Beloved mall with Macy’s & JCPenney closing down after 48 years – as retail expert says you need to ‘stay relevant’ | EZU9S7B | 2024-05-04 17:08:01
Beloved mall with Macy's & JCPenney closing down after 48 years – as retail expert says you need to 'stay relevant' | EZU9S7B | 2024-05-04 17:08:01
AN iconic mall is shutting its doors after decades of shopping amid changes rattling the mall industry.
Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, Michigan, will close on July 1, 2024.
The mall, a nearly 40 minute drive north of Detroit's city center, will be demolished to make room for a new development.
It will be replaced in the coming years with a mixed-use town center, complete with parks, hiking trails, and new housing, according to Fox 2 Detroit.
Mixed-use development is the concept of building housing, commercial areas and other amenities close together.
While the classic 20th-century mall requires shoppers to drive from farther away to experience a one-stop shopping experience, a mixed use community has residents who can shop closer to home in a walkable area.
Proponents of this type of land use say that it helps build economic vitality and boosts tax revenues for communities.
This mall's closure will mark the end of the classic one-building mall experience in the area.
Lakeside Mall, which first opened in the 1970s, currently has two major anchor stores — Macy's and JCPenney.
It's unclear whether either will stay open through the redevelopment process, but a Macy's store appears in the artists' renderings of the new community.
The U.S. Sun reached out to the property's developers, Lionheart Capital, for comment.
REMAINING RELEVANT
Retail expert Matthew Whitman Lazenby recently told The U.S. Sun strategies malls can use to keep themselves afloat. Lazenby has a master's in real estate development and urbanism, and comes from a long line of mall developers.
<!-- End of Brightcove Player --> "People have been talking about the death of malls forever," he told consumer editor Joy Dumandan.
While many malls have shut down, Lazenby said he saw a less uniform trend.
"The best properties are getting better, and some of the worst properties are going away," he said.
While he did not comment specifically on Lakeside Mall or its plans, he suggested that mixing land uses could be a solution for many struggling retail developments.
<!--googleoff: all--> <blockquote class="article__quote"> </blockquote> <!--googleon: all--> He said it was important to be "willing to introduce new concepts."
"The idea of mixing uses isn't new, but I would say retail is probably one of the last frontiers where it's still predominantly single-use."
Incorporating hotels, residences, or offices can help create a more effective space.
For example, a traditional retail-only mall sits empty overnight, where a mall with residents doesn't ever shut down.
This allows shopping and entertainment to extend into the evening hours, allowing more sales out of the same sized property.
MALL MAYHEM
While some malls are shifting their techniques, others are shutting down completely.
One mall in White Plains, New York recently sold its last goods.
The 1980s construction shut for good this spring.
The 20-acre property will likely turn into housing.
A Massachusetts mall dating back to the 1960s has also shut down.
That closure came after Macy's and Sears left the location.
A mall staple, the clothier Express, is shutting down many stores after filing for bankruptcy.
One of the last Sears stores in the country recently shut.
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