Dead mall

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A dead mall or greyfield^[1] is a shopping mall with a high vacancy rate or a low consumer traffic level, or that is dated or deteriorating in some manner. Many malls in the United States are considered "dead," having no surviving anchor store (often a large department store) or successor that could serve as an entry into or attraction to the mall.^[2] Without the access, the small stores inside are difficult to reach; without the pedestrian traffic that a department store generates, sales volumes plummet for the stores, and rental revenues from those stores can no longer sustain the costly maintenance of the malls.

Contents 1 Changes in the retail climate 2 Redevelopment 3 Unconventional uses 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Changes in the retail climate

In many instances, a mall begins dying when the mall's surrounding neighborhood undergoes a socio-economic decline or a newer, larger mall opens nearby. Structural changes in the department store industry have also made survival of these malls difficult: A few large national chains have replaced dozens of small local and regional chains, and some national chains (Montgomery Ward, Woolworth's) have themselves gone out of business. Hence, in some areas there aren't enough traditional department stores to fill all the existing anchor spaces. Newer "big box" chains (such as Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy) normally prefer to occupy their own free-standing buildings rather than mall-anchor spaces.

Attitudes about malls are also changing: People have less leisure time to spend on driving to a fortress-like mall complex and walking, getting distracted, and possibly getting lost in the mall's disorienting corridors. In this respect, big box stores and conventional strip malls have a time-saving advantage.^[3] The rise in big box stores from the 1980s to today, came after the rise of malls from the 1960s to the 1980s, leaving malls reliant on a older business model with no way in their current format to adapt. 2000s-era retailing trends favor open air lifestyle centers which resemble elements of power centers, big box stores, and strip malls over indoor malls, declaring the indoor mall format obsolete.^[4]

[edit] Redevelopment

Dead malls are occasionally redeveloped. Leasing or management companies may change the architecture, layout, decor, or other component of a shopping center to attract more renters and draw more profits. Sometimes redevelopment can involve a switch from retail usage to office or education use of a building (such as is the case with Park Central Mall in Phoenix or Eastmont Town Center in Oakland, California).

As a last resort, the structure is demolished and the property redeveloped for other uses, known as building on a greyfield site. In places such as Vermont with a strict permitting process, and in major urban areas where open fields are long gone, this can be much easier and cheaper than building on a greenfield site.

[edit] Unconventional uses

One of the most infamous dead malls is the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois. Dixie Square was featured in the movie The Blues Brothers (1980). The car chase scenes that took place inside a shopping mall were filmed at Dixie Square after the mall had already been closed. Producers dressed the mall to make it appear to be functional and open for business. Dixie Square is particularly infamous, because 30 years later, the building is still standing, crumbling, weathering away, due to lack of demand for the site for redevelopment.

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dead malls

• Deadmalls.com

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Article about the Dead Malls Competition
• Labelscar, Retail History