On Friday, I linked to a screed about the future of shopping centers. A blog called The Sledgehammer has written a response entitled In Defense of the Traditional Shopping Mall. The post is labeled “Part 1″ so I’ll keep an eye out for any future addenda to Lutz’s post.

Contrary to what the article seems to imply, there are no truly dead malls in the Seattle area. For a mall to be truly dead, it has to be either completely or almost completely abandoned. Sure, there are a number of malls that are underperforming with high vacancy rates, but even at Totem Lake(the Seattle Metro area’s current poster child for dead malls,) most of the upper mall area remains occupied at this time with stable tenants, several of which have been there as long as the upper mall has existed. In fact, Denny’s Pet World in the upper mall has been there since day 1, and is celebrating their 34th anniversary this weekend. They opened in a different space (in what used to be the “mall” portion of the upper mall and is now the Guitar Center store) than they are located in currently, but they were there on day 1. If you count mergers and name changes, the Big 5 Sporting Goods store (which originally opened as SportsWest, another Pay and Save brand) has been around for just as long.

There’s an interesting photo essay up from someone outside the industry opining about the future of shopping centers.

As malls across the country start to fade into obsolescence, what is to become of these massive structures? After spending some time searching out the most creative alternatives to abandonment and massive landfilling of these former monuments to chain-store consumerism, I’ve found that the future of shopping malls is hopeful and creative:

The Factoria Mall in Bellevue is currently losing many stores, but redevelopment will begin soon in the hopes of creating a more useful, long-term multipurpose community space. The new Marketplace @ Factoria will still house retailers, but the redesign will add pedestrian walkways, outdoor dining, and even residential units.

Factoria is one of a number of older malls being redesigned as mixed-use centers that include housing as a main feature. The development group General Growth Properties (not associated with Factoria) has become a leader in mall renovation, re-imagining them as town centers to reflect their awareness of “changing living patterns and widespread opposition to sprawl,” according to an article in New Urban News. The article continues, describing one renovation of a mall in Columbia, Md.

A sign of the times? Cabela’s is trying to fit all of its merchandise into smaller spaces. There’s been lots of talk about retailers making more efficient of use of selling space. This is a good example of what many firms are thinking about or doing.

Cabela’s announced earlier that new stores would be smaller but more efficient in order to generate more sales dollars per square foot.

The spokesman, John Castillo, said Monday that a customer walking through the door would not notice any significant differences.

The changes involve things such as placing the mountain display, a fixture of Cabela’s stores, against a wall rather than having it in the middle of the space, and setting a deer display above the firearms counter rather than on the floor.

“While it is a smaller, 80,000-square-foot store, it still has all the features,” Castillo said.

The Chicago Tribune has a nice scoop about Sears testing a new Kmart concept at two locations. They’ve been very quiet about it. The story takes a while to actually get around to describing the meat of the new concept. But here’s the description the paper offers:

In what appears to be a nod to rival Target, Kmart has reorganized its test store in Rockford to make it easier to shop: painting the perimeter walls vibrant colors, installing lower shelves so customers can see across the entire store at once, moving dressing rooms from dingy corners to the middle of the floor, putting the toy department next to children’s clothing and installing price scanning stations.

At the front of the store, two flat-screen televisions run promotions describing the newly remodeled store. Off to the side, a “Just Ask” help station set up to resemble a row of bank tellers is ready to recommend a handyman, book a delivery service, find a part or set up a baby or bridal gift registry.

So far, shoppers seem to be overlooking the TV screens, and the response to the service desk has been mixed, McGuire said. On the other hand the lower shelf heights have fared well and Kmart has rolled them out to 100 stores.

Perhaps the most risky experiment is in the middle of the store where Kmart cleared space for a “marketplace” filled with constantly changing seasonal goods, such as beach towels and flip-flops for under $10. The merchandise is displayed on wheeled carts reminiscent of a farm stand with plenty of room for shoppers to stroll about.

(Spotted at Keypoint Partners Retail Roundup)

“People across the United States are watching this project very closely,” said Keith Beazley, with the Virginia Ready-Mixed Concrete Association.

“I don’t think there’s anything else like it, really, in the country,” said Stephen Romeo, vice president of Landmark Design Group, a local engineering company that planned the big lot.

Why the fuss?

The parking lot, which will serve an expansion of the Prime Outlets shopping mall in Williamsburg, is

advertised as “the largest pervious concrete project in the United States,” one that covers 7 acres of Earth with this environment-friendly building material.

Link.

I’ve got it linked in my blog roll, but if you haven’t checked it out already, you really should look at the The Mall Hall of Fame.

As the “curator” describes it, “One of many classic mall and retro retail internet sites, the MALL HALL OF FAME is a ‘Mid-mod’ mall museum, covering shopping centers of America’s mid-20th century (1950-1979). There are short articles, a few photos, and at least one physical layout drawing for every mall inducted. Please feel free to post any additional info you may be aware of.”

There are now more than 200 malls featured on the site. For each mall there is a ton of great information–photos, site plans and history of the property. It’s a labor of love. And it’s extremely well done.

There’s a thought-provoking post over at ULI’s blog, The Ground Floor, that takes up the question of whether denser developments breed more crime.

The story is in response to a new study that shows that “residents of high-rise apartments are much more likely to be victims of crime — specifically street crime. The effect remains similar after statistically adjusting for poverty, demographics and public housing: It’s the height of the building itself that matters.” The report was featured in a Washington Post story.

So what are the best ways to design compact, densely populated, walkable communities which are attractive, safe and lively? One thing clearly needed is enough housing so people live in the community; this is what creates the “24/7″ communities which have been shown to be most successful over time. What are the best ways to do this while reducing crime and enhancing public safety?

Population density brings “eyes on the street” which generally reduces crime. It is better to walk around at night where other people are also walking, not down lonely alleys. More population density also supports more stores and activities — movies, restaurants, and the like — which bring lights, life and more people. One of the biggest mistakes of many new suburban town centers is the failure to include enough housing, with the result that there are not enough people to support the stores and restaurants needed to keep the center economically and socially vital.

The only way to bring in population density is to build up. Single family homes, even town homes lined up side by side with party walls, do not give the density in a walkable range to support stores and services and have eyes on the street. It takes apartments and condos to do that. This means at least mid-rise construction, and in some places true high rise buildings.

You can see the winners of this year’s SADI award winners as a pdf part of our Retail Architecture Review 2007.

The San Francisco Chronicle carried a brief op-ed on mall design. Particularly, the writer opines that too many carts and kiosks are cluttering mall common areas.

Thoughts?

In recent years, however, shopping malls have become less fun to visit. The problem is the proliferation of small vendors who hawk their wares from booths located in areas once dedicated only to pedestrian traffic.

Vendors stand out on the midway and try to thrust their wares upon you as you pass by. Visitors constantly are placed in the position of either rudely ignoring the faux-friendly overtures or interrupting their own conversations every minute or so to say “No, thank you” to some new body lotion, time-share brochure or Rosetta Stone language program.

Last night, while walking in a local mall, we heard a pitchman call out to a pair of young women, “How can I sell you something if you’re going to walk so fast?”

Which is precisely the point. These days, everyone is walking faster in the malls. By trying to maximize their profit on every square inch of space, mall operators are driving away the very people they need to attract.

Caldor Rainbow has constructed a fairly thorough and entertaining account of Toys ‘R’ Us various design iterations between 1978 and 1989.

My passion for finding these stores; ones which are brown roofed and rainbow-striped existing today has been a goal for over a year now as there are a good handful still out there. Each year, as the company catches up to these stores, facing a heavy pressure to conform to the decidedly boring looks of today, those special stores, still largely untouched by time (or any hapless repaint or remodel jobs), must be documented and preserved.

Since there’s much information to cover, this entry will be dealing with Part I which encapsules the store history from 1978 to 1989; the last year of the brown/rainbow era. Many pictures shown here are mostly recent, from 2006 and 2007, from a few remaining, older looking locations visited including Woburn; Massachusetts, Clay; New York and Horseheads; New York. We hope to visit more in the future, and expand our travel scope.