Which Atlanta submarket is No. 1? Downtown,Midtown,Buckhead Perimeter or etc?

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by netdragon

I would say it does, since I live near there. When people leave their cars at valet or otherwise park what seems like a quarter mile away and then go over to the eateries and find out the wait is 45 min, and the door to the mall is around the corner, they go in and shop for a half hour because they have nothing else to do.

And the mall is pretty much fully rented out. It just doesn't have as much as the high-end boutiques for the reasons above, because Vinings and Smyrna, especially mixed-use walkable areas, already picked a lot of these up. The boutiques are right outside the wealthy peoples' doors, so they don't need to go to the mall for them. Also, because it's a more urban population in the area and so close to midtown and other areas, there's other options as well like midtown. However, it still gets a lot of traffic, is usually busy, and it's very pretty inside, compared to the Perimeter mall, for instance, which looks more outdated like the Galleria mall. And yes, the restaurants especially and Costco are very successful. I think the mall is doing fine. It's just not the only game in town anymore.

But it's no shame at all. It's usually just about fully rented out, usually very busy, and just because it doesn't have the same exact stores other malls have, and maybe have a few "urban gear" type stores, doesn't mean it's having any kind of major issues.

It is a matter of marketing you're looking over.

Yes, from your consumer experience it may seem the restaurants help, but to a retailer it is mild at best.

Restaurant waits are only at peak hours a few times throughout the week and those people are not there long 'nor are they planning on hiking with alot of bags. They might grab something as they happen to be there that is on their agenda, but they aren't doing serious shopping that brings in the dollars. The shopping where people can't be rushed. Anchor tenants draw people in for longer periods of time, especially on days off form work and weekends. That is the prize. You want people for a few hours shopping around or browsing for something specific, but looking for variety.

So a few restaurants out front aren't that big of a retail draw, as much as the mall couldn't replace the anchor tenant. But the correctly saw demand for higher end chain restaurants in the area. They probably get pretty good rent from that front part.

They probably aren't getting great rent inside, which is key. They can be full, but it is a question of at what rate.

The costco is successful on its own. It doesn't need the mall and it doesn't help the mall out. It was an opportunity for them to make money off dead space. When people shop at costco they are shopping for different reasons, than the tenants in a mall want them to be. Malls were about keeping rents high by creating a higher end atmosphere for stores with larger than average purchases than most standalone stores. The marketing is key.

If that mall loses another anchor, they will start to have real big problems. The good news is Macys and Sears, in particular, seem to have a really good survival rate. Sears tends to be a mid-lower end anchor so it is typically last to pull out, but it has a moderate affect on in-mall traffic. Macys is your mid-high end tenant. It is key.

[LovelySummer]

I think the area right below 20 is a space/real estate gold mine. The land is at a perfect price and it is very close-in.

[netdragon]

Now an Apple store opened at the Cumberland Mall and a whole bunch of others, so it's a whole new world and the article is outdated already.