DR Vixmom, the mall which I work in was planned and vetoed and planned and vetoed on and off for nearly two decades. It is built in an area of three former mill-towns and two former mining towns, so naturally, one would think that a mall the size of The Pittsburgh Mills would be a boon for this area in tears of employment AND shopping.
But, a funny thing happened on the way to the opening. Firstly, many things did NOT get built - such as a mini Nascar raceway (the signage and the fence surrounding the track remained in place for quite a while) - many shops found that they could not maintain themselves; a Prmanti's product store was the first victim; restaurants have come and gone and come and gone again. The owner of the Mills project declared bankruptcy and has been bought out.
There are no real flagship stores in the mall itself - sure there's a Macy's, a Borders and a Dick's Sporting Goods - and the rents (supposedly) are enormously high enough to detract prospective retailers from coming in.
The Mills is suffering because it brought in a load of high-priced stores to a monetarily deprived community; the employment is there, but the shoppers are not.
Had The Mills been built when originally proposed, the economy was better, the surrounding area was less depressed and consumers had a bit more disposal income (though not much).
In the past two months, the Mill's current owner has backed out, bringing in his son from North or South Carolina to try to bring the mall into the black.
A quick walk-through of the mall shows nearly a third of the retail spaces empty and waiting for ANY business to lease the space.
I hope whoever is in charge of YOUR mall from the onset plans it out far better than the mall here north of Pittsburgh was planned.
