North County Times
Shopping malls want to be Starbucks.
In the same way that coffee shops transcended the idea of selling caffeinated beverages to become community hubs, malls want to transcend shopping and become the place where everyone — and not just teenagers — come to meet, socialize, or get some work done. Five San Diego County malls recently unveiled multimillion dollar renovations that introduced new, socially oriented seating arrangements, upgraded food courts and dining options, and free Wi-Fi — all intended to make malls a destination place to spend non-shopping time. Mall owners hope a rising tide of new amenities, along with a busy schedule of events, will lift all tenants.
“If we enrich their lives, they’re going to come back to us and shop with us,” said Steve Dumas, senior vice president of design for Westfield USA.
Malls have been under pressure along with the rest of retail when sales plummeted during the recession and subsequent sluggish recovery. After hitting a sales peak of $416.20 per leased square foot in 2007, sales fell 12 percent to $365.39 in 2009, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, an industry nonprofit. Compounding matters, the national vacancy rate for super regional malls — malls with 800,000 square feet or more, including Fashion Valley and Westfield UTC — jumped from 6.7 percent in 2006 to 10.6 percent in 2009....Read the complete article
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