Dead Malls

[OCGuy81]

FYE's business model is switching more to "merch" at most locations and away from ordinary physical media like CDs and DVDs. That means fewer, larger stores located in high-income areas such as their stores at Dayton Mall and Polaris Fashion Place since it's hard to find people that will spend a ton of money on Harley Quinn statues and $100 special edition vinyl records. I am a bit surprised that the Ashland Town Center location is still there since from what I remember it's not in a large space. What could be going on there is a pretty serious lack of competition in the vicinity. The Pied Piper that was across from the mall is long gone now.

Wow, I'm surprised they were actually still in business.  I haven't visited any mall in quite a long time, but I figured they'd have gone the way of Sam Goody at least a decade ago.

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

[Scott5114]

FYE's business model is switching more to "merch" at most locations and away from ordinary physical media like CDs and DVDs. That means fewer, larger stores located in high-income areas such as their stores at Dayton Mall and Polaris Fashion Place since it's hard to find people that will spend a ton of money on Harley Quinn statues and $100 special edition vinyl records. I am a bit surprised that the Ashland Town Center location is still there since from what I remember it's not in a large space. What could be going on there is a pretty serious lack of competition in the vicinity. The Pied Piper that was across from the mall is long gone now.

That's basically the business model Hastings was going for...until they went out of business.

[Flint1979]

I'm surprised some malls are still open as a mall let alone stores inside the mall. I haven't been to Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw lately but that has been a dying mall for years. It lost Sears a few years ago but the two other anchors are holding on as far as I know (Macy's and JCPenney). Many of the stores in the mall were empty last time I was in there and I'm guessing it's probably worse by now.

I was in Midland Mall not too long ago and that mall just has a Target holding on as an anchor. It use to have Sears, Younkers and JCPenney as well. There are several empty storefronts in that mall. It also has a Barnes & Noble if that means anything.

Bay City Town Center I think has lost all hope as it has no anchor stores left. JCPenney, Target, Younkers and Sears have all closed. It has an Ollie's Bargain Outlet and Petsmart on the outside of the mall with no mall entrance to either store. I'm guessing this mall's fate is almost sealed and it was always one of the lowest profitable malls. The mall is only about 30 years old. Bay City has a population of about 32,000. Also heard that City Market in downtown Bay City will be closing, that's a marketplace with vendors so not sure what happened there.

Flint Farmers Market in Flint is the premier marketplace in Mid Michigan.

[GCrites]

FYE's business model is switching more to "merch" at most locations and away from ordinary physical media like CDs and DVDs. That means fewer, larger stores located in high-income areas such as their stores at Dayton Mall and Polaris Fashion Place since it's hard to find people that will spend a ton of money on Harley Quinn statues and $100 special edition vinyl records. I am a bit surprised that the Ashland Town Center location is still there since from what I remember it's not in a large space. What could be going on there is a pretty serious lack of competition in the vicinity. The Pied Piper that was across from the mall is long gone now.

Wow, I'm surprised they were actually still in business.  I haven't visited any mall in quite a long time, but I figured they'd have gone the way of Sam Goody at least a decade ago.

It looks like they're down to about 10-12 locations in Ohio whereas 10 years ago they were in all the smaller towns like Portsmouth, Lancaster and Chillicothe. All of those are gone. And all of the fully-functioning malls in larger cities, not just one or two. Cincinnati doesn't have any now unless you include Florence Mall in Northern Kentucky.

[catch22]

You can see the shadows from Elder-Beerman signage on the outside of the building.

In dead mall jargon, that's known as a "labelscar."

[tolbs17]

Carolina East Mall

[webny99]

I drove past a dead mall yesterday. ...

That's an everyday occurrence for commuters on NY 104 in Irondequoit...

[SkyPesos]

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

I know they're pretty generous with price matching in recent years, especially with matching prices on Amazon.

Though the one computer store I really would like to survive for longer is Micro Center. They have some of the best prices I can find for PC parts out there.

[Flint1979]

Sears signage is still up to this day at Fashion Square Mall it's been closed since October 2019. The old Auto Center is being used as a Covid test site.

I think the entire mall should be demolished and redeveloped as an open air shopping mall. The parking lot is in really bad shape as well and the outparcels are empty for the most part.

[Revive 755]

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

Maybe I'm just visiting during the busier hours, but the ones I've visited in the past few months in northern Illinois seem to be fairly busy still.

[kevinb1994]

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

Maybe I'm just visiting during the busier hours, but the ones I've visited in the past few months in northern Illinois seem to be fairly busy still.

OTOH, the one up in Arlington (Jacksonville) closed earlier this year. The Regency Square Mall is a much-noted dead mall, with the St. Johns Town Center just below it, killing off the dead mall to its north. OTOH, the Avenues mall is not dead, despite the St. Johns Town Center not far away. Also, compared to the crappy Arlington Expressway (which includes the formerly-named-and tolled Union Street Expressway plus the dreaded Mathews Bridge), the JTB (aka Butler Boulevard aka SR 202, used to be tolled as well and has the infamous wobbly bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway) is newer and still has development springing off of it. Plus rich folk are buying up luxury homes over at the Beaches.

[roadman65]

Heard Woodbridge Mall in NJ is declining. I hear both Sears and Lord & Taylor are vacant as no one moved in yet.

[kevinb1994]

Heard Woodbridge Mall in NJ is declining. I hear both Sears and Lord & Taylor are vacant as no one moved in yet.

I can say that I'm not really surprised. Then again Quaker Bridge Mall is now a dump, so what else is new.

[tolbs17]

Or are you talking about Livingston Mall, NJ.

[roadman65]

Livingston Mall lost 2 of its anchors as well. Covid killed Lord and Taylor while Lampert killed Sears.

[tolbs17]

Livingston Mall lost 2 of its anchors as well. Covid killed Lord and Taylor while Lampert killed Sears.

wonder what's going to take over those 2 anchors.

[roadman65]

Livingston Mall lost 2 of its anchors as well. Covid killed Lord and Taylor while Lampert killed Sears.

wonder what's going to take over those 2 anchors.

Good question. Just like who will take over the two in Woodbridge as well.

I see nearby in Short Hills had no problem, but then again the Mall at Short Hills is a different world. It's clientele is upscale and most people who shop there make 100K or more annually, so that mall will never die anytime soon.

[tolbs17]

Livingston Mall lost 2 of its anchors as well. Covid killed Lord and Taylor while Lampert killed Sears.

wonder what's going to take over those 2 anchors.

Good question. Just like who will take over the two in Woodbridge as well.

I see nearby in Short Hills had no problem, but then again the Mall at Short Hills is a different world. It's clientele is upscale and most people who shop there make 100K or more annually, so that mall will never die anytime soon.

But my dad hates going there.

[roadman65]

I only visited Short Hills once. I didn't like it as it was too snobbish and all clothing and shoes. No fast food or typical mall novelty item stores. Even Abraham and Strauss didn't use it's abbreviations like they did in Woodbridge due to upper class mentality. A & S is not correct, among the high end society. It's all proper names in their way of speech.

[GCrites]

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

I know they're pretty generous with price matching in recent years, especially with matching prices on Amazon.

Of course they do. Amazon prices are just MSRP. Amazon just seems cheaper to people since there's so much low-end garbage on there that stores can't sell since that crap would hurt a regular store's reputation too much. But since Amazon is infallible to so many people a cheap trinket doesn't change perceptions of Amazon.

[mgk920]

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

I was a bit shocked when I found out that both Best Buy and Office Max closed their next door to each other stores at WI 441/Calumet St on the southeast side of Appleton, WI last fall.  It is amazing how hard it is to find a decent, economical four color laser printer on a store shelf these days.

Mike

[jakeroot]

On that note, does anybody think Best Buy may not be long for this world?  Every time I've visited one in the last few years, they're very vacant.  Perhaps they'll just downsize their stores?

This is actually the first I've heard of someone lacking confidence in Best Buy, at least in recent memory. The Seattle-area locations remain fairly busy, and they've actually managed to remain quite relevant through decently-competitive pricing and, importantly, price-matching almost every competitor (as pointed out above). Their selections will never be Amazon-level, at least in-store, but with the price-matching, it is easy enough to pretend you're shopping on Amazon but with same-day delivery. Logistically, Amazon is a ways off with same-day delivery for most of their stock, so retail stores like Best Buy will remain relevant probably for a long time.

Amazon just seems cheaper to people since there's so much low-end garbage on there that stores can't sell since that crap would hurt a regular store's reputation too much. But since Amazon is infallible to so many people a cheap trinket doesn't change perceptions of Amazon.

This is why regular retail stores will remain in business for a long time. At the end of the day, Amazon isn't just halving the regular price of goods. Most of the time, it's not necessarily cheaper at all, especially among major products that people might go to, say, Best Buy for.

[Pink Jazz]

Of course they do. Amazon prices are just MSRP. Amazon just seems cheaper to people since there's so much low-end garbage on there that stores can't sell since that crap would hurt a regular store's reputation too much. But since Amazon is infallible to so many people a cheap trinket doesn't change perceptions of Amazon.

Some of these prices are due to the agreement with the manufacturer's Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) that the retailer agreed to comply with in order to sell their product.  Selling below the MAP jeopardizes the retailer's agreement with the manufacturer to sell their product.  MAP generally doesn't apply to gray market goods (goods sold outside the manufacturer's authorized retail channels), but buying gray market goods may void warranties.

[GCrites]

I remember back in the catalog and magazine days if an advertiser was selling below MAP they would put "Call" instead of a price next to an item. Of course Amazon doesn't want anyone calling them these days.

[Pink Jazz]

I remember back in the catalog and magazine days if an advertiser was selling below MAP they would put "Call" instead of a price next to an item. Of course Amazon doesn't want anyone calling them these days.

Some retailers use "Lowest price shown in cart" as a loophole around the MAP policy, since the price doesn't get shown until a user adds the item to their cart.  Whether or not this is a valid loophole is yet to be tested.