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This is not a Jersey thing, this is happening everywhere. Tons of people are shopping online these days including all ages. This is shameful. Well, then you have teenagers who can't buy things online yet, so they'd be the only people to use the mall as a hangout spot. As you know, Toys 'R' Us officially closed down all its stores recently.
Before malls in the US closed, it really started off with anchor stores closing down on a whim of locations. Macy's is an example of an anchor store that had many closings in many locations.
I go to the Livingston Mall pretty often. I've noticed that Sears will definitely not pay their employees over the exact NJ minimum wage. Every time I go to Sears, the clothes are either left balled up from before, and the same exact clothes are left in the same positions from before usually. One time, I thought that Sears was closing down when I noticed a patch of the women's section and a patch of the men's section was completely empty. Well, they were just expanding the sections, because each gender section had clothes cluttered. So I guess they decided to take the remaining clothes and make them more spaced out. I always worry that this particular mall will close down. I've noticed that the parking lot is so huge, parking lot never had maintenance in my lifetime, and the parking lot is supposed to have more lines, but they were never repainted. This mall is a great mall, but I feel that it is deteriorating and going down.
I've been on the NJ section of this website and I've heard an old person on here say they don't even go to malls anymore, because they said NJ's malls became "ghetto" compared to how it was in their time. (I'd guess I'd have to agree, since there is so much transportation from Newark and the Oranges to these malls.)
Do you think malls in NJ will close down and what would they do with the land?
The answer is yes and just not in NJ. Higher end Malls like the Short Hills Mall or Tyson's Corner Mall in VA will be around longer but they to will eventually die off. Stores like Walmart and Costco and Amazon are killing retail shopping . If anything the smaller Mom and Pops will make a comeback,no one can afford the rent that these Malls charge for space and people hate the crowds and the parking and crime.
All these malls mentioned are not in high population area. Elizabeth Garden is swarming with tourists. The top 10 malls aren't closing down anytime soon and some are remodeling and even expanding such as the Garden State Plaza mall which is super packed on Saturday, too bad they don't open on Sunday.
Cherry Hill, Menlo mall, as well as Newport all doing very well. Bridgewater is pretty good too as it's got lots of trendy eats nearby. I think 1/2 the malls in NJ are in towns where there aren't enough families and young folks to frequent and should be closed down. NJ malls in general is doing much better than other states.
The answer is yes and just not in NJ. Higher end Malls like the Short Hills Mall or Tyson's Corner Mall in VA will be around longer but they to will eventually die off. Stores like Walmart and Costco and Amazon are killing retail shopping . If anything the smaller Mom and Pops will make a comeback,no one can afford the rent that these Malls charge for space and people hate the crowds and the parking and crime.
I think only high-end mall retailers will survive for a long time. They seem to be surviving as of now. I'm lucky I have the Livingston Mall, because there are tons of parking spaces and no crowds! Yes, this mall can get crime though.
All these malls mentioned are not in high population area. Elizabeth Garden is swarming with tourists. The top 10 malls aren't closing down anytime soon and some are remodeling and even expanding such as the Garden State Plaza mall which is super packed on Saturday, too bad they don't open on Sunday.
Cherry Hill, Menlo mall, as well as Newport all doing very well. Bridgewater is pretty good too as it's got lots of trendy eats nearby. I think 1/2 the malls in NJ are in towns where there aren't enough families and young folks to frequent and should be closed down. NJ malls in general is doing much better than other states.
Livingston Mall doesn't attract too many kids. It's so depressing when all you see is old people there (even on weekends when people are off from work). The only reason why Livingston Mall has kids is because of the new indoor playground that was built few years ago. Families are not going to that mall like they used to and I see people hanging out alone at that mall.
NJ is well known for it's great malls, so I'd have to agree that we are doing better with our malls compared to other states. Plus we have a really dense population to crowd up some the NJ malls in a given NJ region.
The answer is yes and just not in NJ. Higher end Malls like the Short Hills Mall or Tyson's Corner Mall in VA will be around longer but they to will eventually die off. Stores like Walmart and Costco and Amazon are killing retail shopping . If anything the smaller Mom and Pops will make a comeback,no one can afford the rent that these Malls charge for space and people hate the crowds and the parking and crime.
Mom and pop stores have zero chance.
Ever wonder why every mall in America has the same stores?
If you go to a mall in Chicago, Los Angeles, or South Carolina, they're going to have Banana Republic, Guess, Skechers, Lululemon, etc.
Even the malls in Barcelona have a lot of the same stores. And now US malls have stores from Japan, etc.
It's because those corporations have established a corporate production model of clothing/goods at a price which keeps profits going after factoring in a few wealthy professional salaries, an army of low paid retail employees, and leaseholds from dozens of shopping malls in every state and storefronts in the wealthiest districts in the wealthiest cities (more for marketing purposes).
There's a Banana Republic on 5th Ave in Manhattan. Do you think that store ever sells enough khakis to cover the rent for that leasehold? Marketing. Branding...
In that scheme, paying for a leasehold at the Livingston Mall probably makes a killing for Banana Republic.
And don't get me started on Outlet Malls. Some genius had the idea to market cheaper quality clothing and make people believe that they are getting high quality clothes at a discount. And turn that into a mall. Outlet Malls are flooded week after week.
It's the new corporate retail model and its making a killing.
Mom and pop stores can't even sell enough merchandise to afford the rent at the Phillibsburg Mall...
It depends on how well the mall is run, location, etc. In Paramus, you have Garden St. Plaza thriving, and then few miles away, Paramus Park looking like a ghost town. This is because Paramus Park owner has not re-invested into it as much as other malls. It still looks like it was in the 80's. Malls like GSP are places where people enjoy eating, walking, hanging out.
Besides the stuff you are mentioning, I'd recommend malls should attract tourists too. Malls should sell souvenirs or at least have displays of stuff that are unique to the state (kind of like a museum). I'm pretty sure NYCers would like to come to the mall if they had touristy things related to NJ.
Much of Garden State Plaza's Saturday customers are from the city, it's been this way for a long while and it's actually a thing. They come out here for big shopping trips because there isn't any sales tax (on clothes, shoes etc).
I remember the first time I saw shoppers with rolling suitcases getting off the bus at Bergen Town Center, couldn't believe it.
I don't think they will "die" but they will evolve. I don't do on line shopping a lot, for me it's a hassle. I have to order, hope the item fits and if it doesn't I have to send it back (even if it is free shipping it involves a hassle imo).
A few problems with malls though. for example where I lived I had 3 malls in driving distance and THEY ALL SELL THE SAME THING. LOL.
How many "gaps" do I need?
How many "champs"??
Now in SJ they opened a "outlet" mall which is a suckers bet imo. it's not really any savings and the clothes are usually "made" for the outlet stores which means it's cheaper quality.
Standalone malls will not survive. Livingston mall is terrible and I'd love to see it leveled and replaced. It's completely alone and isolated with no full service restaurant options within the mall or nearby. No movie theater or other attraction and dying stores like Sears still in it. Places like Rockaway are thriving because you can buy anything you can think of right within the mall radius without having to leave the vicinity. You could spend the whole day shopping there, seeing a movie and have lunch or dinner at one of the several restaurants attached to the mall or within the mall radius. Bridgewater added its fancy movie theater and other stores right next to it. It has several full service restaurants. There is no need for Livingston Mall to exist other than the fact that the bus is there which attracts clientele from outside the area. Short Hills mall is 4 miles away.
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