Bankruptcy

Tracking Dying Malls

By mcbride

Another manifestation of the economic melt down is the decline and ultimate death of some underperforming malls. As noted in the article below, malls have been a central meeting place, like a town square for many cities.   That may be changing at least as to some malls which will not be able to survive.  ?One industry rule of thumb holds that any large, enclosed mall generating sales per square foot of $250 or less — the U.S. average is $381 — is in danger of failure. By that measure, Eastland is one of 84 dead malls in a 1,032-mall database compiled by Green Street. (The database focuses heavily on malls owned by publicly traded landlords and doesn’t account for several dozen failing malls in private hands.) If retail sales continue to decline at current rates, the dead-mall roster could exceed 100 properties by the end of this year, according to Green Street. That’s up from an estimated 40 failing malls in 2006, before the recession began?.Hundreds of other anchor stores — generally two- and three-story department stores that drive mall momentum — are pulling out of properties. Several anchor chains, including Gottschalks Inc., Goody’s Family Clothing Inc. and Boscov’s Department Store LLC, filed for bankruptcy protection in recent months. Goody’s ended up liquidating its 282 stores, as Gottschalks is now doing with its 58. Boscov’s closed 10 locations. As mall-based chains face the prospect of a much smaller market, more closures are likely.?

Here is a link to a map of the current ?most likely to close? malls across the US: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-DEADMALL0905.html

 Here is a related article on dying malls from the WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124294047987244803.html

 Michael

Full post as published by Texas Lawyer Blog on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).