Nearly a decade ago, some investors scored big payouts by predicting that the housing boom’s glut of mortgage-backed securities would turn out to be toxic. Now there are investors betting on the hope that more mall owners will soon be letting their properties go into foreclosure. [More]
dying malls
Buying Up Dying Malls Can Be A Viable Business
By 2.22.17 — Updated: 2.27.17
We hear so often about the fading of brick-and-mortar retail that it might seem hard to believe that there are companies out there in the market to buy more malls. Yet there are buyers for distressed malls, even when the owners are about to walk away. There are companies that specialize in this kind of thing, and they aren’t tearing them all down or turning them into apartments. [More]
Malls Using Empty Spaces To Get Into The Party Venue Business
By 2.7.17
Maybe you’re horrified by the idea of getting married or having your family reunion inside a mall, but the huge spaces left vacant by the recent spate of store closures may just be the perfect venue for your next big party. [More]
Troubled Mall Sells To Its Own Lenders For $100
By 1.19.17 — Updated: 1.21.17
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills is pretty typical for a troubled mall: it opened in 2005, but is now financially distressed. It didn’t have enough customers to support its retailers. While the mall still has anchors like Macy’s, JCPenney, and Dick’s, it recently sold at auction for $100. Sort of. [More]
Fewer Middle-Class Consumers Means Fewer Midrange Mall Anchors
By 1.4.16
Just in time for the holiday shopping season, there was a deeply symbolic changeover at the King of Prussia mall in the suburbs of Philadelphia. What used to be a large Sears department store has assumed its final form: it’s part Dick’s Sporting Goods store and part Primark, a fast fashion retailer out of Ireland. That’s just one mall that demonstrates a trend: the institution of the anchor store is dying out in malls. [More]
Good News: Malls Where Rich People Shop Aren’t Dead
By 12.23.15
We’ve shared a lot of stories about dead and dying malls, and we wouldn’t blame you if you thought that the American mall is an endangered creature. Only it isn’t: high-end malls are doing just great. It’s malls in middle-class communities geared to middle-income customers that are suffering from high vacancy rates and failing tenants. [More]
