Two of our shopping center tenants... gone

[bean]

My store's shopping center is nothing but major companies, sans for 2 of them.

Linens n Things. Whole Foods (my employer). Ross Dress for Less. Barnes n Noble. Gamestop. Kinkos. Corner Bakery. A nice locally owned gelato shop, and a high end national clothing shop (Harold's).

Linens n Things is going out of business - they're closing at the end of the month. Harold's put up a going out of business banner today, and their website is no longer accepting orders.

I wonder what's going to happen to the shopping center. It's literally at the busiest intersection in the entire city, and considered to be the best retail real estate in the city. Since Linens n Things is on one side of my store, part of me hopes that we'll knock down the wall and expand the store - that's what we did the last time a neighboring tenant closed.

Hopefully it doesn't impact our business much.

[Broomjockey]

Well, Linens N' Things has been going out of business a while, so whatever's going to happen in that location's probably been lined up already, or they're working on finalizing it. If it is a huge retail stop, I can't see it staying vacant for long. The other might be a bit more iffy, since people are going to wait until the LnT flips over, I'm sure, to see what's going to be there.

[DerangedHermit]

I would guess that your Whole Foods is the main attraction, and as such, won't be hit that hard.

[Big-box-retail-blues]

It is going to get a hell of a lot worse for a lot of us on this board. Most of our jobs depend on people having disposable income and considering almost 600k people lost their jobs in November alone we are all going to be in trouble. Buckle down and get prepared.

[bainsidhe]

A lot of places are closing down. One of our main shopping centers has multiple storefronts open. One plaza has Media Play (gone 3 years) and a Computer store (gone almost ten). Now Linens N Things is leaving. Across the street at another shopping plaza is Comp USA (gone 2+ years) and now Steve and Barry's is closing. Unfortunately, it's easier to fill smaller storefronts than the larger ones, at least around here. Most big-names stores want a stand-alone building instead of inside a mall.

I've seen a lot of commentary on various blogs and message boards saying how it's a good thing Linens N Things is closing, since it was high end crap that no one needed anyway. Guess they're missing the point that now it's more storefronts sitting empty, more people without jobs, landlords who aren't making rent and no tax revenue getting put back into the community.

OP, every community/mall is different. I hope Broom is right and something else is already lined up.

[bean]

I doubt something else is lined up, personally. While I agree that Linens n Things was massively overpriced crap, it still hurts the people who work(ed) there.

I doubt the storefronts will sit empty for too long, and Hermit is right, my store is the main anchor for the center. We probably run more in a week than the entire center combined.

Amazingly, we still have a CompUSA in town, though it's now owned by Tiger Direct and actually has damn good prices on most stuff. I picked up a Toshiba 32" LCD HDTV there last week for $479, you really can't beat that for a retail price. The same TV was at the Fry's across the street for $650.

[Hyndis]

I would guess that your Whole Foods is the main attraction, and as such, won't be hit that hard.

The demand of some goods never varies much, such as food.

Buying doodads for your bathroom isn't as essential as buying food, which means that even in a very bad economy people will still go to the grocery store while everyone else is going out of business.

[Hyndis]

It is going to get a hell of a lot worse for a lot of us on this board. Most of our jobs depend on people having disposable income and considering almost 600k people lost their jobs in November alone we are all going to be in trouble. Buckle down and get prepared.

Its actually closer to 1 million if you consider both job losses and people who left the workforce. The unemployment stats are, uhh, massaged, to make politicians look better.


I'm doing that job hunting thing myself. Filling out applications and whatnot...sure they'll give me a call back, sure they will...

[Big-box-retail-blues]

Its actually closer to 1 million if you consider both job losses and people who left the workforce. The unemployment stats are, uhh, massaged, to make politicians look better.


I'm doing that job hunting thing myself. Filling out applications and whatnot...sure they'll give me a call back, sure they will...

I didn't want to sound like a doomsayer.




Good luck w/ the job hunt.

[wagegoth]

I temped for a while at a forklist dealership. When things got bad, the heavy equipment side of the company always suffered. The forklist side was hardly affected. As the manager said, "People may quit eating champagne and caviar, but they still need forklifts to supply their beer and peanuts."

[DerangedHermit]

A lot of places are closing down. One of our main shopping centers has multiple storefronts open. One plaza has Media Play (gone 3 years) and a Computer store (gone almost ten). Now Linens N Things is leaving. Across the street at another shopping plaza is Comp USA (gone 2+ years) and now Steve and Barry's is closing. Unfortunately, it's easier to fill smaller storefronts than the larger ones, at least around here. Most big-names stores want a stand-alone building instead of inside a mall.

One of the towns next to me is the king of abandoned stores. Here's the list:

- a supermarket, since February (will possibly be replaced by Shoprite early next year)
- a Hollywood Video in same shopping center as the supermarket, abandoned about a year
- a florist, abandoned for about two years, still vacant
- a movie theater that's been abandoned almost TWENTY FIVE YEARS. The owner refuses to sell it, and the county is trying to initiate eminent domain. If they do, they will realign the main thoroughfare and the intersections around that area.
- an Ace True Value, abandoned for about 10 years. I think the county is trying to acquire the property here too.
- a Home Depot, abandoned for about a year and a half. Will be demolished in the future for Raymore & Flanagan and HomeGoods.

Plus, up until a few months ago, that town had a shopping center with three of four tenants (a glasses store, Pergament, and Caldor) going out of business ten years ago. Thankfully, the last tenant left and they demolished the shopping center for a Lowe's that will be opening soon.

Thankfully, the shopping center that I work at is basically full except for the Steve and Barry's that will be going out of business, but ever since that shopping center renovated three and a half years ago, business has been booming.