The Changing Phase in Shopping Centers

Here in Greensboro our main two shopping areas are Friendly Shopping Center and Four Seasons Town Centre. Over the past few years one has been hit hard with economic times and one has been steadily increasing. Our mall is on a downward slope into non-existence. There have been several different owners and managers which could have helped in the unstable business handling. I remember when going to mall was all I would do on a Saturday. Now with an increase in crime and decrease in stores at the mall it has seen a significant drop in sales. More and more stores are leaving the mall and going to outdoor shopping centers in our case like Friendly Shopping Center. More "living centers" as they are called are being built in all major cities. These centers include shopping, dining as well as living. They are convenient for one store shopping and a great place to go on a beautiful day or night for a stroll. If this switch in shopping is happening in little ol' Greensboro you can imagine that it is happening in other larger cities.

Just today the second largest mall corporation company filed for bankruptcy. This should be a wake up call for retailers. With many stores not being able to pay mall rent because of decline in their business they were forced out of the malls, which left big gaps in some peoples shopping. Who wants to go to a beautiful mall where at almost every other store front you see a gate pulled down? It's not appealing shopping. This has forced those shoppers to relocate to other centers. General Growth company has been back and forth trying to get out of debt but with more stores leaving and less shopping it has finally become an unrealistic task to get out of debt. Over 1500 malls in the US still remain, however they are now forced to look at what to do to bring in business? With spring and summer soon approaching more and more people spend their time dining and shopping outside. 

With more and more retailers going out of business it is truly a wake up call and realization for where our economy is at now. And if this continues I feel that we will see more malls going under because they can not withstand the economic times. With living centers being the most popular thing, more malls are looking at renovating to save themselves. Malls such as Southpoint in Durham have an outdoor appeal indoors, with nice restaurants that border the mall and some shopping outside you get the best of both worlds! 

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/general-growth-properties-files-for-bankruptcy/?hp