The Decline of Shopping Malls

[roadman65]

I see the one mall in Clearwater, Florida at the intersection of FL 60 and US 19 has been leveled for a bunch of strip malls.

I am guessing that the nearby mall a few miles north of there at US 19 and FL 580 was too much competition for them to handle. 

[Roadrunner75]

Here's the page....anyone care to translate?
http://kohanretail.com/index.php/northland-mall

In the web design world, "Lorem ipsum..." is a phrase that designers like to use as placeholder content. Some editors even have a Lorem Ipsum generator to fill a page with content.

That's disappointing.  I was hoping someone who took Latin and/or Pig Latin could translate so I could hear what appears to be an exciting narrative about gorillas, gratuitous octopi and souvlaki.

[slorydn1]

Here's the page....anyone care to translate?
http://kohanretail.com/index.php/northland-mall

In the web design world, "Lorem ipsum..." is a phrase that designers like to use as placeholder content. Some editors even have a Lorem Ipsum generator to fill a page with content.

That's disappointing.  I was hoping someone who took Latin and/or Pig Latin could translate so I could hear what appears to be an exciting narrative about gorillas, gratuitous octopi and souvlaki.

I had 4 years of it in high school and I have a serious case of CRS when it comes to Latin. I tried a couple of Latin to English translators and they kept spitting back a mixture of English and Latin gibberish not worth reposting here.

[CtrlAltDel]

Here's the page....anyone care to translate?
http://kohanretail.com/index.php/northland-mall

In the web design world, "Lorem ipsum..." is a phrase that designers like to use as placeholder content. Some editors even have a Lorem Ipsum generator to fill a page with content.

That's disappointing.  I was hoping someone who took Latin and/or Pig Latin could translate so I could hear what appears to be an exciting narrative about gorillas, gratuitous octopi and souvlaki.

I had 4 years of it in high school and I have a serious case of CRS when it comes to Latin. I tried a couple of Latin to English translators and they kept spitting back a mixture of English and Latin gibberish not worth reposting here.

"Lorem ipsum" originally comes from "De finibus bonorum et malorum," a work on moral philosophy written by Cicero. The problem is that over the years the "lorem ipsum" text has slowly been corrupted into pretty much gibberish. For example, the "lorem" comes from "delorum" which means pain.

[PHLBOS]

This just in; the plans to de-mall the Granite Run Mall in Middletown Twp., Delaware County, PA (near the US 1/PA 352 jct., west of Media) are getting closer to becoming reality.

With 'de-malling,' a new look for Granite Run

The best way to turn around the struggling mall, according to its owners, is to demolish it.

What was once a classic suburban mall will be reborn as something more classically urban.

Outdoor courtyards will replace the traditional mall structure as it becomes a town center with retail stores, restaurants, and luxury apartments.
...
Sears and Boscov's, the mall's anchor tenants, will remain open during construction, as structures are demolished around them.

It almost sounds like they're trying to mimic the Main Street Exton (Chester County) complex just off PA 100 that was built circa 2000-2001.  Although some of those stores are now vacant due to the dismal economy and the onslaught of the internet.

[Pete from Boston]

Here's the page....anyone care to translate?
http://kohanretail.com/index.php/northland-mall

In the web design world, "Lorem ipsum..." is a phrase that designers like to use as placeholder content. Some editors even have a Lorem Ipsum generator to fill a page with content.

That's disappointing.  I was hoping someone who took Latin and/or Pig Latin could translate so I could hear what appears to be an exciting narrative about gorillas, gratuitous octopi and souvlaki.

I had 4 years of it in high school and I have a serious case of CRS when it comes to Latin. I tried a couple of Latin to English translators and they kept spitting back a mixture of English and Latin gibberish not worth reposting here.

"Lorem ipsum" originally comes from "De finibus bonorum et malorum," a work on moral philosophy written by Cicero. The problem is that over the years the "lorem ipsum" text has slowly been corrupted into pretty much gibberish. For example, the "lorem" comes from "delorum" which means pain.

Regardless of its meaning, this text in this use is a creation of the print world, co-opted by web publishers.  It was used in newspaper layout to fill a space whose article had not yet been made ready for print.

[kurumi]

Here's the page....anyone care to translate?
http://kohanretail.com/index.php/northland-mall

In the web design world, "Lorem ipsum..." is a phrase that designers like to use as placeholder content. Some editors even have a Lorem Ipsum generator to fill a page with content.

Google Translate pulled a few phrases out:

... and a great idea for directory submission service. That's why for this article, I will come, who will ... advantage from it receives the information in order pill. ... and no layer of hatred and the righteous man, ...

... and so ad nauseum. Souvlaki is pure: Rats out of many, one. Defacto lingo is igpay atinlay. I do not want the select Marquee is not the provision of the incongruous feline contendre. Gratuitous octopus niacin, sodium glutimate. Thus, the time runs away Esperanto hiccup of estrogen. Notify me librus hup hey to the infinite. It is not easy, and it follows the condominium Geranium Incognito. ... Souvlaki is pure: Rats out of many, one.

Li this text box otherwise you are ... science, music, sport, etc., as many 'Europe USA li sam vocabulary. ...

... the grammar of the resulting language ... than a regular text box otherwise. ... me than a friend, you are a skeptic Cambridge.

The Souvlaki is Pure.

[GCrites]

Rats out of many, one.

Rats out of many, one.

Rats out of many, one.

Rats out of many, one.

[Scott5114]

The purpose of the lorem ipsum text is to force you to focus on the presentation of the page. If it contained English text, even gibberish like "Thus, the time runs away Esperanto hiccup of estrogen." most people would automatically start reading the text and be distracted from the page layout.

Most page layout programs contain automatic lorem ipsum generators. Microsoft Word has one–type =lorem() into a document and press enter.

I have a friend who has a linguistics degree and is fairly fluent in Latin, and lorem ipsum text drives them nuts.

[1995hoo]

The purpose of the lorem ipsum text is to force you to focus on the presentation of the page. If it contained English text, even gibberish like "Thus, the time runs away Esperanto hiccup of estrogen." most people would automatically start reading the text and be distracted from the page layout.

Most page layout programs contain automatic lorem ipsum generators. Microsoft Word has one–type =lorem() into a document and press enter.

I have a friend who has a linguistics degree and is fairly fluent in Latin, and lorem ipsum text drives them nuts.

Heh. When I was an editor at my college newspaper, our operations manager was a classics major and I had taken six years of Latin. He decreed the use of "This is text this is text this is text. (Etc.)" because the Lorem ipsum thing annoyed him so much.

[bing101]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/france-takes-amazon/


The French bookstore takes on a battle with Amazon.com for Books.

[I-39]

If I had to make a prediction, I would say this. The future of indoor shopping malls in America is going to come down to this: only the large regional malls that have "destination stores" will survive (such as Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL, Mall of America in Minneapolis, etc), and the other malls will go out of business in favor of outdoor "lifestyle" centers, strip malls or nothing at all.

[DeaconG]

This just in; the plans to de-mall the Granite Run Mall in Middletown Twp., Delaware County, PA (near the US 1/PA 352 jct., west of Media) are getting closer to becoming reality.

With 'de-malling,' a new look for Granite Run

The best way to turn around the struggling mall, according to its owners, is to demolish it.

What was once a classic suburban mall will be reborn as something more classically urban.

Outdoor courtyards will replace the traditional mall structure as it becomes a town center with retail stores, restaurants, and luxury apartments.
...
Sears and Boscov's, the mall's anchor tenants, will remain open during construction, as structures are demolished around them.

It almost sounds like they're trying to mimic the Main Street Exton (Chester County) complex just off PA 100 that was built circa 2000-2001.  Although some of those stores are now vacant due to the dismal economy and the onslaught of the internet.

Well, that blows.  I remember shopping there and being pleased that it wasn't nearly a clusterfuck as the King of Prussia Mall complex.

[GCrites]

If I had to make a prediction, I would say this. The future of indoor shopping malls in America is going to come down to this: only the large regional malls that have "destination stores" will survive (such as Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL, Mall of America in Minneapolis, etc), and the other malls will go out of business in favor of outdoor "lifestyle" centers, strip malls or nothing at all.

One of the main problems with strip malls today is that their foot traffic is pretty spotty unless they have a Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart these days seems to prefer building on their own rather than as part of a strip mall. This lack of foot traffic is why you've seen shopping leave strip malls and being replaced with errands (hair salons, nail shops, cell phone stores, dry cleaners, dog groomers), offices, churches, pizza delivery/takeout and fast casual food. Stores NEED other stores, not errands where everyone is in a hurry. Also, stores in strip malls get broken into a lot whereas that's not a problem in the enclosed mall. Strip malls aren't suitable for our company at this time unless they are EXTREMELY busy and are full of shopping stores, not H&R Block offices that sit empty 10 months of the year. They also must have 24 hour security patrols... most don't. We would also have to have special events 2-3 times a week which are exhausting and increase labor cost.

[DeaconG]

If I had to make a prediction, I would say this. The future of indoor shopping malls in America is going to come down to this: only the large regional malls that have "destination stores" will survive (such as Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, IL, Mall of America in Minneapolis, etc), and the other malls will go out of business in favor of outdoor "lifestyle" centers, strip malls or nothing at all.

One of the main problems with strip malls today is that their foot traffic is pretty spotty unless they have a Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart these days seems to prefer building on their own rather than as part of a strip mall. This lack of foot traffic is why you've seen shopping leave strip malls and being replaced with errands (hair salons, nail shops, cell phone stores, dry cleaners, dog groomers), offices, churches, pizza delivery/takeout and fast casual food. Stores NEED other stores, not errands where everyone is in a hurry. Also, stores in strip malls get broken into a lot whereas that's not a problem in the enclosed mall. Strip malls aren't suitable for our company at this time unless they are EXTREMELY busy and are full of shopping stores, not H&R Block offices that sit empty 10 months of the year. They also must have 24 hour security patrols... most don't. We would also have to have special events 2-3 times a week which are exhausting and increase labor cost.

I noticed this starting in the 90's in Florida; first with Wal-Mart, then Eckerd (now CVS) and Walgreens started moving into standalone stores...but for some strange reason Publix is now bucking the trend and building their new stores as part of a mini-strip mall concept (which works or doesn't work depending on where they put it).

[PHLBOS]

This just in; the plans to de-mall the Granite Run Mall in Middletown Twp., Delaware County, PA (near the US 1/PA 352 jct., west of Media) are getting closer to becoming reality.

Well, that blows.  I remember shopping there and being pleased that it wasn't nearly a clusterf#*k as the King of Prussia Mall complex.

Agree.  The reasons why I use either the Springfield Mall (which is staying) and/or the Granite Run Mall are because both of them are closer to where I live (southern Delaware County), and were not in King of Prussia.

[bing101]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/22/mall-of-america-tightens-security-terror-threat/23839301/

Dang now Malls are getting attention as Terrorist targets. Woah who knows?

[lordsutch]

The saddest are the inner-city dead malls. The perfect encapsulation of that phenomenon is Peabody Place in Memphis, for which several square blocks of Downtown street grid were destroyed. It only opened in 2001, and was completely closed by 2012. 

Well, if by "several blocks" you mean "one block of Gayoso Avenue."

The main issue is that Beale Street draws off the sort of store mix it needed to be successful; when it had a few good restaurants, you could sustain the foot traffic, but there's no good reason to open a restaurant in a mall when you've got Beale two blocks away. Plus Memphis just doesn't have the downtown population a lot of other cities do and PP isn't at a transportation hub either.

[Pete from Boston]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/22/mall-of-america-tightens-security-terror-threat/23839301/

Dang now Malls are getting attention as Terrorist targets. Woah who knows?

Target should have given their name more careful consideration.

Maybe we can confuse these people into targeting the abandoned malls.

[mgk920]

The big mall here in the Appleton area has those very attractive to bad guys 'Come in and raise h***' (AKA, 'No weapons allowed') signs on all of their doors and parking lot entrances.

Step one - LOSE THOSE SIGNS!  The law-abiding public, especially in today's climate of popular concealed-carry, is a *formidable* security force in its own right and is remarkably effective in protecting itself and any property within its view.  Make the most of it!

Mike

[GCrites]

In the movies...

[Brandon]

In the movies...

Someone at DHS needs to put the Tom Clancy books down.

[Scott5114]

The big mall here in the Appleton area has those very attractive to bad guys 'Come in and raise h***' (AKA, 'No weapons allowed') signs on all of their doors and parking lot entrances.

Step one - LOSE THOSE SIGNS!  The law-abiding public, especially in today's climate of popular concealed-carry, is a *formidable* security force in its own right and is remarkably effective in protecting itself and any property within its view.  Make the most of it!

Mike

So you can have some guy who may or may not have a gun losing his shit at a cashier because she won't honor an expired coupon?

Anyone who's worked a service job knows that customers are capricious, petty things. Inviting them to bring their gun to your workplace doesn't exactly inspire a whole lot of confidence that the gun will be used against a terrorist (how often do you have those, anyway?) rather than against you because they're a customer that wants to get into a pissing match with a store clerk over a sale or a refund or something (which happens daily).

[jakeroot]

The big mall here in the Appleton area has those very attractive to bad guys 'Come in and raise h***' (AKA, 'No weapons allowed') signs on all of their doors and parking lot entrances.

Step one - LOSE THOSE SIGNS!  The law-abiding public, especially in today's climate of popular concealed-carry, is a *formidable* security force in its own right and is remarkably effective in protecting itself and any property within its view.  Make the most of it!

Mike

So you can have some guy who may or may not have a gun losing his shit at a cashier because she won't honor an expired coupon?

Anyone who's worked a service job knows that customers are capricious, petty things. Inviting them to bring their gun to your workplace doesn't exactly inspire a whole lot of confidence that the gun will be used against a terrorist (how often do you have those, anyway?) rather than against you because they're a customer that wants to get into a pissing match with a store clerk over a sale or a refund or something (which happens daily).

I imagine the issue is that somebody, with the intent to provoke harm towards others, probably cares little about rules to begin with. Most people will not enter a no-guns zone with a gun*, thus a gun-free zone is a great place for a shooting since the shooter will likely encounter less resistance (hence the large number of shootings at schools and shopping malls relative to other locations).

*this is purely speculative and I have zero proof

[catch22]

Northland Mall in Southfield, north of Detroit with the closure of Macy's is on the death knell. Ironic to see that mall opened by Hudson's stores, was the beginning of the decline of the big Hudson's store in downtown Motown.
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?19658-Northland-Macy-s-targeted-for-closure
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20150107/BLOG014/150109908/macys-plans-to-close-northland-center-store-says-southfields-acting

Northland Mall was built in the early-to-mid 1950s and had even some atomic shelter
http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/11/how-the-cold-war-shaped-the-design-of-american-malls.php
http://www.michigancivildefense.com/northlandcentermallsouthfield.html

From today's Detroit Free Press:

"Northland Center mall could close by spring ... Stripped of its last anchor stores and losing nearly $250,000 every month, the entire Northland Center mall is now in danger of shutting down. ..."

Link:  http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2015/02/23/judge-decide-northland-mall-can-close/23909029/

I think the Freep is being charitable with the use of "could."  I don't see any way out.

I grew up with this mall.  Most of my school clothes from elementary through high school came from the Hudson's store.  I have lots of memories of shopping with my mother and having lunch in the Hudson's restaurant.  But since I returned to the Detroit area after college, I've only been there a few times since it was enclosed.  The last time was for the closing sales when the JCP store was getting ready to exit, and it was looking pretty tired at that time.  Deferred maintenance was evident all over.