Brookstone's to close mall stores

[Batman]

The latest retail giant to feel the pinch of declining store sales is Brookstone's. It announced Thursday it'll close all of its mall stores nationwide and declare bankruptcy. So, if you ever wanted a massage chair or copper cookware at a deep discount, this might be your chance.

Brookstone files for bankruptcy and will close all of its mall stores

 

[Deskgrunt50]

Malls, and a ton of retail stores, are just about done. (Kind of feels like newspapers).

That's a lot of space, especially malls. What goes in that space?

As a kid in Midwestern suburbia, the mall was THE place to go. Sad in retrospect, but fun at the time.

Kevin Smith weeps.

 

[wicked]

Malls, and a ton of retail stores, are just about done. (Kind of feels like newspapers).

That's a lot of space, especially malls. What goes in that space?

As a kid in Midwestern suburbia, the mall was THE place to go. Sad in retrospect, but fun at the time.

Kevin Smith weeps.

Here’s the thing — malls aren’t just dying because of e-commerce. They’re also for the most part outside of the downtown, and that’s bad at a time where people are moving back into cities.

The malls here in the city are always packed. Maybe it’s not what it was 20 years ago, but there’s still tons of foot traffic.

As for what goes into those spaces, I’d guess nothing in half the cases. The mall will get torn down and repurposed somehow.

 

[SpeedTchr]

Here’s the thing — malls aren’t just dying because of e-commerce. They’re also for the most part outside of the downtown, and that’s bad at a time where people are moving back into cities.

The malls here in the city are always packed. Maybe it’s not what it was 20 years ago, but there’s still tons of foot traffic.

As for what goes into those spaces, I’d guess nothing in half the cases. The mall will get torn down and repurposed somehow.

Where is this happening on a large scale?

 

[exmediahack]

Especially in the Midwest, the people I see moving back into the cities would rather spend $35 on two drinks and some entree with a plum sauce that they take a picture of (at a 60 degree angle) to post on Instagram.

They weren't going to use that $35 to buy a pair of jeans at The Buckle.

 

[Vombatus]

Malls, and a ton of retail stores, are just about done. (Kind of feels like newspapers).

That's a lot of space, especially malls. What goes in that space?

 

[cyclingwriter2]

Where is this happening on a large scale?

Millennials are moving to the exurbs in droves

This is a thing. Check out places like austin, Pittsburgh, Nashville. People under 35 aren’t nearly as interested in big lawns and gated communities as previous generations.

Because of our work,my wife and I have a lot of friends under age 35. Almost unanimously, they want to live in an urban area where they can walk to a variety of hip bars or grocery stores or shops.

We moved from Atlanta metro sprawl about two years ago to another city where in a quarter mile radius, we can walk to work, our son’s school, a supermarket and two small breweries.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Malls, and a ton of retail stores, are just about done. (Kind of feels like newspapers).

In a similar vein, in a couple of years, my state is getting rid of toll booth collectors and using technology to collect tolls instead.

Recently, I was driving and I came upon toll booths. Nearly everyone was using the EZ Pass lanes. The lanes with a collector also were full because of traffic, but, nearly everyone was driving past the collector because they also had EZ Pass.

I felt kinda sad seeing the collector, looking out the booth with his arm out, watching cars drive right by him because of technology. He was literally watching his job drive away.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Here’s the thing — malls aren’t just dying because of e-commerce. They’re also for the most part outside of the downtown, and that’s bad at a time where people are moving back into cities.

The malls here in the city are always packed. Maybe it’s not what it was 20 years ago, but there’s still tons of foot traffic.

As for what goes into those spaces, I’d guess nothing in half the cases. The mall will get torn down and repurposed somehow.

Down here, Tysons Corner has literally built a city around the mall in the last few years.

I don’t know who’s living there, because it’s not easy to get around on foot and there are not many “attractions” outside of shopping and restaurants. And their new Metro stop, which made all of this possible, is still at least a 45-minute ride into DC.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

One of the biggest malls in Massachusetts is about a three-mile drive from my house. I only visit it because it has a LensCrafters. Eyeglasses are one thing you can't really do through e-commerce. It is still healthy because it has a Nordstrom's and a Macy's that drive traffic, but it also used to have a Sears which is shutting down and is a big part of its square footage. No idea what will replace it, maybe a Marshall's or Home Goods. The smaller stores have always had a lot of turnover of tenants, even back in the '90s.

 

[HanSenSE]

Walking through the local mall earlier this week was depressing. More empty storefronts than stores. "Food court" was a Subway and a Korean place. When Sears shut down the auto center, it was converted into more retail space, which may be the last thing it needs.

 

[Mwilliams685]

The newsroom that I work in is located in a space that used to be an anchor store in a mall. This mall couldn’t be located any more downtown than where it’s at. After Carson’s closed, the newsroom is the only business using anchor store space.

That said, it’s affecting downtown malls as well. This one is only busy when a convention is in town. At that, it’s just the food court.

 

[BTExpress]

This is a thing. Check out places like austin, Pittsburgh, Nashville. People under 35 aren’t nearly as interested in big lawns and gated communities as previous generations.

I never knew people under 35 were interested in big lawns and gated communities in previous generations.

It's when they turn OVER 35 that they want those things --- because at that age they can finally afford them.

 

[YankeeFan]

I never knew people under 35 were interested in big lawns and gated communities in previous generations.

It's when they turn OVER 35 that they want those things --- because at that age they can finally afford them.

Nah. The ready availability of avacado toast still makes living in the city more desirable.

 

[playthrough]

Malls, and a ton of retail stores, are just about done. (Kind of feels like newspapers).

That's a lot of space, especially malls. What goes in that space?

As a kid in Midwestern suburbia, the mall was THE place to go. Sad in retrospect, but fun at the time.

Kevin Smith weeps.

Me and my oldest daughter had a hot summer day to fill a few weeks back so we played glow-in-the-dark mini golf at the major mall downtown that 15 years ago was filled with major retailers. For $10 each we had the run of a huge space that I think was once an Abercrombie & Fitch. And the kid behind the counter said "your ticket is also good upstairs" -- where there was another huge space also for mini golf. Crazy.

 

[MisterCreosote]

The mall closest to my house has been dead for almost a decade. It officially closed within the past year, and that apparently made it attractive enough that now they’re filming the Wonder Woman sequel there.

 

[Azrael]

A Macy’s Goes From Mall Mainstay to Homeless Shelter

 

[SpeedTchr]

Heck, the mall near me in the "suburbs" is thriving. They're even building something bigger adjacent to it. There's more housing being built that will be almost immediately filled.

 

[playthrough]

Especially in the Midwest, the people I see moving back into the cities would rather spend $35 on two drinks and some entree with a plum sauce that they take a picture of (at a 60 degree angle) to post on Instagram.

They weren't going to use that $35 to buy a pair of jeans at The Buckle.

60-degree angle Instagram photo ... brilliant.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

I never knew people under 35 were interested in big lawns and gated communities in previous generations.

It's when they turn OVER 35 that they want those things --- because at that age they can finally afford them.

Anecdotally, I bought my first house at age 25 on 1.5 acres in a suburb community. Actually, of all the guys I worked with at my first large paper, everyone one of us, save one, lived in the suburbs where houses were cheaper and bigger. As a gen exer, I would say that experience was very close to the norm for my circle of friends from high school and college.