station relates to this theory. Mostly big box stores, designed to look like a downtown. Of course, it seems almost as empty as a mall a lot of the time that I am over there.
A friend who is a city planner calls Atlantic station a ‘faux” downtown. Fake!
I used to mock Atlantic Station frequently and openly on this site, mostly because some of the residential condos look sorta cheap.
But then I realized it’s one of the only places in the metro area with an urban grocery store. Also, residents can WALK to a Target.
Oh, and I really like the art-deco “look” of “The Atlantic”
Some great looking building, but way to clean to be a real “downtown”.
Funny you should bring Target up. This was one of the headlines yesterday on HuffPo. I know it doesn’t matter some, and others may not be aware. I remembered reading about this a while back but it has popped up again. It’s sometimes difficult to shop with your values in mind, but it made me glad I didn’t give them any of my xmas dollars this year.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/21/target-continues-political-donations_n_799950.html
I did shop at Target last weekend, but now that I know they donated to Chuck Shumer, I do regret it.
Different strokes as they say…
I was mainly kidding, really. I think it is impossible to shop according to your values, if you are trying to do so according to who gets the retailer’s political contributions. Comapnies the size of Target contribute to damn near eveyone. It’s not so much an expression of political preference on the part of the execs, it is simply purchasing access.
The urban grocery store thing at AS is very cool and I wish there were more places in Atlanta with a grocery store built into walkable residential density. The Publix at the bottom of Plaza Midtown scores points for this reason and also for being close to a MARTA station — though the immediate surroundings of that building (the detached-building-with-surface-lot Cheetah, a brownfield lot, a surface parking lot that takes up a whole block) don’t make for great urbanism.
We considered moving to AS just for the walkable grocery store but I eventually got weirded out by the way the whole complex sits as an island apart from the city. Not enough connectivity for my tastes. Maybe some dense infill over the years will improve this — or a rail transit line.
Last night NPR did a piece on how big box retail is moving into urban environments, and focused on WalMart in Washington and Target in Chicago. One of the factors mentioned was the continued movement from suburbs back to the city.
I’m sure that the idea is anathema to most of the readers on DM, but I think a smartly chosen big box in the City of Decatur would be fantastic for us. If you look at our retailers, they have already positioned themselves in a way that sets them apart from the chains.
And no, I don’t think Dollar General is “smartly chosen”. But if I were to say “Trader Joe’s”, nearly everyone would agree with me. I’m sure there are others.
Downtown Macy’s was the big box retail of its day, yet today we consider it a huge loss that it closed.
Am I saying there’s no difference between the historic Macy’s and today’s big boxes? Absolutely not, most notably in their architectural skill and willingness to adapt to an urban environment. I’m just saying that those who oppose large downtown retailers solely on the basis of their size are in denial. It ain’t some new trend.
Daren’s right. National retail, even large national retail, can co-exist comfortably with the kind of indie retail Decatur fosters. Of course, Decatur doesn’t have the household incomes or accessibility for a big, mainstream retailer to come here, so anyone opposed doesn’t really have to worry about it. At least for a while.
But I’m not just taking about big boxes. Actually I’m talking more about smaller mall stores and the fact that the death of malls might compel them to move into more downtowns for purely economic reasons.
I know of GAPs and Eddie Bauers in some downtown communities already, but they’re either really dense or really upscale. I wonder at what point it stops making economic sense.
I hear ya. I was just responding to Daren’s comment. The truth of the matter is that the U.S. is obscenely over retailed. There is simply insufficient buying power nationally to support our full base of retailers. Add to that the aspirationally delusional amount of land zoned “commercial” in communities all over and we’re talking about a system ripe for new models.
Ultimately, the winners will be those who’ve created places where people with choices want to be. In some cases, as Diane notes, this will be new malls or lifestyle centers but, in others, it will be towns and small cities that can deliver the things retailers want — anchors that bring people, steady traffic throughout the day, a clean, safe environment, etc.
The reason malls are often more successful at this than cities is because of centralized management and control. Cities are messy, with many players. Making changes that attract greater retail doesn’t happen over a meeting. It happens over countless meetings where people of competing interests have to come together to get something done. Which is why it’s so rare and why Decatur is a pretty good — and getting better — example of a city that can attract business.
Downtown Decatur use to have a Belk-Gallant, J.C. Penny, Havertys Furniture, Woolworth, Casual Corner, Western Auto, not to mention A&P and Colonial grocery stores, all chains, at the same time. Decatur was the center of commercial activity prior to 1970. Today retail follows rooftops and has to have parking, both are lacking in Decatur compared to the burbs. Our population is less today than in 1970 and its hard to get here from other areas of the region. I doubt any big boxes are on the horizon for the downtown area near the Square.
Ah, man, a Woolworth’s? Boy, do I wish that had survived! What a classic! My favorite thing about the historic plaza in Santa Fe was that a Woolworth’s had survived the boutiquization of the plaza. (Not sure it’s still there).
Check out the movie poster at the DeKalb Theater next to the Woolworth store.
[img]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/4342439648_807d970c6e.jpg[/img]
Sigh!
I can’t figure out how to paste an image. Here is the URL:
http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4342439648&size=large
I only know this from posting so many dang pics over the years, but to post the actual pic, you have to post the link address of the actual pic, not the page it’s on.
This is easily done by right-clicking on the image and selecting something along the lines of “copy link location”.
P.S. I corrected your link above so now folks can see your image.
You make it sound as if this is a bad thing – not having those retail chains. All those stores shout “strip mall” to me
except casual corner. now that we could use.
It is a bad thing. Decatur was more urban then than it is now.
Gee, wouldn’t it be something if one of the big office supply chains put a small-footprint store in Decatur? Oh, wait, did somebody mention that recently?
I really think the only reason malls like Gwinett Place, North DeKalb & Northlake are hurting so much relate to 2 things: wealthy people moving away, and newer malls opening elsewhere (as the article suggests). Considering how popular Mall of Georgia and Discover Mills are, it’s easy to see how the system works: new malls follow the money (and, by default, follow the sprawl).
Another big reason: online shopping. (I know I’ve done close to 3/4 of my shopping online this year)
Well, Discover Mills isn’t THAT far from Gwinnett Place, and I don’t agree that there are no people with money near the other malls. I think people just want to shop at whatever mall is newer. I guess Phipps and Lennox always manage to update themselves.
I used to like North DeKalb Mall, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to like anything in there.
I would love downtown Decatur to have smaller versions of mall stores – similar to Old Pasadena but maybe not as big, although they do have a movie theater (http://www.oldpasadena.org/index.asp)
I second a movie theater for downtown!
Funny you mention Old Town Pasadena – my family is moving
to Oakhurst shortly (well my husband bought a house there but the
rest of us haven’t moved as yet – or even seen our house). One of
the attractions to Oakhurst/Decatur is that it reminded him of Old
Town before it became commercialized with Pottery Barn and all the
other chain stores. We still love Old Town (better than Orange
County which we are leaving) but we are so excited to move to
Georgia! And while Old Town does have movie theaters a few years
ago one of the big chains actually shut down and a Tiffany’s store
opened in it’s place. We vote movie theater. South Pasadena is not
as commercialized and they had an old time movie theater – the
Rialto (it showed a lot of Rocky Horror Picture Show).
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/losangeles/rialtotheatre.htm
I’m no economist obviously, but it seems there’s real growth potential for the national chain – clothing, food or otherwise – who can find a way to make money entering stable downtowns areas with needs that can’t be served by current local businesses due purely to economies of scale.
__________
Probably right and some of these retailers (like Wal-Mart) are trying to do just that — smaller stores in denser urban neighborhoods. They’re close to saturation on the hige-box store in the burbs.
I haven’t been to Atlantic Station, but the Edgewood retail area has Target, Kroger, and Barnes and Noble within walking distance of lots of folks and it’s busy over there.
I would love to see more retail diversity in downtown Decatur. How many pricey gift shops and boutiques can our downtown support? An office supply store would be nice, and so would an eco-friendly dry cleaner, a bagel bakery, and a Richards variety store like the one in Midtown.
I second the dry cleaner, bagel place, and office supply store! Also, a gas station, the one near the library closed!
There are a lot of trends working against the malls, the back to the city movement perhaps the least of them. Online shopping is probably the major one (especially as gas prices continue to rise, which will eventually hurt even the big regional malls). Along with the back to the city movement–and related to it— is the just emerging trend of smaller homes. Smaller dwellings means less space for crap, according to the George Carlin formula.
Re less space for stuff: Please inform my book-collecting/hoarding husband.
Mine too. If you need a Car & Driver magazine from the past 5-10 years, please don’t go to the library or look online. No, we have them all in our basement.
I think the Freeport Maine model has potential to replace indoor malls in some areas.
http://www.freeportusa.com/FreeportMap.html
We just need to attract a giant mail-order outlet…