Madison Square death watch

I started off this morning a bit more than 1,400 steps in the hole, mostly because I took yesterday afternoon off.  So the Friday of my 8,000-steps-per-workday week had to contain 9,400 steps.  Headed back to Madison Square at lunch, mostly because it was a mindless way to get them.

Malls are still some of my least favorite places, but Madison Square is getting to that point at which I don’t mind it so much.  (Unfortunately, “that point” refers to this particular moment in its death spiral.)  I think the place might be a quarter vacant, or maybe a bit more.  JCPenney, Sears, and Belk are the only normally-functioning anchors.  Dillard’s appears to have another couple of weeks remaining in its closeout, and the rest of the big slots are already empty.

I think I might have seen 20 people under 30 today.  That’s part of what makes it a good place to walk, and indeed, it’s full of people my age to much older doing so.  See, though, people my age to much older don’t spend money in malls.

I no longer think there’s merely a whiff of death on Madison Square.  Now I think when, not if, it goes away as we know it.  What’s going to happen to it?  The extended ten-year coma of The Mall seems unlikely.  Letting it out to schools and doctors seems plausible.  I suppose it could be demolished, but it’d take a substantial reimagining of the area.

One circuit through both floors is about 850 steps for me, by the way.

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5 thoughts on “Madison Square death watch”

  1. My prediction is- they will close it, tear it down and build a bigger new mall. It is still in a good location. (isn’t it)

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  2. It is not the location that it was 20 years ago, but yes, it’s still a reasonably successful area. There is substantial retail the other side of Research Park Blvd.–Target, Wal-Mart, and various parasitic storelets. Best Buy is across the street, though the Barnes & Noble that was next door moved to Bridge Street and its old location remains vacant. EarthFare just opened a year ago in the old Circuit City location just west of it. Sam’s is a block east.

    It feels like a mall should be able to make it there, but I just wonder if we’ve got the current population to support this level of retail saturation. Isn’t there going to be even more in the new Peoplequarium at Gate 9?

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  3. I don’t think that Dilliard’s is going away completely. They are turning into some sort of sales outlet for their chain. Kind of like a place where all the clothes from the other stores come to for one last shot at being sold. 🙂

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  4. Lea, that’s almost as bad. The Bud’s of Dillard’s doesn’t say complimentary things about its location.

    Miria, I haven’t been there at all recently except at lunchtime, and it seems fine then, though I’ve seen the signs that talk about their youth policy at night. I wondered if that might not be a result of some unsavory happenings.

    Reply

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