An excellent column by Mike Vickery from the... is it called the "Oak Creek/Franklin/Greendale/Hales Corners Now"? Anyway, the CSI community newspaper that replaced The Franklin Hub:
(Below: an overhead map of Southridge Mall's veritable ocean of parking)
Make it a Mall of Fame
By Mike Vickery
CorrespondentDear Simon Property Group: Congrats on your pending purchase of Mills Corp.
This makes you the new parents of Southridge Mall. Adoption is such a tricky thing. May I be blunt? Your new kid needs help. Southridge is both ripe with flaws and ripe with opportunity. I do believe your payoff will be handsome by accentuating the positive and putting a wrecking ball to the negative.
The positive
Customers are ready to spend. The communities of the Southern Cross (Greendale, Franklin, Hales Corners and Oak Creek) have actual money. Really. Other investors and developers have convinced themselves that we southsiders are content wearing burlap, bought with a coupon. Frankly, we are tired running to Chicago, Brookfield and North Avenue to get our non-burlap attire.
We are not Wauwatosa. In Tosa, you can be 18, you can vote, and you can go to war. But don't even think about shopping at Mayfair. We are just a tad more open and friendly down here in the land of Southridge. Might I suggest an ad campaign welcoming young adults and all their discretionary income?
Parking is a joy. China could come for the Boston Store Leather Spectacular and we would still have ample parking. Our lots would make Mayfair shoppers violently sick with envy. Greendale Village President John Hermes has some good ideas to further "green" up these lots. Give him a call.
Space is wide open. Look at all that space between Edgerton and Grange. Tell me Simon, isn't this a scenario just screaming for a free-standing Cheesecake Factory and an Ikea? I bet Best Buy would leap at the chance to set up shop where more than 12 cars can comfortably park.
The negative
It has the ugliest building in America. The Leath Furniture building has all the warmth and charm of a medium-security correctional facility. Actually, that is an insult to correctional facilities everywhere. Leath Furniture has been going out of business longer than they were in business. Ease their pain. Nothing should die this slow. Buy them, evict them and knock that eyesore off the planet. You will hear a sustained standing ovation.
The view from Grange ain't Grand. You folks at Simon Property Group are the experts, but there is something to "curb-appeal," right? Whoever gave the OK to remodel half of the south side of the mall while ignoring the other half should be executed. Yes, actually blindfolded and shot. I know that sounds a tad Sopranos, but once you see mall from Grange Avenue, you will be loading the pistol. Aesthetically, this end of the mall is a double-wide trailer with a duck-taped attached carport.
The last make-over should be made over. The previous owners forgot that "improvement" should be part of any remodeling project. Draining fountains and adding garish lighting technically was an investment, just ill-advised. It was a remodeling effort similar to that of an owner of a duplex that rents to male college students - their heart was not into it. Fix it up right - we promise not to hold any keggers. Heck, we do not even allow bingo.
Welcome to the neighborhood, Simon Property Group. Make Southridge a true shopping destination and enjoy the profit will certainly follow. That buffing sound you hear is the Southside polishing up the magnetic strip on the back of our Visa cards.
As shoppers, we will be sincerely yours.
Mike Vickery can be reached c/o Community Newspapers, P.O. Box 510210, New Berlin, WI 53151, or via e-mail at [email protected].
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