The way I end up back at Madison Square Mall is that I start wondering how much worse it’s gotten since my last check-in. Then, I start thinking about how easy it would be to get some steps there, and a month or so after my initial wondering, I rip the Band-Aid off and show back up.
The vacancy count has climbed to 57, which puts Madison Square closer to half-empty than a third empty. There were another five or six places that looked occupied, but were closed. GNC was one of these, as was a dress shop bizarrely closed Monday through Wednesday. I doubt that’s allowed in the lease agreement, but it’s not like Madison Square has any weight to throw around. The same four food court eateries are hanging tough.
I’ve previously dismissed comparisons to The Mall as ridiculous. They are no longer so. Sparseness is yielding to unambiguous desolation. There is so little activity now that at times, you feel like you have it to yourself.
CBL, please chime in just anytime with your plans for this property, which is so full of good memories for so many of us. Whether you’re going to redevelop or sell, be about it. This painfully slow descent is absurd.
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Sam votes for bringing in Nordstrom.
Some exciting new anchor—Nordstrom, Macy’s—around which to reimagine the place would certainly do it!