Factoid of the day from Daniel Pink: Today’s NY Times Business section reports that 11,000 people work at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Equally staggering, “Forty million visitors arrive here each year, which, according to the mall’s promotional material, is more than visit Disney World, the Grand Canyon and Graceland combined.”
Meanwhile, Our love affair with malls in on the rocks.
The economic crisis has caused shoppers to go into an essentials-only
mode. But the mall has never trafficked in essentials. You can’t, for
instance, fill a prescription at the Mall of America, because it
doesn’t have a pharmacy. You can, however, buy a vanilla hazelnut
fragrance candle in the shape of a miniature cooking skillet. Or a $13
baseball hat that looks as though it’s made of cheddar cheese. A store
called Corda-Roy’s sells a variety of bean bags that convert into beds.
Magnet Max sells a battery-operated guinea pig that runs continuously
on a spinning exercise wheel.
It'll be interesting to see how malls re-invent themselves in the next few years. The vast majority of the U.S. has become grossly "over-stored" to the point that many retailers will require more quality retail locations with less square footage than previous demanded. Whether or not a mall can re-brand itself to cater to a post-consumerism world (consumerism as we knew it) will most likely determine which mall survives and which one doesn't.
I think we have a local example that had better be looking into this re-inventing process immediately. When Sears finally gives up the fight (any month now), what will be left on 76th and Grange?
Posted by: J. Strupp | February 02, 2009 at 04:39 PM
I have a feeling said "re-inventions" will involve a lot of wrecking balls.
One can hope, anyway.
Posted by: JCG | February 03, 2009 at 12:32 AM
Imagine, though, how the value of surrounding neighborhoods will SOAR if they bulldoze Southridge and make a Bayshore-like outdoor shopping area WITH apartments.
Tough economic times, though. We may see an empty shell for quite a few years.
Posted by: John Michlig | February 03, 2009 at 07:44 AM