Declining Malls Strive for New Identities

Although Independence Mall has been around for almost 20 years and should be celebrating it’s anniversary, it is instead ailing with empty storefronts and barely trying to survive. The past year alone has resulted in losing two major stores to bankruptcies and other closings have rendered in soaring vacancy rates.

Across the country, major malls are feeling similar slaps in the midst of cutbacks in consumer spending, massive mall store closings and overbuilding by merchants. While few optimists remain, some analysts are expecting up to 200,000 shops to shut down in malls nationwide and more than 2,000 malls to halt operations over the next year.

Distress signals have been felt across Massachusetts with malls like Westgate Mall indefinitely postponing efforts to add a movie theatre to replace Filene’s department store that shut down several years ago. General Growth Properties, which is the country’s second largest mall operator, is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Simon Property Group has shorted business hours at their malls to curb operation costs and focus on energy conservations.

During soaring economic high-times, money fueled customer spending thanks to maxed out credit cards and investors pouring billions of dollars into expanding their properties with perks like movie theatres and condos. It appears now though that malls are going to have to find some way to re-invent themselves to keep them from disappearing and losing their appeal.