What is going on with the mall in Lake Havasu ???Will Lake Havasu ever get stores ? (Yuma: spring break)

[azmtman]

Anyone know what is going on with the mall in Lake Havasu, it would be nice to see some stores come in but stores are moving out !!!!
About 6 months ago, I spoke to the mall manager and she told me that they haven't been able to do anything with the mall because of it going through bankruptcy, she told me that is finally over and everyone will see a big difference by the middle of this year.
Well I do already see a big difference we lost another 2 stores!!!!!
Does anyone know why they cant get anything going ?

[Packard fan]

Originally Posted by azmtman

Anyone know what is going on with the mall in Lake Havasu, it would be nice to see some stores come in but stores are moving out !!!!
About 6 months ago, I spoke to the mall manager and she told me that they haven't been able to do anything with the mall because of it going through bankruptcy, she told me that is finally over and everyone will see a big difference by the middle of this year.
Well I do already see a big difference we lost another 2 stores!!!!!
Does anyone know why they cant get anything going ?

A friend of mine in Havasu said the mall is way too far out from "town" and many people DON'T like going there. Even the WalMart by there's having problems.

[keithskye]

It's all about economics and demographics. The Mall exists as a place for companies to lease space for their business and be able to have a concentration of "foot traffic" (customers). For a company like Abercrombie, for instance, to want to open a store in a Mall they must first see that there are enough potential customers within the geographical area that will buy enough of their products to be profitable. Lake Havasu doesn't have enough people in the right age range and with enough disposable income to attract most big name brand stores that you see at malls in big cities. Using Abercrombie as an example again, there aren't enough teenagers and twenty year olds in Lake Havasu full time to make it worth their time and money to put a store in the mall. It's that simple. The folks that built the mall were betting that the growth Havasu was seeing at that time would continue at the fast pace it was experiencing then and that they would be successful by getting in and establishing the mall early and giving companies like Abercrombie a place to establish a store.

Unfortunately, the economic bubble burst in 2007 and it all went to hell. I know of at least a couple of builders that went out of business. I also had a small business that I had to shut down. We are only now starting to recover in the past year, and the rising cost of real estate is a good indicator. When one does the research and finds that a big percentage of the population of Havasu is comprised of retirees and snow birds, it doesn't make sense to put a business there that depends on people spending a lot of their disposable income. Retirees and snow birds are not big spenders.

[Hoonose]

Originally Posted by keithskye

It's all about economics and demographics. The Mall exists as a place for companies to lease space for their business and be able to have a concentration of "foot traffic" (customers). For a company like Abercrombie, for instance, to want to open a store in a Mall they must first see that there are enough potential customers within the geographical area that will buy enough of their products to be profitable. Lake Havasu doesn't have enough people in the right age range and with enough disposable income to attract most big name brand stores that you see at malls in big cities. Using Abercrombie as an example again, there aren't enough teenagers and twenty year olds in Lake Havasu full time to make it worth their time and money to put a store in the mall. It's that simple. The folks that built the mall were betting that the growth Havasu was seeing at that time would continue at the fast pace it was experiencing then and that they would be successful by getting in and establishing the mall early and giving companies like Abercrombie a place to establish a store.

Unfortunately, the economic bubble burst in 2007 and it all went to hell. I know of at least a couple of builders that went out of business. I also had a small business that I had to shut down. We are only now starting to recover in the past year, and the rising cost of real estate is a good indicator. When one does the research and finds that a big percentage of the population of Havasu is comprised of retirees and snow birds, it doesn't make sense to put a business there that depends on people spending a lot of their disposable income. Retirees and snow birds are not big spenders.

It continues to amaze me that Dillard's is still out there. I can't imagine them making a significant profit based on their traffic. But I guess being privately owned it is their choice.

[gemstone1]

"Retirees and snow birds are not big spenders".

Not true, that demographic spends $6M a day (seems high to me, but read the report) in Yuma (according to this report)...don't blame it on the " snowbirds". Do the math...Yuma states they get about 80,000 winter visitors.... aka, snowbirds... the report states the median expenditure is $84.57 per day. If LHC is not getting their share of the snowbird largesse, perhaps the city fathers need to visit with their counterparts in Yuma for some tips.

Regards
Gemstone1

[N804SY]

Originally Posted by gemstone1

"Retirees and snow birds are not big spenders".

Not true, that demographic spends $6M a day (seems high to me, but read the report) in Yuma (according to this report)...don't blame it on the " snowbirds". Do the math...Yuma states they get about 80,000 winter visitors.... aka, snowbirds... the report states the median expenditure is $84.57 per day. If LHC is not getting their share of the snowbird largesse, perhaps the city fathers need to visit with their counterparts in Yuma for some tips.

Regards
Gemstone1

Exactly look at BHC and Fort Mohave they had to build a second walmart right down the highway. I think Lake Havasu has a problem with the fact that besides spring break there isn't much going on there. At least in BHC you have the casinos.