Breathing Life into Traditional Shopping Malls

Are malls relevant anymore for both shopping and creating some sort of community gathering place? The International Council of Shopping Centers said yes when it released results from a study this past spring which found survey respondents felt their shopping centers were a main source of building community character and in serving as a meeting place.

Yet, if shopping centers were so important, developers are sure hurrying to do what they can to make improvements to existing shopping centers. In Orange County's Santa Ana, there is talk that Westfield is considering a mixed-use addition to MainPlace mall, which would match the mixed-use development occurring right across the street from the mall on Main St.

In addition, Simon Property Group recently proposed a 200,000-square-foot expansion of the Brea Mall in Orange County. The expansion would add nine buildings and a six-level parking structure. The idea has not been approved by the city's planning commission or city council, but some expect the addition plans to go through. It would be in step with the city's overall plan to build up the area and create some sort of cohesiveness with the Birch Street Promenade only a few miles away from the mall.

Incidentally, Brea will also redevelop the Brea Marketplace, across the street from the mall, with a two-story Target and more streetscape frontage.

And while none of this may seem important to some people, the redevelopment of the traditional strip mall or shopping center into more mixed-use and pedestrian-friendly streetscape environments is a call to more high-density planning. Instead of the traditional sprawl-style development that was popular for retail only a few decades ago, more developers are hurrying to update the looks of malls to make them more relevant to consumers who can't seem to get enough of the downtown-esque feeling of more urban shopping environments.

Examples of these types of environments would be the Grove in Los Angeles County and Fashion Island in Newport Beach, which both offer a sort of urban, open-air type of shopping environment.

No one is saying that shopping malls will go extinct, but they certainly are getting a run for their money - or rather revenues - when it comes to the newer types of retail developments competing for shoppers' attention.

In fact, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is a good example of why malls will not go extinct. South Coast is the largest mall in Orange County at 2.2 million square feet and $1.5 billion in sales for this year alone. This mall is still more than relevant. In fact, this mall is a destination spot for not only tourists but local shoppers. And there is nothing urban about it. The most recent change to the mall was the addition of a Bloomingdale's and H&M, but nothing in terms of expansion or construction additions has occurred because this mall is successful as it stands. No developers needs to add residential or new architectural schemes to it.

This mall will remain successful due to the retail mix of both extremely high-end and middle-income retailers, which is unheard of in most malls which cater to a certain income bracket. Plus, South Coast has built up a reputation and brand for itself. Suffice to say, that if a new mall development was built, would they be able to be as successful as South Coast? Most likely they would not.

It seems that with the newer retail developments, there is no push by the developers or the city to bring in unique retailers. It is usually the same nationally recognized brands which cater to middle-of-the-road clientele. This is why no one can beat South Coast.

In the end, if shopping malls want to remain relevant to the consumer, it will always be the retail mix that draws the consumers in. Mall owners should think to be more creative when it comes to their retailers rather than falling back on mixed-use projects which have not necessarily been proven to be successful in all markets.