You’ve probably read much about the imminent death of the shopping mall. Well, perhaps you haven’t. I honesty don’t know which side of the fence you’re sitting on but that’s not the whole point of my post.
I just checked out the website for Sydney-based Westfield, a world-wide operator of shopping malls. Did you know that they operate 22 malls in Southern California? You did? Well, good on ya, mate!
It is difficult to think that the mall world is dying. While some stores are here today, gone tomorrow, the mall world is simply going through a reinvention of itself. What was once a vanilla dull, big box eyesore is now opening up to the elements and including retailers that you wouldn’t think belonged in the mall.
Moreno Valley Mall is rebranding itself as a entertainment destination. The recent opening of Round 1 (Japanese equivalent of Dave & Buster’s) along with Harkin’s Theatres has Moreno Valley officials proposing the mall as a place for dates. Yeah, ok.
It seems Westfield also thinks it’s great to squeeze every acre in the San Fernando Valley with retail. Their latest proposal, The Village at Topanga, will bring more retail to an area with two other malls (both owned by Westfield). On top of that, will be high rise offices and a hotel.
Downtown Los Angeles will also mark the location of a new mall. Granted, not brand spanking new, but developers plan on wiping down the former Macy’s Plaza with some Windex and renaming the area The Bloc. No, I’m not making this stuff up.
Finally, to prove not mall culture isn’t dead yet, the World Trade Center 2.0 will be the location for yet another Westfield develop. Go watch the video. One word: wow!
I suppose the reason for wanting to cover the mall world is too practice generating eye balls for a concept that often replaces town centers for a majority of suburbanites. Malls in some areas have replaced genuine downtowns.
What companies like Simon, General Growth and Westfield have to realize is that consumers won’t return if you’re offering the same old stuff. And that’s where I come in. Sure there are other writers that write about retail but they won’t cover the mall world the way I plan on doing that job.
I hope you like what you read. If you have some good tips or want to share your nickel hit me up at david.parada@yahoo.com.
I hope to continue updating this blog daily.
mallworldblog 