QuoteBankruptcies and flight to St. Johns Town Center have hit the area hard.
By Kevin Turner Story updated at 1:50 AM on Sunday, May. 3, 2009
The usual trickle of storefront turnover among the clusters of shopping centers surrounding Arlington's Regency Square mall has swelled into a wave over the past several months.
Coggin Pontiac, Barnes & Noble, Sound Advice, Toys "R" Us, Babies "R" Us, Circuit City and Linens 'N Things are gone, and for a variety of reasons.
Three - Circuit City, Linens 'N Things and Sound Advice - were part of national retail chains that folded. Four stores moved elsewhere - Barnes & Noble and the "R" Us stores moved to the St. Johns Town Center about 7 miles to the south, Coggin consolidated into an Orange Park dealership. Two chain-owned restaurants, Smokey Bones and Bennigan's, also pulled out of the area.
Some say St. Johns Town Center, the city's current hot retail hub, is drawing business away from the Regency Square area like the mall itself did to the downtown shopping district after it opened in 1967. Some suggest a sweeping redevelopment that would modernize it and possibly rebuild the mall at its core.
Others disagree, saying the chain store losses don't say a thing about the Regency area. They say the present is good there and the future is bright.
Peter Litsky owns Army Navy Outdoors on Monument Road, directly across from Regency Square mall, and has seen the area through 17 years. He said Arlington's main retail area is strong because it straddles busy arterial roads.
"I don't want to feel I'm in a deserted area, and I don't," he said. "I don't think these stores will be vacant for long. The stores that went out of business weren't doing things right in a good economy."
Cappy MacPherson works for VAL-Uvision just south of Regency Square mall and in a shop in the mall. She's worked in the Regency area in various retail jobs for the past 19 years and says she thinks it's the downturn, not competition from St. Johns Town Center, that's causing area stores to close or move. MacPherson said when people see Arlington's newly empty stores, they may conclude the retail area is dying, but that isn't the case.
"The big boys don't have the control. They're controlled by the economy," she said. "If the independents can hang on, we'll be fine.
"All people know is what they see, and perception is reality. But this is going on everywhere."
Business is good at the VAL-Uvision too, said co-worker Janet Crowder, a front desk manager there.
Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Bishop, who represents a segment of the Regency area, said the soured economy has accelerated what was already happening in and around Regency Square.
"Regency has been declining for years. I don't think there's any question Town Center's development has taken a lot of business. Especially in this climate. There's a lot of consolidation - I don't think that's indicative of Arlington per se, but the climate of retail and how retailers think," he said.
The first key to the Regency area's turnaround would be an improvement in the economy, Bishop said. But the next would be to re-invigorate the mall at the shopping district's nucleus.
"All things being equal, long-term, the mall is a redevelopment candidate," he said. "It is, in a sense, a 1960s version of a regional enclosed mall. It probably needs to be opened up. There is a tremendous waste of land in the parking around it."
He said recent retail planning has gone away from box stores in a "sea of asphalt," and noted that in some cities, enclosed malls were transformed into open-air shopping centers. From there, he said, there are many improvements that can be done - from landscaping to layout to design.
Lad Hawkins, president of the Greater Arlington Civic Council, agrees. Regency should be more friendly to outdoor walking and should have more mixed-use offerings, he said. He suggested a layout in which various uses surround a "town square" setting.
"I think what needs to happen is that whole area needs an overlay put on it. It needs to be re-planned," he said. "Shopping centers kind of have a life expectancy and they become dinosaurs. They need to be reinvented. From a planning standpoint, mixed-use is the way of the future."
Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation, said what's happening at Regency is happening nationwide. With a trend away from enclosed malls, other shopping centers have been soaking up attention - and foot traffic - in recent years, she said. But it also could represent a shift in population, she said.
"This is about retailers wanting to go where the customers are," she said. "Where customers are has been changing."
One of those shifts has been a trend back to shopping areas where each store has outside doors - like the St. Johns Town Center and River City Marketplace on the Northside - instead of being at the mercy of an enclosed mall. Davis said these projects are called "lifestyle centers," and recent studies show that more retailers are moving toward building free-standing stores and in these centers and are moving away from malls and outlet centers.
"A retailer who goes from a mall to a freestanding location may be doing it for business issues, or they think they have a strong enough brand they can do it on their own," she said.
That, coupled with a very weak economy, adds up to challenges for malls and the areas around them - retail centers thought for decades to be impervious, she said.
"It's a tough situation," she said. "I can empathize with the difficulty of the mall environments," she said.
The owner of Regency Square mall, Chicago-based General Growth Properties, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month, which could lead to changes there.
But, for Litsky, business is good at Army Navy Outdoors. He said that's because he, like some other Regency-area independents, has specialized his offerings. He said Regency's future holds a renaissance for such mom-and-pop shops as the trend toward large "big box" stores that have dominated retail for years reverses itself.
"The independent stores are surviving. They're doing fine," he said. "The department store model doesn't work anymore. Back to specialization. I think we're going to see a shift in retail in this country."
http://www.jacksonville.com/business/2009-05-03/story/regency_area_loses_stores_amid_recession_retail_shifts
It seems like they are reporting on old news...Arlington will reemerge in time. Give it 15 years when the Southside collapses. There is too much riverfront property there and valuable land, look at Queens Harbor.
I think Arlington will be fine, but what to do with Regency is a completely different issue.
Regency has been in decline for at least a decade. This story has been played out time and time again. Colonial Mall (Orlando), Winter Park Mall, Winter Haven Mall, Southwyck Mall (Toledo), The Mall at 163rd Street (North Miami Beach), Tampa Bay Center, Eastlake Square Mall (Tampa), Floriland Mall (Tampa), Northwood Mall (Tallahassee), Clearwater Mall, Tallahassee Mall, etc. With the regional retail game if you don't evolve and stay on top of the trends you die. Regency is obsolete and if that issue isn't resolved, it will not matter what direction the area around it takes. It will still die. Quite frankly, considering its age, I'm suprised its lasted this long.
JaxPride hosted a charrette on Regency last fall. The report is not on the JaxPride website (like almost all of their reports are), but Google found it:
[PDF]
AIA 150 AIA Jacksonville- Neighborhood Charrette Doc Final 12-21 ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
The charrette study area, as shown on the study area map also encompasses those areas im- mediately adjacent to the existing Regency Square Mall including ...
www.jaxpride.org/charettes/AIA%20150%20AIA%20Jacksonville-%20Neighborhood%20Charrette%20Doc%20Final%2012-21-07.pdf
I think that link will go to the 27 page pdf. They came up with some interesting ideas, with the consensus plan busting up the existing enclosed mall into smaller retail areas centered on a new "main street" that extends Gilmore Heights Road (the one behind Home Depot) south to the existing main mall entrance at Atlantic Blvd. and the Expressway.
here's a good website for the decline of malls throughout the U.S.
http://www.deadmalls.com/
Quote from: TheProfessor on May 03, 2009, 03:26:05 PM
It seems like they are reporting on old news...Arlington will reemerge in time. Give it 15 years when the Southside collapses. There is too much riverfront property there and valuable land, look at Queens Harbor.
If Arlington is defined as everything north of Atlantic Blvd/Arlington Expressway, that is way too big of an area to be fully supported by the waterfront. Just visit Riverside. In a one or two mile ride, you go from multimillion dollar homes and condos on the river to areas rife with crime, drugs, and very low property values. That's Jax. When it comes to housing stock, we're very "democratic". Rich and poor live, if not side by side, often very close to each other. Expect a similar rapid decline to be found in Arlington.
Based on the history of Riverside and Springfield, and even parts of San Marco, I expect it could take decades - or longer - for the declining parts of Arlington to ever be revived. I believe the near term future is Downtown oriented such as San Marco-Riverside-Ortega-Springfield, "near waterfront" oriented areas such as Hendricks-San Jose-SR 13, the Beaches, Intercoastal, Doctors Inlet, Ortega River, or near major non-industrial job centers, such as Downtown, JTB, or I-95.
With the exception of a few gated communities, most of the housing far east of San Jose to west of San Pablo, Arlington, Westside Orange Park west of US 17, and the North and Northwest parts of town will be middling to declining. Just too much cheap or nondescript housing and neighborhoods with no unique features or compelling reasons to attract buyers over any other competing options making them a commodity to be sold to the cheapest bidder. I think Argyle, Oakleaf, Kennsington, and even the lower ends of Julington Creek and Nocatee and other "mega developments" may turn out to stagnate for years to come, especially in our "new" economy.
Quote from: stjr on May 03, 2009, 10:19:34 PM
Quote from: TheProfessor on May 03, 2009, 03:26:05 PM
It seems like they are reporting on old news...Arlington will reemerge in time. Give it 15 years when the Southside collapses. There is too much riverfront property there and valuable land, look at Queens Harbor.
If Arlington is defined as everything north of Atlantic Blvd/Arlington Expressway, that is way too big of an area to be fully supported by the waterfront. Just visit Riverside. In a one or two mile ride, you go from multimillion dollar homes and condos on the river to areas rife with crime, drugs, and very low property values. That's Jax. When it comes to housing stock, we're very "democratic". Rich and poor live, if not side by side, often very close to each other. Expect a similar rapid decline to be found in Arlington.
Based on the history of Riverside and Springfield, and even parts of San Marco, I expect it could take decades - or longer - for the declining parts of Arlington to ever be revived. I believe the near term future is Downtown oriented such as San Marco-Riverside-Ortega-Springfield, "near waterfront" oriented areas such as Hendricks-San Jose-SR 13, the Beaches, Intercoastal, Doctors Inlet, Ortega River, or near major non-industrial job centers, such as Downtown, JTB, or I-95.
With the exception of a few gated communities, most of the housing far east of San Jose to west of San Pablo, Arlington, Westside Orange Park west of US 17, and the North and Northwest parts of town will be middling to declining. Just too much cheap or nondescript housing and neighborhoods with no unique features or compelling reasons to attract buyers over any other competing options making them a commodity to be sold to the cheapest bidder. I think Argyle, Oakleaf, Kennsington, and even the lower ends of Julington Creek and Nocatee and other "mega developments" may turn out to stagnate for years to come, especially in our "new" economy.
Can't argue with that very much. Over the past 25 yrs have seen arlington go from the place to live to a place to avoid. Unless Regency reinvents itself the future doesn't look good. On the other hand have seen the Roosevelt mall go from almost abandoned to thriving Roosevelt squares. My home is on the westside so I appreciate the problems that this incurs, but some big box stores can help out. The rebuilt Home Depot on lane eliminated the trailor park from hell. And while the lane avenue corridor between I-10 and san juan still has its own share of problems, "londontowne apartments and cross creek apartments" anyone, it has improved over the past 10 years.
Quote from: thelakelander on May 03, 2009, 03:42:52 PM
I think Arlington will be fine, but what to do with Regency is a completely different issue.
Regency has been in decline for at least a decade. This story has been played out time and time again. Colonial Mall (Orlando), Winter Park Mall, Winter Haven Mall, Southwyck Mall (Toledo), The Mall at 163rd Street (North Miami Beach), Tampa Bay Center, Eastlake Square Mall (Tampa), Floriland Mall (Tampa), Northwood Mall (Tallahassee), Clearwater Mall, Tallahassee Mall, etc. With the regional retail game if you don't evolve and stay on top of the trends you die. Regency is obsolete and if that issue isn't resolved, it will not matter what direction the area around it takes. It will still die. Quite frankly, considering its age, I'm suprised its lasted this long.
(http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs21/f/2007/277/c/6/Fencer_by_emreturhal.jpg)
I have a theory on Malls or "town center," places. Part of the reason for their decline over the last 20+ years is during that same time, most if not all, have abandoned men! How many stores sell only fashions, jewelry, hair salons, nails, Hello Kitty, panties and bras? Not that long ago, Sears had full garden centers, in the 1950's they even sold Kenmore AUTOS, sporting goods etc. Rosevelt had a bike and hobby shop. Montgomery Wards at Normandy had more variety then WalMart and Ace Hardware combined, and JC Pennys sold tools, appliances, even outboard motors. Several of the stores also sold kit houses through mail order. The farm house on the Wizard of Oz, is a Sears Kit, the original located in Liberal, Kansas.
I used to LOVE to shop with my wife, we'd split up and meet every hour or so. I was kept very busy dreaming of the next model Locomotive or yard toy, or go-cart. All of that is impossible today. I even wonder how a HOBBY and SPORTS MALL would do. Small stores clustered with a few larger anchors like Hobby Lobby, Books-a-Million, Radio Shack, Sports Authority, and so forth. Hell I even go back to the FENCING store in OKC about once a year so I can get on the strip and get my ass skewered... d'Artagnan I'm not... my daughters are another story. We do have a decent fencing club with several strips, a couple are electrics but don't try and buy your equipment here. We just don't have a guy place with real variety.
http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1927-1932.htmOCKLAWAHA
Quote from: stephendare on May 03, 2009, 02:47:58 PM
Whats interesting about this phenomenon, Lake (aside from the fact that we discussed this outcome over a year ago) is that the Mall is being faced with exactly the same dilemna that was created for Downtown by the opening of Regency Square in 67.
I wonder if they will now start charging people to park there and open a homeless shelter at Dillards?
Have you seen the bus stop at Regency? It is a homeless shelter.
^ It's also a joke. Two or three little covered sheds, way far away from the mall itself.
It's an afterthought, and one more reason people don't want to ride the bus.
I think the regency area will always be a viable commercial district. It will never be a St. Johns Town Center, but the middle class will always be present.
^ Not to mention the fact that it is the crossroads between Arlington, Southside, and the Beaches.
Quote from: Jason on May 04, 2009, 01:04:58 PM
^ Not to mention the fact that it is the crossroads between Arlington, Southside, and the Beaches.
(http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/postcard/pc5793.jpg)
Your right Jason, the roumors of the death of Regency as a shopping mecca are exagerated. Location - Location - Location! Malls and plaza's may come and go, but the population and location will always drive a remake, indeed it might end up BETTER then St. Johns Town Center. Consider this, to get to Town Center, one either lives in the South Beach / Ponte Vedra area and passes through JTB daily, or makes the effort to drive to Town Center. To get to Regency, all one has to do is move North, South, Northeast, Southwest, East or West, in an area with population enough to rank as one of Florida's larger cities all by itself. It's really tough to miss that location. OCKLAWAHA
Great observation Stephen.
Yes, and when Jaxson's rode Streetcars it thrived. With the demise of decent transit, the rise of the automobile, and the genius who installed the parking meters, there was no reason to stop there when Philips, Normandy, Roosevelt, Gateway and Regency all offered thousands of free parking spaces, AC and the illusion of a secure environment.
Until downtown returns to a transit friendly and livable place, it is going to continue to suffer.
OCKLAWAHA
^ Arlington can turn ghetto just a easily as Springfield did.
How many years did the Northside go without decent retail options before the shopping area at Duval road opened up a few years ago. Just because there is a significant population count in place means nothing. The income demographic has to be there too. The chains know the population will drive to where they are, if there is no other option.
Another example: How long did Riverside/Avondale go without a grocery store, before Publix opened (after the property values/incomes started to accelerate) ?
From my experience, traffic count and population numbers alone will not guarantee a retail presence.
gotta agree with stephen, Regency is going to have to reinvent itself or die
Quote from: civil42806 on May 04, 2009, 09:00:44 PM
gotta agree with stephen, Regency is going to have to reinvent itself or die
I don't disagree with Stephen, my point being as for location Regency couldn't be in a better place in all of Duval County to "reinvent itself". It may have to wait until 20+ years or so when a new Matthews Bridge/Tunnel makes the chance of LRT to the beaches a reality. Not even downtown has such a single point cross roads that almost every vehicle uses, the various bridges, spread it out. Transit wise, Regency is a pretty unique place, which is why I think redevelopment will work there. OCKLAWAHA
Regency is dying and so will parts of Orange Park for duplicating the same stores over and over and over again. How many places did you need to go to for electronics? For a car? For linens and home decorations? For clothes? Capitalism at its finest gave us so many choices for basically the same things. And now the weak are gone, and this is going to continue for some time to come as we wean ourselves off of stores that are duplicates of what we already have somewhere else.
Big box stores will eventually be sub-divided into office condos or churches. You can always find people willing to invest in a church or start a new business in an office condo.
Orange Park has been hit with some of the National chains overall problems but OP is just suffering the along the current economic tide. I do not see any long term fall off for retail in the area.
Quote from: Ocklawaha on May 04, 2009, 05:40:30 PM
Your right Jason, the roumors of the death of Regency as a shopping mecca are exagerated. Location - Location - Location! Malls and plaza's may come and go, but the population and location will always drive a remake, indeed it might end up BETTER then St. Johns Town Center. Consider this, to get to Town Center, one either lives in the South Beach / Ponte Vedra area and passes through JTB daily, or makes the effort to drive to Town Center. To get to Regency, all one has to do is move North, South, Northeast, Southwest, East or West, in an area with population enough to rank as one of Florida's larger cities all by itself. It's really tough to miss that location. [/color] [/b]
The SJTC is located at the corner of JTB and 9A. It is also a regional destination.
QuoteThe SJTC is located at the corner of JTB and 9A
The SJTC is in more dire need of a trolley system than any part of Jacksonville. Problem is, no one is shopping right now....
Quote from: mtraininjax on May 12, 2009, 01:01:56 AM
The SJTC is in more dire need of a trolley system than any part of Jacksonville. Problem is, no one is shopping right now....
Obviously you've never seen the place on a normal day, let alone a weekend. Place is busy open-to-close.
And yes, some kind of trolley might be nice to have at the SJTC, however, there's nothing wrong with walking around and getting one's exercise, either. ;)
And there's even a bus route (two, actually) that serve the SJTC, so connectivity is less of a problem than with other parts of town... at least, in the context of our still-substandard 'mass transit.'
QuoteS&K to close all its stores
S&K Famous Brands Inc. will close all 105 of its S&K Menswear stores in 26 states, including three in Northeast Florida.
“In spite of our best efforts, the current economic climate left us with no choice but to close down the business,†says Jonathan Tibus, chief restructuring officer at S&K Menswear. “We’d like to thank all of our employees for their hard work and all of our loyal customers for their years of patronage.â€
The company has begun a going-out-of-business sale that will continue until all merchandise is sold.
S&K’s local stores are at Regency Square and Southside Square in Jacksonville and in the Orange Park Mall.
In March, the Virginia-based company announced it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2009/05/18/daily48.html
I think their is an S&K at rivercity town center also.
Also, with Chrysler going through whatever it is now, Jack Caruso Regency Dodge will close. Yet another blow.
pontiac-gmc-buick is gone too so let's get crackin on that SS-Atlantic overpass! u can really see "shovel-ready" money at work at kernan-atlantic!
Poor Regency. Is the Arlington area as a whole deteriorating and "broke down" as well? Is that why that area is losing stores, businesses, etc., or is it just the whole economic downturn thing?
Heights Unknown
Quote from: mtraininjax on May 12, 2009, 01:01:56 AM
QuoteThe SJTC is located at the corner of JTB and 9A
The SJTC is in more dire need of a trolley system than any part of Jacksonville. Problem is, no one is shopping right now....
Those narrow gauge brill cars that were for sale not long ago would make for a "STUNNING" heritage Trolley project. Somewhere in the complex just add in a "Big Lots" size building with classic 1920's charm, it could host a small electric plant - or converters, nice SJTC TROLLEY gift shop and car barn with observation walkways...
Yeah, I've thought of it for a long time, Jax Beach, St. Augustine, Centre Street Fernandina Beach too. Whoever moves first will be the big winner. OCKLAWAHA
lets build an electric plant with all those 3 dollar bills floating around from President Obama.
Until we get a 3 dollar bill from the fed, use the JTA bus trolleys.
Your wrong on this one MTrain, "WE" don't build a damn thing out at SJTC... The Town Center builds and operates it just like:
THE GROVE AT FARMERS MARKET,
http://www.thegrovela.com/landmarks.html
or
AMERICANA AT BRAND,
http://www.americanaatbrand.com/
Both located in California.
Meanwhile you and I can figure out how to use up those new $3 dollar bills on a REAL streetcar system before their only worth .02 cents. At that point I'm off for Colombia.
OCKLAWAHA
Three more stores closing at Regency Square Mall:QuoteThree national clothing chains are shuttering a total of five Jacksonville-area stores, three of them at the Regency Square Mall.
The Lane Bryant locations at the Regency Square Mall and The Avenues mall closed Jan. 20. The Lane Bryant at the Orange Park Mall closed Jan. 21 and the Old Navy and Charlotte Russe in the Regency Square Mall will close Jan. 27.
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2010/01/18/daily27.html
Has anything opened at Regency recently?
Avenue's suffering from the same issue! No one goes to Malls in the numbers of past..........gee I wonder why?
An article out of today's Business Journal:
Quote
Regency Square Mall at a crossroadsProperty owners ponder tear-down of mall’s west wing
Jacksonville Business Journal - by Christian Conte Staff Writer
Forty-two years ago, the Regency Square Mall represented the latest and greatest trends in shopping mall development. Today, it is considered outdated and out-of-style.
A growing number of its storefronts have gone dark, the most recent being the three well-known national stores Old Navy, Lane Bryant and Charlotte Russe, which closed within days of one another last month.
The mall is a victim of new shopping center trends, changing demographics and the recession, but Regency Square General Manager Helen Ciesla said neither the mall’s management nor its owner, the financially troubled General Growth Properties Inc., is giving up on it.
“The mall’s intention is to stay here,†Ciesla said. “We’re a viable shopping center that serves the community.
“We will always have a need for retail. It’s the amount of retail that’s in question right now.â€
To that end, Ciesla said the mall owner is considering several different options, among them filling the empty space with office or medical uses, selling off what is considered the west wing of the mall or even demolishing the west wing. The latter two options would be more difficult, however, because there are still some tenants in the west wing, including Sears, one of the mall’s four anchor stores.
At its height, Regency Square Mall was the place to shop in Northeast Florida. As a result, it became one of the most profitable retail centers in the nation in the 1970s, with annual sales averaging $156 per square foot compared with the national average at the time of $88 per square foot, according to an Urban Land Institute study published in 1978.
The mall attracted new retailers and restaurants to the city over the years â€" including Chick-fil-A, The Children’s Place, Belk and Old Navy â€" even as its popularity started to wane in the 1990s. The mall was also home to some of the most upscale boutiques in the area, including Lilli Rubin, which had only one other location in the nation in Atlanta.
As a teenager, Bonnie Hayflick and her mother, Janice Hayflick, traveled from Mandarin to shop at Regency Square Mall in the 1970s for special occasions and school clothes. Hayflick was so enamored with the mall that she got her first job there at the Body Shop at the age of 17.
Now the single-story, 1.4 million-square-foot mall is pockmarked with empty spaces that make up the 20 percent vacancy rate, according to the mall, compared with 6 percent in December 2008 and 4 percent in December 2007, according to the mall and data from the New York-based real estate information provider Trepp LLC.
But Ciesla said the Charlotte Russe space that just emptied is already under contract with a new tenant, as is the Gap space that has been empty longer. Two other new tenants, a gold buyer and a costume jewelry and accessories store, have already signed leases to take up space in the coming months.
More of the mall’s vacancies are in the west wing. In recent years, the mall has had an influx of local tenants who are filling some of the space once occupied mostly by national tenants that are starting to consolidate, Ciesla said.
Mike Khaled opened the upscale men’s clothing store Zionni on the west side of the mall in 1999 and relocated to a slightly smaller, renamed space on the east side of the mall called Manzoni in March because of the economy and the foot traffic.
Despite its recent challenges, he is still confident that Regency will strengthen when the economy recovers, especially if it was downsized in some way.
A steady decline
Regency Square Mall arguably started to decline in 1990 when The Avenues mall opened on the Southside, taking with it a portion of Regency Square Mall’s shoppers. The Arlington area’s sociodemographics also started to shift in the 1990s and crime started to become a problem at the mall.
John Saoud, now an associate at Colliers Dickinson Inc., worked at the Great American Cookie Co. and Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream at the mall as a teenager in the late 1990s. He remembers a distinct change when the movie theater was relocated to a new separate building outside. Families and couples on dates stopped going into the mall on Friday and Saturday nights, and the mall became a popular hang-out for a less scrupulous crowd reflected by the number of fights and shoplifting incidents.
The mall continued to decline, Saoud said, when a portion of State Road 9A was completed in the area, making it even easier to go past the Regency Square Mall to get to The Avenues.
But the linchpin of the mall’s decline, Saoud said, was the construction of the St. Johns Town Center to the south in 2005 and the River City Marketplace to the north in 2006, which continued to drain Regency Square Mall of customers.
“It’s really been cut off to the immediate West Arlington area,†Saoud said.
The nation’s worst economic recession in decades has forced more retailers inside the mall and nearby to shutter in the past two years, while others closed their Regency Square Mall store to consolidate to more profitable stores at the Town Center and River City Marketplace.
The Death watch continues.
It all went down hill after 'Swensens' closed up.
Quote from: CS Foltz on January 23, 2010, 05:39:56 PM
Avenue's suffering from the same issue! No one goes to Malls in the numbers of past..........gee I wonder why?
really...have you been to the Avenues lately...or better yet, SJTC?
I really don't see how reducing the mall's footprint or converting half of it into offices or medical space is going to help out the situation or solidify the site as a long term regional retail destination. Plus, how do you demolish an entire wing when the anchors (Sears & Dillards) are still present.....unless there are some upcoming closures we don't know about?
The answer is obvious: Just shut it down and let it deteriorate. Meanwhile, build a brand new facility in some previously undeveloped site (preferably one with lots of trees), spend tax money to install roads, sewers, and the like. Then we can brag how much "growth" we have!
Yelp! DT, Normandy, Gateway, Philips, Roosevelt and the list goes on. That's what we've been doing for over 50 years now and everything is working out great. ;)
Regency should study the lessons of Roosevelt Mall, which has been successfully converted into a "super-neighborhood" shopping destination. The enclosed mall was deconstructed and out buildings and new strips added around the surrounding property creating a mini-SJTC.
Yes tufsu........I have been to the "Avenue's" and usually go every other weekend! Count the stores that aren't there anymore and have a seat in the middle to get a feel for the traffic! Down on both counts big guy! 7 stores by my count are not in operation anymore.........another thing is the number of little kiosk's that are empty or with signs ....such and such coming soon! That is another indicator things are down and most malls suffer from that! As to SJTC, I don't go there at all.........so can't give you an opinion on that one!
Quote from: thelakelander on February 06, 2010, 11:52:04 AM
I really don't see how reducing the mall's footprint or converting half of it into offices or medical space is going to help out the situation or solidify the site as a long term regional retail destination. Plus, how do you demolish an entire wing when the anchors (Sears & Dillards) are still present.....unless there are some upcoming closures we don't know about?
Its easy Lek...you demolish the connecting piece between the department stores and then rebuild in some other format...I believe that's what happened w/ a portion of Dadeland Mall (Miami) and Winter Park Village
If we're talking about rebuilding into a lifestyle center than that's one thing. However, that was never mentioned as an option in the article. As for the examples, Dadeland is still retail and all the old anchors left Winter Park Mall before it was rebuilt.
I just don't know if Sears or Dillards wants to stick around as anchors for an office or medical complex instead of directly being located next to additional retail. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Are they still running that stupid kids' train inside the Avenue's? Last time I went there, there was this ridiculous train running up and down the actual walkway inside the mall, pushing people out of the way, I'm sure someone has been hit with it by now because the day I was there I saw one guy get nudged and some kid got away from its parents and ran up in front of it trying to touch it.
Yes, its still there.