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City by the Lake.org, The Voice of Michigan City, Indiana _ City Talk _ Marquette Mall Needs Help
Posted by: Tinkerdinks Jul 9 2012, 10:29 PM
Someone who knows how to manage an indoor mall needs to step in and take over our mall. What happened to it all? All the stores moved out, no place to eat a snack at, basicsally nothing to do.
I remember having a slew of places to shop at. Paul Harris, County Seat, Just Jeans, Foxmoors, etc. The places to eat such as Hot sam, Orange Julius, Mc Donalds, Trolley Stop, Walgreens.
I remember the Library being in the mall. then the Giant game room. Now our game room consists of maybe 20 games that are outdated or just dont work. No one to man these games either.
The three actual stores that seem to be keep the mall afloat are carsons, penneys, and sears.
It has turned into a community center it seems. There is the Swanson Center, the "mall walkers", we have the laporte county visitor center in there.
I remember this mall be a happening place to be. It was the place to shop, to meet with friends and just have fun. Now it is a ghost town in there.
Someone needs to go in there and start bringing in the stores and fill that place up. Otherwise tear it down and use the property for something more useful.
Just saying.
Posted by: Tim Jul 9 2012, 10:57 PM
All the kings horses...
The mall you're remembering is Marquette Mall 30 years ago. 0r even 40 years ago. That was a different world. The mall was new and exciting! People flocked there and it was the center of civilization in MC back then.
But that was back then.
Now, having anyone "step in" would be like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Sadly, Marquette Mall will eventually go the way of the mall in LaPorte. It's 2012 - indoor malls just aren't popular anymore.
Time marches on.
Posted by: diggler Jul 10 2012, 04:36 AM
What I really miss, were the skeeball machines in the game room. Anyways, who shops at malls these days, when you can do all that kind of stuff on Amazon ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2xAQqW5sj8
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 04:41 AM
What I really miss, were the skeeball machines in the game room. Anyways, who shops at malls these days, when you can do all that kind of stuff on Amazon ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2xAQqW5sj8
When I was in high school my pals and I spent hours and hours playing pinball at the arcade called - damn, I forget. But pinball, like the mall, is a thing of the past.
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Jul 10 2012, 04:50 AM
I guess everything runs in a cycle. Forty years ago everyone was saying what happened to downtown MC? Sears and JC Penney moved out and went to the new mall on the south side of town. The creation of Franklin Square was supposed to bring retail back downtown but life changed and the Franklin Square project was a failure. Sorry to say the same fate is in store for The Marquette Mall.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 05:10 AM
I guess everything runs in a cycle. Forty years ago everyone was saying what happened to downtown MC? Sears and JC Penney moved out and went to the new mall on the south side of town. The creation of Franklin Square was supposed to bring retail back downtown but life changed and the Franklin Square project was a failure. Sorry to say the same fate is in store for The Marquette Mall.
The difference being the mall was a huge success for decades, while the square was a lost cause from the word go.
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Jul 10 2012, 05:36 AM
The difference being the mall was a huge success for decades, while the square was a lost cause from the word go.
Amen.
Posted by: eric.hanke Jul 10 2012, 05:43 AM
It's just a sign of things to come. As the city continues to slip, so does the shopping.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 05:47 AM
It's just a sign of things to come. As the city continues to slip, so does the shopping.
Typical Hanke response.
The reality is mall all over America are going under because they're no longer popular. It has nothing to do with "as the city continues to slip".
So dry those little tears.
Posted by: eric.hanke Jul 10 2012, 05:57 AM
Typical Hanke response.
The reality is mall all over America are going under because they're no longer popular. It has nothing to do with "as the city continues to slip".
So dry those little tears.
Actually, I visited two malls within 20 miles of themselves and 2 Prime Outlets locations in Orlando, FL. If the economy is there shopping will prevail! No tears here.
http://www.mallatmillenia.com/
http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=139
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/orlando/
This is in addition to all the "tourist" shopping in the Disney area. These malls focus on the locals.
According to what I found online The Matanky Realty Group has exclusive rights to bury Marquette Mall:
http://www.matanky.com/documents/130-resource_pdf.pdf?PHPSESSID=7b772086043b6332bfb06d1f7ab3421a
Posted by: eric.hanke Jul 10 2012, 06:00 AM
The difference being the mall was a huge success for decades, while the square was a lost cause from the word go.
Once Franklin Square is no longer a political pawn and someone with long term planning and vision takes hold of Michigan City, Franklin Square will thrive.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 06:31 AM
Typical Hanke response.
The reality is mall all over America are going under because they're no longer popular. It has nothing to do with "as the city continues to slip".
So dry those little tears.
Especially because there is this little shopping center on the north end of town that is doing pretty well, and has pretty much no vacancies...
Posted by: taxthedeer Jul 10 2012, 06:32 AM
[quote name='Tinkerdinks' post='36113' date='Jul 9 2012, 11:29 PM']
Someone who knows how to manage an indoor mall needs to step in and take over our mall. What happened to it all? All the stores moved out, no place to eat a snack at, basicsally nothing to do.
I remember having a slew of places to shop at. Paul Harris, County Seat, Just Jeans, Foxmoors, etc. The places to eat such as Hot sam, Orange Julius, Mc Donalds, Trolley Stop, Walgreens.
I remember the Library being in the mall. then the Giant game room. Now our game room consists of maybe 20 games that are outdated or just dont work. No one to man these games either.
The three actual stores that seem to be keep the mall afloat are carsons, penneys, and sears.
It has turned into a community center it seems. There is the Swanson Center, the "mall walkers", we have the laporte county visitor center in there.
I remember this mall be a happening place to be. It was the place to shop, to meet with friends and just have fun. Now it is a ghost town in there.
Someone needs to go in there and start bringing in the stores and fill that place up. Otherwise tear it down and use the property for something more useful.
Just saying.[/ font]
Sears, Penny's and Carson's own their stores in the mall that is what is keeping them there. Like everyone else is saying, this is 2012, the self contained indoor shopping mall has become an outdated business model.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 06:35 AM
[font=Comic Sans Ms]Someone who knows how to manage an indoor mall needs to step in and take over our mall. What happened to it all? All the stores moved out, no place to eat a snack at, basicsally nothing to do.
I remember having a slew of places to shop at. Paul Harris, County Seat, Just Jeans, Foxmoors, etc. The places to eat such as Hot sam, Orange Julius, Mc Donalds, Trolley Stop, Walgreens.
I remember the Library being in the mall. then the Giant game room. Now our game room consists of maybe 20 games that are outdated or just dont work. No one to man these games either.
The three actual stores that seem to be keep the mall afloat are carsons, penneys, and sears.
It has turned into a community center it seems. There is the Swanson Center, the "mall walkers", we have the laporte county visitor center in there.
I remember this mall be a happening place to be. It was the place to shop, to meet with friends and just have fun. Now it is a ghost town in there.
Someone needs to go in there and start bringing in the stores and fill that place up. Otherwise tear it down and use the property for something more useful.
Just saying.
[/ font]As was stated earlier, the indoor mall is kind of a dead idea. Look no further than Scottsdale and Maple Lane Malls (RIP). The strip mall is now the thing. The best hope there is, is that somehow the Kohl's complex going in across the street somehow convinces shops to go into the Marquette complex. Honestly I am not superoptimistic, because if you think about it, traffic isn't the problem. 421 and 20 is the busiest intersection in town.
More than anything they need to find stores willing to go into that place. The issue is most of the most famous retailers in the US are already in Lighthouse Place. Honestly, it needs to be bulldozed, and started over.
Posted by: diggler Jul 10 2012, 06:37 AM
Gardens at the Galleria mall in Cleveland, which has branched out from standard retail fare in hopes of attracting visitors.
How About Gardening or Golfing at the Mall?
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
February 5, 2012
Cleveland’s Galleria at Erieview, like many malls across the country, is suffering. Closed on weekends because there are so few visitors, it is down to eight retail stores, eight food-court vendors and a couple of businesses like the local bar association.
So part of the glass-covered mall is being converted into a vegetable garden.
“I look at it as space, I don’t look at it as retail,” said Vicky Poole, a Galleria executive. “You can’t anymore.”
Malls, over the last 50 years, have gone from the community center in some cities to a relic of the way people once wanted to shop. While malls have faced problems in the past, the Internet is now pulling even more sales away from them. And as retailers crawl out of the worst recession since the advent of malls, many are realizing they are overbuilt and are closing locations at a fast clip.
The result is near-record vacancy rates at malls of all kinds, both the big enclosed ones and the sprawling strips. Sears Holdings is closing up to 120 stores, Gap Inc. 200 stores and Talbots 110. Abercrombie & Fitch closed 50 stores last year, Hot Topic, almost the same number. Chains that have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, like Blockbuster, Anchor Blue, Circuit City and Borders, have left hundreds of stores lying vacant in malls across the country.
Most cities, looking at shrinking budgets, cannot afford to subsidize or knock down ailing malls, and healthy retailers that are expanding — like H&M and Nordstrom Rack — generally will not open at depressed locations. So, as though they were upholstering polyester chairs from the 1960s with Martha Stewart fabric, urban planners and community activists are trying to spruce up and rethink the uses of many of the artifacts.
Schools, medical clinics, call centers, government offices and even churches are now standard tenants in malls. By hanging a curtain to hide the food court, the Galleria in Cleveland, which opened in 1987 with about 70 retailers and restaurants, rents space for weddings and other events. Other malls have added aquariums, casinos and car showrooms.
Designers in Buffalo have proposed stripping down a mall to its foundation and reinventing it as housing, while an aspiring architect in Detroit has proposed turning a mall’s parking lot there into a community farm. Columbus, Ohio, arguing that it was too expensive to maintain an empty mall on prime real estate, dismantled its City Center mall and replaced it with a park.
Even at many malls that continue to thrive, developers are redesigning them as town squares — adding elements like dog parks and putting greens, creating street grids that go through the malls, and restoring natural elements like creeks that were originally paved over.
“Basically they’re building the downtowns that the suburbs never had,” along with reworking abandoned urban malls for nonshopping uses, said Ellen Dunham-Jones, a professor at the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The efforts reflect a shift in how Americans want to shop today: rather than going to big, overwhelming malls, many prefer places where stores can be entered from the street, featuring restaurants, entertainment and other Main Street mainstays. Also, as commuters in urban areas shift to public transportation, the giant parking lots are no longer needed.
The Simon Property Group, a large mall operator, is remodeling 15 to 20 malls a year, said its chief operating officer, Richard Sokolov. It is adding amenities like electric-car charging stations and stadium-seating theaters, and scheduling 20,000 events a year, like cooking demonstrations. Malls today have to “provide a unique set of shopping, dining and entertainment experiences,” Mr. Sokolov said.
Westfield, another large operator, has added dog runs and ice rinks, and, in Toledo, Ohio, the Wait Room, a lounge where customers can drink a beer and check their e-mail “while their significant other shops,” said Katy Dickey, a Westfield spokeswoman, in an e-mail.
While some malls can afford to change with the times, many cannot, and over all, there are too many malls today, urban planners say. The vacancy rate at shopping centers and strip malls was 11 percent in the last quarter of 2011, the highest level since 1991, according to the research firm Reis. Larger regional malls fared better, with a vacancy rate of 9.2 percent.
There are about 108,000 shopping centers in America, according to a 2009 survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Just a few years ago, developers competed to build malls, betting that continued growth would support them, but the recession threw those plans off course.
A new enclosed mall has not opened in the United States since 2006, according to Professor Dunham-Jones, and many ambitious projects, like New Jersey’s Xanadu just west of Manhattan, have lain half-finished for years.
“In the aggregate, we have more than we need at this point, and it can have a blighting influence on communities,” said Patrick Phillips, chief executive of the Urban Land Institute. “You see that all over the country, these endless commercial strips that are completely underutilized.”
That is leading to a variety of creative solutions that “would help make ’60s and ’70s suburbia a bit more sustainable,” said Rob Shields, director of the City-Region Studies Center at the University of Alberta, which held a design competition over the last several months that attracted the Detroit and Buffalo proposals.
But putting the theory into practice is requiring unusual city-developer liaisons. Mall owners often need regulatory clearance or financing help from a city to make major changes, and cities can sometimes seize malls that they believe are a hindrance to economic development. And malls were usually built at busy intersections with good access to public transportation — a combination that still works, even if the mall itself doesn’t.
In Seattle, city planners are looking at reworking a still-thriving mall as a focus point for more development.
“We’re at this interesting moment, because in cities, land is very scarce,” said Marshall Foster, city planning director for Seattle, which is trying to make Northgate Mall, a popular mall built in 1950, a center for urban life. “We can’t afford to overlook these opportunities any longer.”
The city is adding transit and trying to increase jobs and living space there. It has restored a creek originally covered by a parking lot, and is pushing the mall owner and retailers to add a street-grid layout and remodel stores so they are accessible from the street.
Cleveland, too, has given over some plots of land to the greenhouse effort at the Galleria mall.
The shift to gardening began with the carts that used to sell jewelry or candles, where Ms. Poole, the director of marketing events, had herbs planted in the disused retail carts inside the mall. She learned how quickly aphids proliferate indoors (solution: release 1,500 ladybugs into the mall).
The garden now produces lettuce, strawberries, basil and other crops, which are sold to visitors and used for the mall’s catering business. An unexpected benefit has been an influx of visitors, which has prompted related retailers to open in the mall, like a company that sells rainwater collection barrels.
“This has been sustaining us throughout these hard years, but now we’re looking at the potential of turning things around,” said Ms. Poole while preparing kale and spinach seeds for spring planting.
Posted by: eric.hanke Jul 10 2012, 06:37 AM
Honestly, it needs to be bulldozed, and started over.
Agreed.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 06:38 AM
Actually, I visited two malls within 20 miles of themselves and 2 Prime Outlets locations in Orlando, FL. If the economy is there shopping will prevail! No tears here.
http://www.mallatmillenia.com/
http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=139
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/orlando/
This is in addition to all the "tourist" shopping in the Disney area. These malls focus on the locals.
According to what I found online The Matanky Realty Group has exclusive rights to bury Marquette Mall:
http://www.matanky.com/documents/130-resource_pdf.pdf?PHPSESSID=7b772086043b6332bfb06d1f7ab3421a
Orlando metro area population = 2,134,411
LaPorte county population = 111,467
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 06:54 AM
I disagree, planning Franklin Square was a failure from the word go since Franklin Square has always had political connections. The only time you hear anything about Franklin Square is during the election cycle.
Once Franklin Square is no longer a political pawn and someone with long term planning and vision takes hold of Michigan City, Franklin Square will thrive.
Um - Franklin Square no longer exists.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 06:57 AM
Actually, I visited two malls within 20 miles of themselves and 2 Prime Outlets locations in Orlando, FL. If the economy is there shopping will prevail!
Absolutely. That's why Lighthouse Place is thriving.
So, by your criteria, Lighthouse Place's thriving status proves MC is not "continuing to slide" as you stated.
Thanks.
Posted by: Ang Jul 10 2012, 07:57 AM
When I was in high school my pals and I spent hours and hours playing pinball at the arcade called - damn, I forget. But pinball, like the mall, is a thing of the past.
Tilt
The mall could do a little better but they have to charge a great deal of rent to just get by. That's a lot of the problem. I, too, hope Kohl's will help to revive that area, but people want to shop for less and paying full retail is something they aren't interested in, thus outlet shops and big box stores. I have many fond memories of Marquette Mall--both from working there, shopping there, and hanging with my friends there--but it's a relic and thing of the past. I'm with Ss'der; bulldoze it.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 08:06 AM
Tilt
The mall could do a little better but they have to charge a great deal of rent to just get by. That's a lot of the problem. I, too, hope Kohl's will help to revive that area, but people want to shop for less and paying full retail is something they aren't interested in, thus outlet shops and big box stores. I have many fond memories of Marquette Mall--both from working there, shopping there, and hanging with my friends there--but it's a relic and thing of the past. I'm with Ss'der; bulldoze it.
More than anything, I don't see a way to save it in its current form. It is stuck in the death spiral right now... No one shops there because there are no stores, and no stores will locate there because no one shops there. So how do you break that cycle? It isn't like 1966 anymore where the mall has no competition. There is a massively successful outlet mall on the other end of town, not to mention entities like Wal-Mart and Meijer located under a mile away.
They either need to totally reinvent that space, or punt. What they are doing now just isn't working.
Posted by: bandaid19 Jul 10 2012, 08:48 AM
I think with the coming of Kohl's across the street, and the re-invention/revitalization of that plaza, the pressure for Marquette to change will grow. I'm not sure it could actually be razed, because there are offices in Marquette Tower.
I think at this point, we're all pretty surprised that our Sears has held on this long, but Sears and Penney's both have "out store" models that are successful in other places.
For all of the mall "defenders" out there, look at UP Mall in Mishawaka... their latest renovation? Create a giant new segment that you can just drive up to, and go in one store. As has been stated, with the exception of certain "destination" malls, indoor malls are a thing of the past. I grew up working at UP Mall, and I can't tell you how many times people complained that "they didn't want to have to go in the whole mall just to get one thing".
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 09:05 AM
I think with the coming of Kohl's across the street, and the re-invention/revitalization of that plaza, the pressure for Marquette to change will grow. I'm not sure it could actually be razed, because there are offices in Marquette Tower.
I think at this point, we're all pretty surprised that our Sears has held on this long, but Sears and Penney's both have "out store" models that are successful in other places.
For all of the mall "defenders" out there, look at UP Mall in Mishawaka... their latest renovation? Create a giant new segment that you can just drive up to, and go in one store. As has been stated, with the exception of certain "destination" malls, indoor malls are a thing of the past. I grew up working at UP Mall, and I can't tell you how many times people complained that "they didn't want to have to go in the whole mall just to get one thing".
Hello obesity problems in the US...
Posted by: MC Born & Raised Jul 10 2012, 01:15 PM
Look, if you were a business, would you want to be trapped inside of a building where no one even knew you existed unless they walked in? Or would you rather have a sign on the street and on the front of a building so people could drive by and know about you? Obviously, you'd choose the latter. How many times have you walked into a mall and saw a new store and thought, "I didn't know we had one of those"?
I think I made the point in a previous thread about Marquette Mall, but the model for that location should be the former Scottsdale Mall in South Bend. They tore that piece of crap down and replaced it with strip malls and restaurants and the place is alive now because of it. Heck, even University Park Mall has drastically changed it's outward appearance in recent years, combining the strip mall idea with the self-contained model. Marquette Mall doesn't work anymore and someone with some actual vision and business acumen needs to step in and do something completely different. I can't even tell you the last time I went into the actual mall. Been to Sears and Penney's and Carsons, but I usually go just to the store I need to go to.
Posted by: Grupe2006 Jul 10 2012, 01:18 PM
I disagree with the idea that indoor malls are a thing of the past. I would say most of our teens go to the lighthouse mall, but I know many parents with young children who rely on indoor malls in the winter and the hottest summer days. Personally I travel to the Merrillville Mall with my kids because they have marketed to families with young children. If Marquette added play areas for children, a few toy stores, and maybe a FunFlatables, and some quality food court options it would be a great place for families to take their kids. As it is, the only indoor places for young kids to go include McD's and Burger King. We can also go to the library...but the library isn't a good place to get their energy out. I really believe if they want to save the mall, they should consider targeting families with young children.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 01:28 PM
I disagree with the idea that indoor malls are a thing of the past. I would say most of our teens go to the lighthouse mall, but I know many parents with young children who rely on indoor malls in the winter and the hottest summer days. Personally I travel to the Merrillville Mall with my kids because they have marketed to families with young children. If Marquette added play areas for children, a few toy stores, and maybe a FunFlatables, and some quality food court options it would be a great place for families to take their kids. As it is, the only indoor places for young kids to go include McD's and Burger King. We can also go to the library...but the library isn't a good place to get their energy out. I really believe if they want to save the mall, they should consider targeting families with young children.
Welcome to the site! The problem is the company running Marquette Mall isn't going to add stores. They are just a landlord for the most part.
Posted by: southyards Jul 10 2012, 01:31 PM
Welcome to the site! The problem is the company running Marquette Mall isn't going to add stores. They are just a landlord for the most part.
Sometimes fast-food places aren't the best place to take kids to play. Here's a clip from the Chicago Trib:
Arizona mom seeking clean playgrounds is banned from eight McDonald's
October 26, 2011|By Monica Eng, Tribune reporter
Arizona mom Erin Carr-Jordan, seen at a Chicago McDonald's in July, is crusading against bacteria-laden play areas at fast-food restaurants all over the United States. (Nancy…)
An Arizona woman who took on McDonald's for unsanitary indoor playgrounds has been barred from eight of the fast-food chain's locations in the Phoenix area.
Erin Carr-Jordan has spent much of the last eight months calling attention to dirty conditions at indoor fast-food playgrounds, including McDonald's. She was profiled in the Tribune in July.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 03:23 PM
Tilt
The mall could do a little better but they have to charge a great deal of rent to just get by. That's a lot of the problem. I, too, hope Kohl's will help to revive that area, but people want to shop for less and paying full retail is something they aren't interested in, thus outlet shops and big box stores. I have many fond memories of Marquette Mall--both from working there, shopping there, and hanging with my friends there--but it's a relic and thing of the past. I'm with Ss'der; bulldoze it.
No - I think it was the one before that. Golden something.
Posted by: eric.hanke Jul 10 2012, 03:24 PM
No - I think it was the one before that. Golden something.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 03:27 PM
Goldmine
Correct.
BTW, did you seriously advance the theory that Franklin Square tanked due to political reasons?
Posted by: eric.hanke Jul 10 2012, 03:28 PM
Correct.
BTW, did you seriously advance the theory that Franklin Square tanked due to political reasons?
Don't think politics has helped any.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 03:35 PM
Don't think politics has helped any.
This is what you said.
"I disagree, planning Franklin Square was a failure from the word go since Franklin Square has always had political connections."
That's almost as preposterous as your "Apple extorting money..." theory.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jul 10 2012, 05:32 PM
Goldmine
I'd be rich if I had invested all of the quarters I wasted in there.
Posted by: Tim Jul 10 2012, 07:00 PM
It's just a sign of things to come. As the city continues to slip, so does the shopping.
Sorry - I have a need to address this one more time.
Do you even realize how unfounded in reality this statement is? This is like going back to 1972 when the mall was thriving and the downtown was dying and pointing to the downtown and saying see? The city "continues to slip".
BS
When the mall was built Our Fair City's retail center shifted. Now in 2012 it has shifted again. I was in MC twice last year. Both times I shopped at both Lighthouse Place and Marquette Mall. Both times Lighthouse Place was thriving, and Marquette Mall was a ghost town. But it's simply foolhardy of you to refer to the mall as "the shopping" in MC, when the retail center has again shifted. Trust me, the shopping in MC is alive and well.
Look - I know you have what appears to be a legitimate beef with the school system in Michigan City. You obviously know your stuff, and if you feel your children's education has been compromised by stupidity in the system then you have every right to be pissed off - and to make a big stink about it. The problem I have with what you post is you now seem to paint the whole town with the same brush. Sorry - it won't fly. MC has its problems, no doubt. So does every city in America. But there's a lot of positive movement in Our Fair City too. I have friends and family there - many of whom are not only thriving in local business but actually experiencing growth.
Continue to complain all you want. Everyone has a right to voice their opinion.
Michigan City is my hometown and I will always love and support it.
Posted by: taxthedeer Aug 12 2012, 06:21 AM
Here's some ariel photos of the Marquete Mall from 1976. The picture at the bottom right shows the Mall before the office/Swanson Center Tower was constructed. Article also said that Michiagn City once had more than 100 saloons.
Posted by: southyards Aug 12 2012, 07:51 AM
Here's some ariel photos of the Marquete Mall from 1976. The picture at the bottom right shows the Mall before the office/Swanson Center Tower was constructed. Article also said that Michiagn City once had more than 100 saloons.
Just went through my 1960 Elstonian yearbook. There were 130 local, storefronted, businesses advertising in there. No doubt there were more that did not advertise. In a recent visit to Marquette Mall, I saw around 17 closed stores and didn’t see more than a dozen or 15 people walking around. The fountain display in the center of the mall held dead and dying plants and the water was gone. Other than that the mall appeared clean and well maintained.
No opinion here, everyone has their own take and it is what it is, just sayin. . . . . .
Posted by: Tim Aug 12 2012, 04:38 PM
Don't know if it's been mentioned here, but someone on the MC/FB page said the mall will be closed off somewhere between Penneys and Sears and Sears will only be accessible from outside. Sounds like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic - but maybe a positive move.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Aug 13 2012, 06:42 AM
Don't know if it's been mentioned here, but someone on the MC/FB page said the mall will be closed off somewhere between Penneys and Sears and Sears will only be accessible from outside. Sounds like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic - but maybe a positive move.
Interesting. I do like the idea of trying to fill one area at a time, but I tend to think you are right about the Titanic.
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Aug 13 2012, 08:45 AM
Don't know if it's been mentioned here, but someone on the MC/FB page said the mall will be closed off somewhere between Penneys and Sears and Sears will only be accessible from outside. Sounds like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic - but maybe a positive move.
My sense is that if any of the three "anchor" stores fall, then the entire mall is doomed.
Posted by: Tim Aug 15 2012, 10:33 PM
My sense is that if any of the three "anchor" stores fall, then the entire mall is doomed.
I thought sure our Sears would not survive that wave of Sears closings a while back. I don't think Carson PS is doing too bad, but I think the mall is already doomed.... wish it wasn't, but I don't see any way now in 2012 for whoever runs it to hope to fill all those vacancies and turn it back into what it was in the 70's.
Posted by: Ang Aug 16 2012, 07:51 AM
Really it would be better to raze the whole thing and have strip malls and stand alone stores. Sorry, but I think it's true.
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Aug 16 2012, 08:05 AM
Really it would be better to raze the whole thing and have strip malls and stand alone stores. Sorry, but I think it's true.
Similar to what was done to the Scottsdale Mall in South Bend.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Aug 16 2012, 08:11 AM
Really it would be better to raze the whole thing and have strip malls and stand alone stores. Sorry, but I think it's true.
I agree fully. Right now no one goes out there because there are no stores. No stores want to locate in there because there are no customers. I don't see how you break that cycle.
Posted by: Tim Aug 16 2012, 04:31 PM
Really it would be better to raze the whole thing and have strip malls and stand alone stores. Sorry, but I think it's true.
Nothing to be sorry about, IMO. As SS said, it's a cycle that will be hard to break as far as no stores = no customers.
In my mind, as I've said, the only thing that could save the mall is if a whole bunch of stores moved in there all at once - and that's just not going to happen.
It'll be a sad day for those of us who love our city's history. Much like driving past the old M&M is for me now.
But for Marquette Mall, the end is not a matter of "if" but "when".
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 13 2012, 09:42 AM
I visited the Marquette Ghost Mall to buy my Iraq war vet buddy a gift for Veteran's Day (his birthday was yesterday too) at that little Korean owned gift shop between Carson's and Penny's. I deceided to get some excercise and entered on the north end of the mall through Sears. First thing I noticed was Readers World almost in the process of closing and relocating to a new spot in the Mall. Reader's World is now two spaces west of that place where you used to be able to go and order one of those big ass slices of Pizza they used to have sitting behind the glass as you walked pass. The two businness left between Sears and Penny's are GNC and The La Porte County Convention and Visitor Bureau.
What I miss most about going into the Mall is always seeing three of the most unique people from Michigan City that I know hangingout, Bicycle Bob (always having a conversation with himself), Steven the bag boy from Meijer and that homeless guy that would sit on the bench and say HI THERE to everyone as they would walk by.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 13 2012, 09:57 AM
Last time I was at the Mall, we had lunch at Applebees. We sat in the window where you could see into the mall. I actually watched a guy sit on the bench in the mall and start reading a book. I got to thinking about it, and it is probably quieter to read in the mall versus the library.
Posted by: Ang Nov 13 2012, 09:58 AM
I know all three of those people you mentioned! I think the last guy is named Harold.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 13 2012, 11:28 AM
I know all three of those people you mentioned! I think the last guy is named Harold.
Bicycle Bob worked for the cleaning service that was contracted to the plant when I first started working at ANCO in 1990 on midnights. His main duties were emptying the trash cans in the caferteria's and restroom. He would go around the plant pushing a hopper full of plastic trash bags moving as fast as he could so he could go sit in the office break room until his shift was over, he would be talking to himself never shutting up throughout the entire night. I still run into Bicycle Bob at Member's Advantage Credit Union on Ohio St., still talking to himself. I figue he has his disability depositied there.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 14 2012, 10:09 AM
In 1980 they used the abandoned Dixie Square Mall at 151st and Dixie Hwy in Harvey, IL after it was closed for the filming of the car chase scene in the film "The Blues Brothers" starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The exterior of the JC Penny of the former Dixie Square Mall looks very similar to the exterior of the Marquette Mall in Michigan City and the interior looks similar too. I figure that both malls must have been designed and constructed by the same developer. The Dixie Square Mall that was used as a set in that movie was finally razed this past spring after being closed and abandoned for 34 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENAb2JTyn_M
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Square_Mall
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 14 2012, 10:39 AM
In 1980 they used the abandoned Dixie Square Mall at 151st and Dixie Hwy in Harvey, IL after it was closed for the filming of the car chase scene in the film "The Blues Brothers" starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. The exterior of the JC Penny of the former Dixie Square Mall looks very similar to the exterior of the Marquette Mall in Michigan City and the interior looks similar too. I figure that both malls must have been designed and constructed by the same developer. The Dixie Square Mall that was used as a set in that movie was finally razed this past spring after being closed and abandoned for 34 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENAb2JTyn_M
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Square_Mall
I can't see that happening here. Even if the Mall eventually closes entirely, the property is at one of the most high traffic intersections in Michigan City. The land is worth a lot.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 14 2012, 11:01 AM
I can't see that happening here. Even if the Mall eventually closes entirely, the property is at one of the most high traffic intersections in Michigan City. The land is worth a lot.
I don't ever see the office tower (Swanson Center) ever coming down.
Found this website interesting:
http://deadmalls.com/
Marquette Mall hasn't made their list yet.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 14 2012, 11:02 AM
I don't ever see the office tower (Swanson Center) ever coming down.
What is the occupancy rate like in there?
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 14 2012, 11:31 AM
What is the occupancy rate like in there?
I don't know about the office building. But according to the deadmall.com site a dead mall is defined as a mall with a high vacancy rate, low consumer traffic level, or is dated or deteriorating in some manner. For purposes of inclusion on their site, Deadmalls.com defines a dead mall as one having a occupancy rate in slow or steady decline of 70% or less.
They also have different catagories for malls, Marquette Mall in it's present state would fall into the catagory of a thrid class mall:
first class mall.... regular operating mall
second class mall... high vacancy, or non-traditional store occupancy
third class mall... areas or entire mall sealed from public
fourth class mall... shuttered or slated for demolition
fifth class mall... redevelopment has begun, or is completed
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 15 2012, 11:43 AM
This article and video states that the Dixie Square Mall contained high levels of asbestos. Since both Dixie Square and Marquette Malls were constructed around the same time it makes me wonder how much asbestos Marquette Mall contains.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/15/dixie-square-mall-finally-meets-with-wrecking-crews/
February 15, 2012 2:09 PM
Updated 02/15/12 – 4:27 p.m.
HARVEY, Ill. (CBS) — Wrecking crews will be finishing the job that The Blues Brothers started more than 30 years ago – demolishing the Dixie Square Mall in south suburban Harvey.
“We’re on a mission from God.”
It’s one of the most famous lines from the 1980 movie “The Blues Brothers,” a line Gov. Pat Quinn borrowed Wednesday as he announced that demolition of the ruins of the Dixie Square Mall would begin.
As CBS 2’s Derrick Blakley reports, in reality, it didn’t take God to finally begin demolition of the decrepit mall, just a $4 million federal grant, funneled through the governor’s office.
The mall at 151st Street and Dixie Highway in Harvey is famous for being used in a chase scene in “The Blues Brothers.”
“I’m proud to say we were the first movie to trash a mall,” Blues Brothers director John Landis said in an interview about the film.
In the scene, Jake and Elwood’s Blues Mobile and pursuing Illinois State Police vehicles crash through the picture windows of several storefronts and mow down shelves and merchandise, leaving the mall in ruins.
Some of the storefronts in the movie were set up with false signs for Pier 1 Imports, Gingiss Formalwear and Toys ‘R’ Us, as well as for a Jewel store with an interior entry that actually had been the J.C. Penney. A man is famously seen buying a plush Grover toy at the Toys ‘R’ Us and asking the clerk, “Do you have a Miss Piggy?” when the Blues Mobile comes smashing through.
It was that chase scene that made the mall immortal, but as WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, it is also infamous as a symbol of blight and despair, having seen vandalism, fires and a brutal rape and murder in the decades it has stood decaying.
When the mall opened in 1966, it was a major economic engine for the southern suburbs, anchored by a Woolworth, a J.C. Penney, a Montgomery Ward, a Jewel store that only opened to the outside, and later a Turn Style discount store. A Walgreens, a Kinney Family shore store, a Fannie May candy shop, a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop and a Wurlitzer organ store were among the other tenants.
But, by 1979, it had already been closed for more than a year when The Blues Brothers movie was filmed.
The mall was only ever open for about 12 years; it has been shuttered for almost 75 percent of its entire existence.
Harvey resident Thomas Lay said, “When that left the neighborhood, everything looked like it just pulled out; like it just pulled the rug away from the neighborhood.”
Crime around the mall was already becoming a problem before it closed. Among the incidents were a shooting in a robbery on the mall property, and the strangulation of a teenage girl who was lured from the mall by three peers.
With the mall completely abandoned, vandals began breaking in and stealing scrap metal. Rain and snow began entering the decaying building as structural elements were taken down, leading to an overgrowth of mold and further disintegration.
The empty mall also drew attention for gruesome crimes. Raymond Eaves was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a woman, Denise Shelby, in the old J.C. Penney space in 1993. He was also charged with raping a developmentally disabled girl in the empty mall.
Major fires broke out multiple times at the abandoned mall. One fire destroyed what was left of the old Woolworth store in 2004, and another fire damaged one of the entrances in 2009, leading its roof to collapse.
The empty mall became an embarrassing white elephant, a public safety hazard, and an eyesore. Demolition was hampered by a lack of funds and the presence of asbestos.
Maurice Williams, a spokesman for the demolition crew, said, “As the asbestos comes out, the demolition crew will follow. It’s a six month project overall.”
The project also holds the promise of a new beginning in Harvey.
Harvey mayor Eric Kellogg discussed what he hopes to see replace the decrepit mall.
“I have great visions, with respect to seeing, one day, restaurants and tier one stores, economic development, commercial and retail; so our citizens can stay in Harvey and the tax dollars can stay here in our great city,” Kellogg said.
Repeated proposals to tear down the mall fell through over the years, creating an embarrassment for Harvey’s politicians and a symbol of civic failure.
That’s why there was so much joy evident when demolition began Wednesday, not that plans for new development are firmly in place.
But, with the mall finally being torn down, the future can finally begin to unfold.
“Harvey is moving forward, and our future looks bright. Today is a special day,” Kellogg said. “I’m very elated. I’m very delighted and excited about the progress.”
Illinois State Rep. Al Riley (D-Hazel Crest) says good things are going to happen at the site.
“This is just one, but it’s one that has extreme economic significance and symbolic significance for what’s going to happen to the City of Harvey,” Riley said.
Posted by: Commuter Nov 15 2012, 11:43 PM
People like strip malls instead of enclosed malls because inactivity is fashionable these days. Drive as close as you can to your destination then walk as little as possible the rest of the way. Grab one of those battery-operated shopping carts and hit the chip aisle.
I never liked the dry fountains at Marquette. I figured the handwriting was on the wall at that point. Kind of like the dry fountains at Franklin Square, but that was a political boondoggle from the git go.
$64 question: what's the next big miracle solution for the Warren Building? I KNOW! Turn it into a mall!!!
Posted by: Tim Nov 16 2012, 01:20 AM
People like strip malls instead of enclosed malls because inactivity is fashionable these days. Drive as close as you can to your destination then walk as little as possible the rest of the way. Grab one of those battery-operated shopping carts and hit the chip aisle.
Good point. Every time I come home and hit Walmart and see those morbidly obese losers riding those carts around because they're too freaking fat to actually make it from one end of the store to the other without aid I'm thinking what the hell would they do at Marquette Mall?
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Nov 16 2012, 06:35 AM
Good point. Every time I come home and hit Walmart and see those morbidly obese losers riding those carts around because they're too freaking fat to actually make it from one end of the store to the other without aid I'm thinking what the hell would they do at Marquette Mall?
Is there a "Like" button here?
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 16 2012, 07:57 AM
People like strip malls instead of enclosed malls because inactivity is fashionable these days. Drive as close as you can to your destination then walk as little as possible the rest of the way. Grab one of those battery-operated shopping carts and hit the chip aisle.
I never liked the dry fountains at Marquette. I figured the handwriting was on the wall at that point. Kind of like the dry fountains at Franklin Square, but that was a political boondoggle from the git go.
$64 question: what's the next big miracle solution for the Warren Building? I KNOW! Turn it into a mall!!!
Well an art mall anyway...
Posted by: Commuter Nov 16 2012, 04:58 PM
There is an old mall in Las Vegas called "FANTASTIC" flea market. It is hands down one of the best I have ever been to. DONE RIGHT. Perfect mix of junque, retail, food, imports, garage sale carp, ethnic must-haves, live plants, cheap clothes, nice stuff, etc. and the inventory changes regularly because, of course, nothing is new.
Have a kick-a$$ flea market there and I bet Marquette Mall would experience a turnaround.
As I have said before, I always liked the quirkiness of this little town. I rather liked the strip clubs and massage parlors of yore because it added a funkiness to the town that made it stand out from the rest of white-bread NW Indiana.
I remember chuckling when I'd open a newspaper and read about a massage parlor bust -- and the Kim Chee Washington and Sook Loo Jefferson had posted bail. . .
I remember the Shake Shack on Pine Lake Avenue in LaPorte. Did you know the "Fire Dancer" used to live right here in Michigan City and owned a family-oriented business here? Bet you didn't.
Alas, like other towns, all those establishments (save for a few) have closed and have been replaced by "eat yourself fat" restaurants. Pine Lake went upscale and built condos -- to the point that you can't really tell Pine Lake is even there any more.
I'd like to see Michigan City become weird again -- a fun place to go -- a destination unique to itself.
I think it will happen with or without a strip club.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 20 2012, 09:43 AM
To add to this, Lighthouse Place was actually the second outlet mall built in the country. It was incredibly unique at the time that it was built. Then of course the concept caught on, and outlet malls have been transformed into what malls were 30 years ago.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 21 2012, 08:12 AM
To add to this, Lighthouse Place was actually the second outlet mall built in the country. It was incredibly unique at the time that it was built. Then of course the concept caught on, and outlet malls have been transformed into what malls were 30 years ago.
I got three words, LAND BASE CASINO
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Nov 21 2012, 09:29 AM
I got three words, LAND BASE CASINO
Great idea but the State legislature would need to get involved. The City of Gary attempted to move one of their licenses to a place near I94. Not certain how that is working out.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 21 2012, 11:39 AM
Labelscar - Fading or dirt left behind from a sign on or in a mall. Labelscars leave a readable marking, which is very helpful when identifying former stores.
Old Country Buffet and Radio Shack Labelscars at Marquette Mall:
Posted by: Tim Nov 23 2012, 06:02 PM
Labelscar - Fading or dirt left behind from a sign on or in a mall. Labelscars leave a readable marking, which is very helpful when identifying former stores.
Old Country Buffet and Radio Shack Labelscars at Marquette Mall:
Those are some sad, sad pics.
Posted by: diggler Nov 23 2012, 07:14 PM
Stopped by there last Monday, and was inquiring where the hell was everybody. I mean the mall looked like a friggin ghost town.
Posted by: Tim Nov 23 2012, 08:34 PM
Stopped by there last Monday, and was inquiring where the hell was everybody. I mean the mall looked like a friggin ghost town.
I know! The last time I was there it was like being the last living cell in a dead body.
(Thank you, Dick Van Dyke)
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Nov 24 2012, 09:59 AM
My sources tell me the management of the mall has asked Reader's World and GNC to move to a location between Carson's and Penneys. I understand the mall management will close the section of the mall between Penneys and Sears.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 24 2012, 10:13 AM
My sources tell me the management of the mall has asked Reader's World and GNC to move to a location between Carson's and Penneys. I understand the mall management will close the section of the mall between Penneys and Sears.
That is the second time I have heard that rumor. Sad.
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Nov 24 2012, 11:31 AM
That is the second time I have heard that rumor. Sad.
The rumor would seem to make sense since, I understand, the actual Sears store is not part of the actual mall. The Sears building is a free standing building.
Posted by: diggler Nov 24 2012, 02:54 PM
My sources tell me the management of the mall has asked Reader's World and GNC to move to a location between Carson's and Penneys. I understand the mall management will close the section of the mall between Penneys and Sears.
I was curious what all that Reader's World remodeling was all about. Sears sez they're staying at the mall. Then again, you just never know.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 26 2012, 07:58 AM
I was curious what all that Reader's World remodeling was all about. Sears sez they're staying at the mall. Then again, you just never know.
Readers World has already moved. They moved into the old Lane Bryant space way down by Carsons, and across from the nail salon. It is a MUCH smaller place for them. I am guessing from the way lighting was set up, and the way the mall is set up, if they are closing down that wing, it will be right after the Bed, Bath, and Beyond store.
Posted by: Ang Nov 26 2012, 09:42 AM
Went shopping there on Black Friday. Haven't been at that mall on a black Friday since I worked at Chess King. OMG!! What a difference a couple decades make. I can see them shutting down the section between Bath & Body and Sears. There really isn't much there and the lights were off. We went to Carson's-no luck for anything, then Sears - had some luck there, but they then I was so depressed that we just left. Didn't shop at any of the other stores.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 26 2012, 10:02 AM
Went shopping there on Black Friday. Haven't been at that mall on a black Friday since I worked at Chess King. OMG!! What a difference a couple decades make. I can see them shutting down the section between Bath & Body and Sears. There really isn't much there and the lights were off. We went to Carson's-no luck for anything, then Sears - had some luck there, but they then I was so depressed that we just left. Didn't shop at any of the other stores.
I would alway ship my items out of that small post office beneath the Swanson Center when I was selling on eBay. Sometime the line was so long it would extend out into the concourse of the mall especially during the lunch hours when one of the postal clerks would have their break while only one was left to service the customers. It was always a challenge standing in line while people came in to check their PO boxes. It got to a point where I would only go to that post office once a week and ship on Wednesday mornings especially during the winter months.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 26 2012, 10:20 AM
I would alway ship my items out of that small post office beneath the Swanson Center when I was selling on eBay. Sometime the line was so long it would extend out into the concourse of the mall especially during the lunch hours when one of the postal clerks would have their break while only one was left to service the customers. It was always a challenge standing in line while people came in to check their PO boxes. It got to a point where I would only go to that post office once a week and ship on Wednesday mornings especially during the winter months.
The downtown branch is worse.
Posted by: Commuter Nov 26 2012, 01:41 PM
GNC is moving in the next month or two to an outside exposure location.
It's one of their longest-running tenants.
Personally, I LIKE malls. They compete with each other, which brings down prices in a way.
[hijack]Has anyone noticed price creep at wal-mart? They are no longer cheaper on stuff by a longshot.
I used to go there because i felt secure knowing their overall pricing was lower -- that my shopping basket price was lower than competitors. Lately, I've found them egregiously higher on everything from flashlights to milk.
Menards is the new low-price leader in my opinion.
[/hijack]
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 26 2012, 02:37 PM
2006 article from labelscar.com
http://www.labelscar.com/indiana/marquette-mall
December 21, 2006 | Indiana | Posted by Prange Way
Cozily nestled on the southeastern shores of Lake Michigan, Michigan City is an industrial, working-class city of about 32,000 people. It’s about 60 miles east of downtown Chicago and 40 miles west of South Bend. The dominant features of the landscape are the giant, 600-foot NIPSCO energy cooling tower and Mt. Baldy, a 123 foot sand dune which is part of the beautifully underrated Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Michigan City is also known for its downtown outlet mall and for Blue Chip Casino, Indiana’s largest riverboat.
Aside from the outlet mall downtown, the dominant shopping area in Michigan City is on the south side along Route 421, on which sits Michigan City’s lone enclosed mall at the intersection with Route 20. Marquette Mall opened in 1967, and today it is anchored by Carson Pirie Scott, JCPenney and Sears. In addition to the anchors, the mall also houses a large office tower which seemingly sprouts from the base of the mall behind Carson’s. The Marquette Mall Office Tower, at seven stories, is the tallest building in Michigan City. On our first visit to Marquette Mall in 1999, both Caldor and I noticed the mall’s office tower upon leaving the mall and couldn’t stop laughing at its rather non-sequitur placement behind Carson’s, complete with blue letters reading ”MARQUETTE MALL” at the very top.
Of Marquette Mall’s 500,000 square feet of leasable space, a large portion is vacant. Even though the anchors are filled, the space along the mall’s T-shaped corridors is troubled. For example, the only women’s clothing retailers currently open as of December 2006 are Lady Edge, which appears to be local, and Rainbow Shops, an urban-wear retailer chain. Also, Marquette Mall’s website invites patrons to “stop at one of the Mall’s full-service restaurants such as Applebee’s or Old Country Buffet, or enjoy a quick meal at one of the many quick-food purveyors.” On the current directory, I only count Applebee’s and something called Bingsoo, which I’m hoping is Asian cuisine. Where are the many other quick-food purveyors? And what happened to Old Country Buffet? If they aren’t sticking around, something’s the matter.
It may sound like we’re poking fun at poor Marquette Mall, but we would love to see it succeed. So too would local residents, who don’t want to drive over 30 miles to the shopping mecca surrounding Southlake Mall in Merrillville, or 40 miles to the shopping in South Bend. Someone posted on northwestindiana.com last month and was dismayed about the mall’s offerings, blamed management, and even offered suggestions for stores even lower-tier successful malls have.
So why is Marquette Mall mostly unsuccessful? People don’t want to drive over 30 miles for a regular mall, do they? The area around the mall is full of big-box, restaurants, and strip malls, and is one of Michigan City’s retail meccas. The other retail mecca, however, might be the key stealing away Marquette Mall’s thunder. Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets opened in the mid-1980s in downtown as part of an urban renewal project. The outlets have been very successful ever since, and draw tourists from the Chicago area on their way to Michigan for vacation. Furthermore, their offerings essentially replace the need for a regular mall.
We visited Marquette Mall again in March 2005 and took the pictures below. Share your stories and opinions here.
Posted by: Ang Nov 26 2012, 03:01 PM
How sad.....half the stores in those pictures are gone now, too......
Wonder how long it will take for its demise to complete? I'm thinking the only thing in the office section is Swanson Center, and last I knew, they had two floors. Kankakee Valley was at the top, but I hear they moved when it changed to Work One (which I believe is getting ready to close in MC now, too). And do the anchor stores even bring in enough volume to keep them open? Or are the companies just keeping them there because they feel sorry for us?
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 26 2012, 03:12 PM
I noticed that even the Army recruiting center was closed. Yeesh.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 26 2012, 06:34 PM
What year was the Mall Office Tower constructed?
One of the reviewers on foursqaure.com commented that "You'll need a therapist after leaving here!"
https://foursquare.com/v/marquette-mall/4bd79ca90b779c74b5a905a0
Posted by: Tim Nov 27 2012, 12:55 AM
Went shopping there on Black Friday. Haven't been at that mall on a black Friday since I worked at Chess King. OMG!! What a difference a couple decades make. I can see them shutting down the section between Bath & Body and Sears. There really isn't much there and the lights were off. We went to Carson's-no luck for anything, then Sears - had some luck there, but they then I was so depressed that we just left. Didn't shop at any of the other stores.
I think "Black Friday" means something different at Marquette Mall, sadly.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 27 2012, 07:40 AM
Found this story about the Marquette Theater. It's been abandoned for 6 1/2 years now. All you see now at Marquette Theater now are two Michigan City Police crusiers in the north parking lot looking for speeders on St. John Rd.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5905
403 Saint John Road,
Michigan City, IN
Closed
3 screens
900 seats
Previously operated by:Kerasotes Theatres, Plitt Theatres
Previous Names: Marquette Mall Theater
Plitt Theaters opened the Marquette Mall theater on Christmas Day, 1970 with “Love Story”. The theater is located behind the mall in the northwest corner. It became known for playing movies that were exclusive to Northwest Indiana and could be found only on one screen in Chicago, much like “Love Story”. “The Godfather” was another prime example.
On Christmas Day of 1973, a second screen opened with its premiere attraction being “Magnum Force”. The theater had a stronghold on the area until General Cinema opened a fourplex across the street in 1975. With films like “Jaws”, “Towering Inferno” and “Young Frankenstein” playing at Marquette, the crowds were still huge. In 1977 screen one was closed and cut in half to create two smaller screens. This left screen 2 as the prime auditorium.
When Plitt sold out, Cineplex Odeon took over and then Kerasotes purchased the Marquette in 1989. The theater was closed in June of 2006.
Contributed by John
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 27 2012, 08:24 AM
I can't imagine why that building is still standing.
Posted by: Ang Nov 27 2012, 10:12 AM
I've been thinking about that, well the whole mall situation.....
The theater building needs to go-it will never be used for anything else and is just falling into decay and looking bad. Eventually, one of those anchor stores will close and that will the ultimate demise of that mall. My guess is Sears, but possilby Carson's will be the first to go. Either way, the remaining stores could be converted to stand alone stores while the rest of the mall, including the office tower, is razed. Then we need to call Target and see if they want to put a store over there. That would revitalize that area in my opinion. I'm not a huge fan of Target stores, but with Kohl's across the street, a Target--or TJ Maxx would be perfect to really get the ball rolling.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 27 2012, 10:15 AM
I've been thinking about that, well the whole mall situation.....
The theater building needs to go-it will never be used for anything else and is just falling into decay and looking bad. Eventually, one of those anchor stores will close and that will the ultimate demise of that mall. My guess is Sears, but possilby Carson's will be the first to go. Either way, the remaining stores could be converted to stand alone stores while the rest of the mall, including the office tower, is razed. Then we need to call Target and see if they want to put a store over there. That would revitalize that area in my opinion. I'm not a huge fan of Target stores, but with Kohl's across the street, a Target--or TJ Maxx would be perfect to really get the ball rolling.
In my mind JC Penny's will be the first anchor to go. That whole chain is in big trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if they are in liquidation within a couple of years.
Posted by: Ang Nov 27 2012, 10:29 AM
We shoud do a poll!
What store do you think will be the first to leave Marquette Mall?....
Sears
Pennys
Carsons
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Nov 27 2012, 10:30 AM
JCP
Sears
Carsons
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 29 2012, 01:28 PM
I can't imagine why that building is still standing.
If a building such as the Marquette Theatre building was located in another nearby city such as Valparaiso, Portage, Hobart, Crown Point or even Lake Station would it be allowed to have left standing vacant, boarded up and abandoned for 6 1/2 years?
How come we do not see the same amount of blight and abandonment in those cities that we see here in Michigan City?
Do those cities have a different and stronger set of building code standards or have adopted better ordinances than Michigan City?
What are these cities doing right to prevent this from happening that Michigan City is doing wrong?
Posted by: diggler Dec 1 2012, 04:16 AM
Online sales may bring holiday fear for some U.S. malls
Fri, Nov 30 2012
By Ilaina Jonas
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to the internet, David Simon's kids can look but not buy.
"They are not allowed to shop on the Internet or I won't pay for their room or board," Chief Executive and Chairman of Simon Property Group Inc, the largest U.S. owner of malls and outlet centers joked at a the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts investor forum in June.
Although his kids and their generation still go to the mall, Simon worries what the habits of his grandchildren will be.
If online sales continue to grow and take away a bigger and bigger slice of the U.S. consumer spending pie, the future doesn't look good for some malls. Yet in a weird twist, it looks brighter for others.
Last week's starting gun for holiday shopping speaks volumes.
For the first time, online sales could account for more than 10 percent of holiday sales this year, according to Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell more on websites, including Amazon.com and eBay.com.
Online sales on Cyber Monday jumped 30.3 percent, according to International Business Machines Corp, which analyzes transactions for 500 U.S. retailers. Even more threatening are the sales from pure online retailers.
For the five-day period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, client sales on eBay.com rose 38.3 percent compared with the same days in 2011, according to ChannelAdvisor, which helps merchants sell online. Sales at Amazon.com jumped 37.7 percent.
Meanwhile, foot traffic malls, shopping centers and power centers -- the home of big box stores -- rose 8.2 percent this year from Thursday though Sunday and sales increased 2.7 percent. Though store sale still account for the lion's share of shopping dollars, online sales are sky rocketing.
However, much of the online sales have come from brick-and-mortar stores, such as Macy's, the Gap, Costco and Target. They have embraced the Internet as yet another channel for sales, which benefits the stores. A large chunk of online sale returns occur at the store, giving shoppers a chance to avoid shipping costs, store owners a chance to make another sale, and the mall additional foot traffic. The same is true for consumers who order online and pick up their merchandise at the store.
"We would be very reluctant today to do business with a retailer that did not have a multi-channel strategy that would involve the internet," Daniel Hurwitz, chief executive of big box mall owner DDR Corp. "The issue with retail is merchandise. And the best merchant wins, and great real estate cannot bail out a bad merchant."
Online shopping presents its biggest threat to power centers, where stores like Best Buyand stationery merchants selling commodity goods are located. These retailers have started matching online prices but the strategy's success remains to be seen.
Many mall companies, such as Simon and Westfield Group also have embraced technology with mobile apps and QR codes that send messages and information to shoppers directing them to sales, events and offerings at the mall.
Still the new competition will widen the divide between stronger and weaker malls, and likely will accelerate the demise of weaker malls as they become less attractive retailers, shoppers and investors.
"If you're a fourth mall in a market, it's just not a compelling investment," Diane Wade, senior analyst of dedicated REIT manager CBRE Clarion Securities.
Meanwhile, stronger retailers will continue to flock to the better properties allowing owners to raise rents.
"If you're an owner of a lower quality asset that's not competitive with the other properties in the market, well that's an issue for you. But it benefits the guys with the stronger properties," Green Street Advisors analyst Andrew Johns said.
This accelerated trend will likely benefit the publicly owned real estate investment trusts who own about 70 percent of the best performing U.S. malls.
Despite incorporating technology, malls and their retailers cannot ignore the pure internet retailers, such as Amazon and eBay. To compete, they will continue focus on what online can't offer: an actual living experience, such as dining entertainment and a place to gather.
"You can't take your family to the Christmas lighting at Amazon, but you can do that at a mall," Johns said. "You can't go to Amazon to visit Santa but you go to a mall to do that."
Additionally, tenants at stronger properties will likely start using their stores as a form of advertising and as a marketing component, instead of being solely concerned with how profitable the store is.
"If I have a store in the best mall in town and I get tons of foot traffic though it, that's really valuable," Johns said. "Those people, they might not buy today, but maybe they'll go online or maybe they'll go back to their hometown because they're visiting, and buy at my other store."
(Reporting By Ilaina Jonas; editing by Andrew Hay)
Posted by: khool4 Dec 2 2012, 04:58 PM
About 5 years ago we had a reason to rent the theater. We were going to rent the entire building and convert it for our purposes. In fact, we had a contract in hand for the building. I had negotiated our terms and we had a verbal agreement. A gentleman from the Mall's parent company contacted me and said that they decided to rent the facility to a dinner/theater company. They pulled out of negotiations with us. It was shortly after that the Kerasotes folks came in and removed all the seats because they didn't want it rented as a theater. If we had rented the facility, we would have probably still been in there. It seems like the Mall management never wanted it to be used again.
Posted by: taxthedeer Dec 8 2012, 07:33 PM
http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/12/08/sports/doc50c23d52bd97f567349902.txt
By Mike McKee
Outdoors
Published: Friday, December 7, 2012 5:06 PM CST
The Steelheaders’ Outdoor Show has been canceled.
The 27th annual event, which was scheduled for Jan. 12-13 at the Marquette Mall, died due to lack of vendor interest.
“We barely have a portion of the contracts we had at this time last year,” Janet Ryan, show coordinator, said.
“And with the holidays coming, we surely didn’t believe we’d get them.”
The Steelheaders, one of the most active conservation clubs in the area, moved the Outdoor Show to Michigan City in 2012 after a 25-year run in Valparaiso.
Costs and dwindling vendor participation prompted the move from the Porter County Fairgrounds.
By most accounts, the Marquette Mall show went very well for a first attempt.
There were more than 100 tables set up and the retailers I talked with made their investment in coming to Michigan City back by the middle of the first day.
“It’s mostly a sign of the times — the economy, the electronic age,” Ryan added.
Indeed, the heyday of outdoor shows was 10 to 15 years ago. For a while, there was a show within an hour’s drive every weekend in January, February and March.
Major retailers, as well as obscure, one-of-a-kind lure makers realized they can reach more people and do more business through websites, social media and the Internet rather than spending valuable time huckstering from a booth.
And, if folks still want to touch-and-feel product they can browse through Bass Pro or Cablelas any day of the week.
Truth is, the big box stores have more variety and stock than most Outdoor Shows ever had.
Salmon Showdown
The Tournament Trail folks who film the opening episode of their 13-week television series at the Hoosier Coho Club Classic in Michigan City have changed the name of the program from 333TV to Salmon Showdown.
The Michigan City episode will debut the first week of January on the Pursuit Channel, which is available in 38 million households.
A 45-second sneak peak of the Michigan City episode is available at https://vimeo.com/54773139. The entire episode will be posted after its broadcast run.
The 2013 HCC Classic is set for May 4-5 and will again boast a $10,000 top pay out.
Outdoors Report
Ducks are done in Indiana’s North Zone on Sunday, but will reopen Dec. 22-30. Canada geese are legal through Jan. 6, Jan. 19-23 and Feb. 1-15.
Crow season opens Dec. 13 and continues through March 1.
Deer-muzzleloading season opens Saturday and continues through Dec. 23. Deer-archery is open through Jan. 6 and a special deer-firearms season for antlerless in La Porte County is Dec. 26-Jan. 6.
Steelhead action on Trail Creek perked up with a bit of rain this week. Some gorgeous, fresh winter-runs were taken in the lower stretches and holdover Skamania throughout the length of the stream.
Whitefish and steelhead are available to pier anglers when the weather allows.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Dec 9 2012, 09:55 AM
That is called no traffic at Marquette Mall. How sad.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jan 2 2013, 08:59 AM
According to facebook, bath and body works is closed at MQT mall. No big surprise as they have a spot open at Lighthouse Place already.
Posted by: diggler Jan 2 2013, 09:31 AM
Wonder why Reader's World would still even be there.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jan 2 2013, 09:40 AM
Wonder why Reader's World would still even be there.
MUCH smaller location now.
Posted by: Tim Jan 2 2013, 03:41 PM
MUCH smaller location now.
I just bought a calender there. The store is about 1/4 the size of the old location.
In general, the mall is so sad. It's also cold and dark. Do they just not want people to go there?
I'd opine it's time to stick a fork in Marquette Mall.
Posted by: Tim Jan 2 2013, 03:43 PM
According to facebook, bath and body works is closed at MQT mall. No big surprise as they have a spot open at Lighthouse Place already.
That was quick, as I just shopped there on 12/29 or so and there was no sign of them closing.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jan 3 2013, 08:48 AM
I just bought a calender there. The store is about 1/4 the size of the old location.
In general, the mall is so sad. It's also cold and dark. Do they just not want people to go there?
I'd opine it's time to stick a fork in Marquette Mall.
One of two things has to happen. They either need to take a bold leap forward to announce to the world that the mall isn't dead, or just shutdown the non-anchors for good, and close off the rest of the mall. It is so depressing to go in there, it makes you never want to go back again.
Posted by: taxthedeer Jan 9 2013, 12:20 PM
Another Asian Buffet called "Hibachi Grill" is going into the former Old Country Buffet location.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jan 9 2013, 03:08 PM
Another Asian Buffet called "Habachi Grill" is going into the former Old Country Buffet location.
Interesting. I wish it were a real Hibachi place, but I will probably check it out when/if it opens.
Posted by: Tim Jan 9 2013, 03:44 PM
One of two things has to happen. They either need to take a bold leap forward to announce to the world that the mall isn't dead, or just shutdown the non-anchors for good, and close off the rest of the mall. It is so depressing to go in there, it makes you never want to go back again.
Agreeance. Walking thru there I thought why is this place even open? Just sad.
Posted by: Tim Jan 9 2013, 04:09 PM
Better days.
Attached image(s)
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Jan 9 2013, 04:55 PM
Better days.
Probably 1969 or 1970, I would guess.
Posted by: Commuter Jan 9 2013, 09:26 PM
Better days for THE MALL maybe.
But today's retail situation is better for the consumer.
Posted by: Tim Jan 9 2013, 09:27 PM
Check the article in today's ND about Bath & Body Works closing their Marquette Mall location. The mall's owners/managers seem awfully out of touch with grim reality!
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jan 10 2013, 08:59 AM
Wow, the mall owners are just clueless.
http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2013/01/09/news/local/doc50ecda65a7c20151343299.txt
Posted by: Ang Jan 10 2013, 09:17 AM
Well, if they don't do something before Kohl's opens, there will be no hope of riding the Kohl's coat tail to get more business. People will go over there, sure, but two steps into the mall from Penny's and the people will turn around and walk right back out.
Some one said earlier it might be a good idea to close the anchor stores off from the main mall and demolish it. I think that's an excellent idea. Build strips between the anchor stores and I'll bet the business out there picks up.
But, I guess according to the article, the owners of the place could care less. They live in California. I can see them sitting at some bar trying to pick up a chick, "Yeah.... Me and my partner own a mall in Indiana." HA! Joke.
Posted by: taxthedeer Jan 10 2013, 11:31 AM
.
Some one said earlier it might be a good idea to close the anchor stores off from the main mall and demolish it. I think that's an excellent idea. Build strips between the anchor stores and I'll bet the business out there picks up.
They did this in Jonesboro, Arkansas near where my maternal grandparents lived, they tore down their old outdated dead Indian Mall, which was construsted around the same tim as our Marquette Mall about fice years ago (it was called called it Indian mall because the "Indians" used Arkansas State University's old mascot until the NCAA forced the college to drop the nickname) and only left the Sears store and auto center standing. Then they constructed a new modern mall just to the east called the Mall at Turtle Creek that opened about six years ago.
http://deadmalls.com/malls/indian_mall.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Mall
Most of the leased space stores that were at the Old Indian Mall are now at The Mall of Turtle Creek similar to most of the stores I remember being at Marquette Mall are now at Lighthouse Place.
Posted by: Tim Jan 10 2013, 05:44 PM
Wow, the mall owners are just clueless.
http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2013/01/09/news/local/doc50ecda65a7c20151343299.txt
How in the fun does this "manager" think Kohl's is going to bring biz to the mall? If anything it'll give people one more reason NOT to go there. if this manager had a FREAKING CLUE she'd turn the lights and the heat on i the mall. I was in there in December, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Simply horrible environment.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jan 16 2013, 09:55 AM
How in the fun does this "manager" think Kohl's is going to bring biz to the mall? If anything it'll give people one more reason NOT to go there. if this manager had a FREAKING CLUE she'd turn the lights and the heat on i the mall. I was in there in December, and I couldn't wait to get out of there. Simply horrible environment.
The only way Kohl's helps is if MQT Mall management does something to attract the additional traffic from the new plaza to come across the street. Right now their strategy seems to be to sit and wait for Lighthouse Place to go out of business, or something.
Posted by: taxthedeer Feb 3 2013, 07:47 PM
Well, if they don't do something before Kohl's opens, there will be no hope of riding the Kohl's coat tail to get more business. People will go over there, sure, but two steps into the mall from Penny's and the people will turn around and walk right back out.
Some one said earlier it might be a good idea to close the anchor stores off from the main mall and demolish it. I think that's an excellent idea. Build strips between the anchor stores and I'll bet the business out there picks up.
But, I guess according to the article, the owners of the place could care less. They live in California. I can see them sitting at some bar trying to pick up a chick, "Yeah.... Me and my partner own a mall in Indiana." HA! Joke.
According to the Beacon site Sears owns their store and the 1st Source Bank Bulding outlot on the corner as well as the surrounding parking lot.
http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=205&LayerID=2736&PageTypeID=4&PageID=1531&KeyValue=460505476001000009
Walgreens owns their property at Franklin & 20.
The rest of the Mall including the Tire Barn Shop and the abandoned theater building and land behind Kableins which includes tracts that extends out to Ohio Street is owned by Marquette Mall Properties LTD & Sterling Capitol Ltd. and is asscessed over a combined $7 million.
http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=205&LayerID=2736&PageTypeID=1&PageID=1532&KeyValue=460505451006000009
Posted by: Tim Feb 3 2013, 10:47 PM
According to the Beacon site Sears owns their store and the 1st Source Bank Bulding outlot on the corner as well as the surrounding parking lot.
http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=205&LayerID=2736&PageTypeID=4&PageID=1531&KeyValue=460505476001000009
Walgreens owns their property at Franklin & 20.
The rest of the Mall including the Tire Barn Shop and the abandoned theater building and land behind Kableins which includes tracts that extends out to Ohio Street is owned by Marquette Mall Properties LTD & Sterling Capitol Ltd. and is accessed over a combined $7 million.
http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=205&LayerID=2736&PageTypeID=1&PageID=1532&KeyValue=460505451006000009
Do you mean assessed at over a combined $7 million?
it's baffling why anyone would keep the gasping-for-last-breath dinosaur that the mall has become open. Any property that has that much square footage empty and is, as a result, not generating income has got to be a financial smoking crater.
Posted by: taxthedeer Feb 4 2013, 09:34 AM
Do you mean assessed at over a combined $7 million?
it's baffling why anyone would keep the gasping-for-last-breath dinosaur that the mall has become open. Any property that has that much square footage empty and is, as a result, not generating income has got to be a financial smoking crater.
Four parcels:
24 acre Mall Building and parking lot: $4,970,200
7.3 acre West Parking lot: $562,800
1.7 acre Tire Barn Shop: $167,800
13.34 acre Theater Building and property $846,800
Total $6,547,600
Posted by: Tim Feb 4 2013, 02:56 PM
Four parcels:
24 acre Mall Building and parking lot: $4,970,200
7.3 acre West Parking lot: $562,800
1.7 acre Tire Barn Shop: $167,800
13.34 acre Theater Building and property $846,800
Total $6,547,600
Sp - not accessed.
Got it.
Posted by: diggler Feb 5 2013, 05:07 AM
Online sales threat to American malls
By Stephen Foley and Barney Jopson in New York
February 4, 2013
Credit market investors are falling out of love with US shopping malls as up to 15 per cent of the country’s suburban retail centres are forecast to close over the next five years in the face of online competition.
The proportion of retail properties being put into commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) deals has slumped in the past three years because of concerns about the sector.
The US’s more than 1,300 regional malls, defined as centres larger than 450,000 square feet, are being threatened by the boom in internet shopping and tougher competition.
“I think 200 are going out of business,” said Gerry Mason, executive managing director at property group Savills. “We’re 15-20 per cent overbuilt. There are just too many stores.”
The future of megamalls, which include cinemas, bowling alleys and restaurants designed to lure consumers, appear safe but the prospects for second-tier malls are dimming.
Traders are watching the health of stores such as Sears and JC Penney, where sales are falling, and announcements from retailers such as bookseller Barnes & Noble last week, which said it would shut a third of its outlets over the next decade .
CMBS are bonds backed by a pool of mortgages on commercial property, ranging from office towers to apartment blocks. Retail property accounted for 56 per cent of the pools coming to market in 2010, according to RBS, but that fell to 42 per cent in the second half of 2011 and dropped to 36 per cent last year. In CMBS deals so far this year, the average is down to 30 per cent.
“Investors expressed concern about retail exposure in the long term,” said Richard Hill, CMBS strategist at RBS. Analysts say the market appears to be dividing between mega and second-tier malls, with mortgages on megamalls increasingly being securitised separately in single-property CMBS.
Simon Property Group, the largest US mall owner, reported strong earnings on Monday, boosted by higher rents and sales at its high-end malls.
Retail is regarded as an especially risky component of CMBS because a mall can go downhill if an important tenant shuts its store. Other tenants are usually able to renegotiate their leases if a traffic-driving anchor tenant leaves. That can have severe consequences for CMBS exposed to the mortgage on the property.
Ecommerce accounts for roughly $1 in every $10 spent by US shoppers and its market share continues to rise. In last year’s end-of-year shopping season, online sales increased14 per cent while sales overall were up by just 3 per cent, according to ComScore and the National Retail Federation.
Ecommerce has already contributed to the demise of Circuit City, an electronics chain, and Borders, a bookstore. Sears and JC Penney, who often serve as mall anchor tenants have announced store closures in the past 18 months, as have Gap, the fashion chain, and Best Buy, another electronics chain.
http://deadmalls.com/index.html
Posted by: Tim Feb 5 2013, 03:32 PM
Online sales threat to American malls
By Stephen Foley and Barney Jopson in New York
February 4, 2013
Credit market investors are falling out of love with US shopping malls as up to 15 per cent of the country’s suburban retail centres are forecast to close over the next five years in the face of online competition.
The proportion of retail properties being put into commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) deals has slumped in the past three years because of concerns about the sector.
The US’s more than 1,300 regional malls, defined as centres larger than 450,000 square feet, are being threatened by the boom in internet shopping and tougher competition.
“I think 200 are going out of business,” said Gerry Mason, executive managing director at property group Savills. “We’re 15-20 per cent overbuilt. There are just too many stores.”
The future of megamalls, which include cinemas, bowling alleys and restaurants designed to lure consumers, appear safe but the prospects for second-tier malls are dimming.
Traders are watching the health of stores such as Sears and JC Penney, where sales are falling, and announcements from retailers such as bookseller Barnes & Noble last week, which said it would shut a third of its outlets over the next decade .
CMBS are bonds backed by a pool of mortgages on commercial property, ranging from office towers to apartment blocks. Retail property accounted for 56 per cent of the pools coming to market in 2010, according to RBS, but that fell to 42 per cent in the second half of 2011 and dropped to 36 per cent last year. In CMBS deals so far this year, the average is down to 30 per cent.
“Investors expressed concern about retail exposure in the long term,” said Richard Hill, CMBS strategist at RBS. Analysts say the market appears to be dividing between mega and second-tier malls, with mortgages on megamalls increasingly being securitised separately in single-property CMBS.
Simon Property Group, the largest US mall owner, reported strong earnings on Monday, boosted by higher rents and sales at its high-end malls.
Retail is regarded as an especially risky component of CMBS because a mall can go downhill if an important tenant shuts its store. Other tenants are usually able to renegotiate their leases if a traffic-driving anchor tenant leaves. That can have severe consequences for CMBS exposed to the mortgage on the property.
Ecommerce accounts for roughly $1 in every $10 spent by US shoppers and its market share continues to rise. In last year’s end-of-year shopping season, online sales increased14 per cent while sales overall were up by just 3 per cent, according to ComScore and the National Retail Federation.
Ecommerce has already contributed to the demise of Circuit City, an electronics chain, and Borders, a bookstore. Sears and JC Penney, who often serve as mall anchor tenants have announced store closures in the past 18 months, as have Gap, the fashion chain, and Best Buy, another electronics chain.
http://deadmalls.com/index.html
This last Christmas I bought maybe two presents in a brick n mortar store - everything else online. I'm in Japan, but even if I were still in Los Angeles I'd shop that way. I think there will always be a place for stores you can walk into, but places like Marquette Mall, sadly, are the Hula hoops of 2013.
Posted by: diggler Feb 5 2013, 05:15 PM
I'm not sure if even the The LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau Gift Shop will still remain there. I seriously considered once selling some of my wood crafts there.
Posted by: Tim Feb 5 2013, 09:59 PM
I'm not sure if even the The LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau Gift Shop will still remain there. I seriously considered once selling some of my wood crafts there.
Was it where Walgreen's restaurant was? If so, it was still there in December.
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Feb 6 2013, 05:55 AM
Was it where Walgreen's restaurant was? If so, it was still there in December.
The visitors bureau is still located where Walgreen's restaurant was previously located.
Posted by: diggler Mar 8 2013, 08:00 AM
J.C. Penney Cutting 2,200 Jobs as Sales Plunge
By Sapna Maheshwari - Mar 8, 2013
J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) is cutting an additional 2,200 jobs to trim costs as Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson’s revamp of the department-store chain causes sales to plunge.
The positions to be eliminated include back-office administrators in stores and district offices as well as store leadership positions, Joey Thomas, a spokesman, said in an e- mail yesterday. About 10 percent of J.C. Penney’s 1,100 stores cut their headcounts because of sales volume shifts, he said.
Johnson said last week that 19,000 J.C. Penney employees have lost their jobs in the past year as his turnaround struggles to gain traction. The retailer’s revenue fell 25 percent to $13 billion in the year ended Feb. 2, the lowest since at least 1987. Customers have been alienated by marketing missteps, a failed attempt to transition away from sales and coupons and Johnson’s plan to turn most stores into collections of boutiques.
“As with any reduction in force, we do our best to absorb those impacted into other positions if they choose to do so,” Thomas said. “Impacted team members were given 30 days notice, so their last day would not be effective until April 6. Those who are benefits eligible will receive a severance package and outplacement assistance,” he said.
J.C. Penney rose for the first time in four days, climbing 2.7 percent to $14.82 yesterday at the close in New York. The shares have fallen 25 percent this year through yesterday, after a 44 percent plunge in 2012.
Johnson said on the company’s Feb. 27 earnings call that frequent rumors about job cuts are hard on the retailer’s teams.
‘Really Rumored’
“This idea that we’ve got massive headcounts reductions on the way is just really rumored, and we will tactically make changes, but this has been much more rumor than it is fact,” Johnson said on the call in response to a question about workforce reductions.
He mentioned the 19,000 job losses during testimony in New York state court in Manhattan last week as the company defends itself from a lawsuit by Macy’s Inc. (M) over Martha Stewart-branded goods.
Former J.C. Penney CEO Allen Questrom said in a telephone interview March 6 that he was concerned about additional job cuts.
“Penney is an American institution, and people who work there will have their lives affected if they lose their jobs,” Questrom said. “That’s who I worry about.”
The retailer operates about 1,100 stores, according to a Feb. 27 statement. J.C. Penney employed 159,000 people as of January 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Mar 8 2013, 09:28 AM
I've said it before, and I will say it again, JCP is headed the way of Montgomery Wards. They are a company without a sector right now. You almost have to either be discount or luxury, and they are neither.
Posted by: Tim Mar 9 2013, 05:07 PM
Another death rattle from Marquette Mall. Someone just posted this on Facebook -
Well folks, I got a letter in the mail today from Fred Meyers Jewelers in Marquette Mall is closing on April 21st.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Mar 10 2013, 08:39 AM
When it rains, it pours.
Posted by: diggler Mar 10 2013, 08:41 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbN0g8-zbdY
Posted by: CSchwanke Mar 10 2013, 08:28 PM
Another death rattle from Marquette Mall. Someone just posted this on Facebook -
Well folks, I got a letter in the mail today from Fred Meyers Jewelers in Marquette Mall is closing on April 21st.
I got the letter in the mail today also!!!!!
Posted by: diggler Mar 11 2013, 07:16 AM
Why not turn the soon to be abandoned Marquette Mall into a Museum Mall...much like the original McDonalds store ? It make for one hell of a tourist attraction center. You'd still have a restaurant, souvenir gift shop, and tourists would leave with happy memories of what it was like once to shop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsS0sJDM1m8
_
Posted by: MCRogers1974 Mar 11 2013, 02:22 PM
I got the letter in the mail today also!!!!!
I understand Fred Meyers is owned by Kroger. I guess Kroger would not be pulling out if they thought a ray of hope existed for the future of the mall.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Mar 12 2013, 09:46 AM
I got the letter in the mail today also!!!!!
A question for you in an official capacity as a councilman. Could the City go about getting the Mall declared a blight and finding someone with a new idea for the corner, since the Mall owners refuse to work with the City?
Posted by: diggler Mar 12 2013, 09:57 AM
Still say its a fabulous idea whose time has come. Time to replicate it here in MC.
Yesterday's Main Street
Yesterday’s Main Street transports you back to the beginning of the 20th Century and allows you to see what Chicago would have looked like in 1910. As you stroll along the cobblestone and brick streets of the exhibit, you'll encounter old-fashioned storefronts and businesses---like a law office or the Chicago Post Office. As you peer through the windows, you can see some of the technologies that were common.
You can go window shopping and admire the fashions of yesteryear at Lytton’s clothing store, Chas A. Stevens & Co or the Gossard Corset Shop.
You may even see some familiar Chicago names as you pass by Berghoff’s Restaurant, Commonwealth Edison, the Jewel Tea Company grocery (now Jewel-Osco) and Marshall Field and Co. (now Macy’s).
Yesterday’s Main Street is brought to life by real operating versions of 1910 businesses. Step into the Nickelodeon and view classic silent movies. If you work up a hunger from traveling through time, stop into Finnigan’s Ice Cream Parlor (open seasonally) for a delicious treat!
Before you leave, make sure to stop by the photo studio and have your picture taken in the classic 1902 motor car with vintage clothing accessories. It makes a perfect souvenir to remember your time-traveling experience.
http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/yesterdays-main-street/
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Mar 12 2013, 02:16 PM
Still say its a fabulous idea whose time has come. Time to replicate it here in MC.
Yesterday's Main Street
Yesterday’s Main Street transports you back to the beginning of the 20th Century and allows you to see what Chicago would have looked like in 1910. As you stroll along the cobblestone and brick streets of the exhibit, you'll encounter old-fashioned storefronts and businesses---like a law office or the Chicago Post Office. As you peer through the windows, you can see some of the technologies that were common.
You can go window shopping and admire the fashions of yesteryear at Lytton’s clothing store, Chas A. Stevens & Co or the Gossard Corset Shop.
You may even see some familiar Chicago names as you pass by Berghoff’s Restaurant, Commonwealth Edison, the Jewel Tea Company grocery (now Jewel-Osco) and Marshall Field and Co. (now Macy’s).
Yesterday’s Main Street is brought to life by real operating versions of 1910 businesses. Step into the Nickelodeon and view classic silent movies. If you work up a hunger from traveling through time, stop into Finnigan’s Ice Cream Parlor (open seasonally) for a delicious treat!
Before you leave, make sure to stop by the photo studio and have your picture taken in the classic 1902 motor car with vintage clothing accessories. It makes a perfect souvenir to remember your time-traveling experience.
http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/yesterdays-main-street/
The problem is you have to figure out how to make it into a money maker. That display at MSI only has two things that make money.
Posted by: taxthedeer Mar 22 2013, 11:22 PM
I might go check this out at the mall on Saturday:
http://baoflc.wordpress.com/
Posted by: diggler Mar 23 2013, 02:43 AM
Heard there's yet another Asian restaurant suppose to be opening up there.
Posted by: taxthedeer Mar 23 2013, 07:16 AM
Heard there's yet another Asian restaurant suppose to be opening up there.
Hibachi Grill, there is one in Mishawaka on the Grape Rd. corridor.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Mar 23 2013, 07:44 AM
Hibachi Grill, there is one in Mishawaka on the Grape Rd. corridor.
They have a sign up on highway 20. I'll have to go check it out.
Posted by: diggler Apr 22 2013, 07:22 PM
"Old-fashioned retailers are going bust, leaving towns marred by vast, empty storefronts. Those that remain complain of “showrooming,” when shoppers inspect their wares, then leave the store to buy the same products on the Internet, finding lower prices and avoiding sales taxes."
http://nyti.ms/11fR0pe
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Posted by: Tim Apr 22 2013, 09:30 PM
"Old-fashioned retailers are going bust, leaving towns marred by vast, empty storefronts. Those that remain complain of “showrooming,” when shoppers inspect their wares, then leave the store to buy the same products on the Internet, finding lower prices and avoiding sales taxes."
http://nyti.ms/11fR0pe
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Well, it's the way of the world. I buy whey protein regularly, and I would never buy it in a brick-n-mortar, because it's always cheaper online.
The showrooming complaint is a crock. Sell stuff at competitive prices or suffer.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Apr 23 2013, 12:58 PM
The new Hibachi Grill is actually pretty good. Definitely better than Fortune House.
Posted by: taxthedeer May 22 2013, 02:49 PM
I just heard on the news today that the Swanson Center has aquired the former Michigan City High School Alternative High School/Community Center of Faith (Rev. Ed and Pastor Shirley Carnes old church) building on 400 N. across from the Coolspring Volunteer Fire Department station and are going to be relocating from the Marquette Mall Office Tower to the building on 400 N.
Many residents near the building on 400 N. are upset that a mental health facility such as the Swanson Center is going to open where they reside.
Posted by: diggler May 22 2013, 02:54 PM
I just heard on the news today that the Swanson Center has aquired the former Michigan City High School Alternative High School/Community Center of Faith (Rev. Ed and Pastor Shirley Carnes old church) building on 400 N. across from the Coolsppring Volenteer Fire Department station and are going to be relocating from the Marquette Mall Office Tower to that building on 400 N.
Many residents near the building on 400 N. are upset that a mental health facility is going to open in their neighborhood.
Had no idea that Swanson Center was a mental health facility.
Posted by: taxthedeer May 22 2013, 03:36 PM
Had no idea that Swanson Center was a mental health facility.
http://www.swansoncenter.org/
Posted by: Southsider2k12 May 22 2013, 03:49 PM
Had no idea that Swanson Center was a mental health facility.
Mental health and drug rehab. All out-patient stuff.
And what a big blow to that office building. Don't they occupy the top two or three floors there?
Posted by: taxthedeer Oct 15 2013, 11:12 AM
Applebee's is moving out of the mall. They are going to build a new building along Franklin St.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Oct 15 2013, 11:31 AM
Applebee's is moving out of the mall. They are going to build a new building along Franklin St.
I knew that was coming when they started taking down pictures. They lied to me about it saying it was just to remodel.
Posted by: BeldenStNewbie Nov 30 2013, 06:02 PM
The last time I was there I noticed Reader's World was still operating. Has the store reversed course or is it having the world's longest going out of business sale?
Also, does anyone know what's going on in the space next to GNC? The facade has been painted purple and there's some renovation taking place inside, but no indication as to what, if anything, is going to occupy that space.
Posted by: taxthedeer Nov 30 2013, 08:17 PM
The last time I was there I noticed Reader's World was still operating. Has the store reversed course or is it having the world's longest going out of business sale?
Also, does anyone know what's going on in the space next to GNC? The facade has been painted purple and there's some renovation taking place inside, but no indication as to what, if anything, is going to occupy that space.
There was a giant construction crane and crew outside that area last week. It looked like they were doing some roofing work and preparing that space for occupancy. Don't know why anyone would want to open up a business inside that Mall at this point.
Posted by: BeldenStNewbie Dec 1 2013, 02:27 AM
There was a giant construction crane and crew outside that area last week. It looked like they were doing some roofing work and preparing that space for occupancy. Don't know why anyone would want to open up a business inside that Mall at this point.
Maybe not "inside", but that space has an outside entrance and is easily visible from the city's main thoroughfare. No need for anyone to even set foot inside the ghost town to get to it.
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Dec 1 2013, 10:12 AM
There is supposed to be a Planet Fitness going in there.
Posted by: taxthedeer Feb 24 2014, 01:45 PM
Beginning March 1st (Saturday) the Coach USA to/from Chicago Airports bus will be moving it's Michigan City pick up/drop off stop from the Clarion Hotel at US 421 & Keifer Rd. to outside the La Porte County Convention and Visitors Bureau Office at Marquette Mall.
Posted by: diggler Jun 27 2014, 07:17 AM
Anybody been to Marquette Mall lately ? Its being turned INSIDE OUT
Posted by: ChickenCityRoller Jun 27 2014, 07:32 AM
Anybody been to Marquette Mall lately ? Its being turned INSIDE OUT
Nope, haven't had a reason. What do you mean by "it's being turned inside out?"
Posted by: Southsider2k12 Jun 27 2014, 08:46 AM
Anybody been to Marquette Mall lately ? Its being turned INSIDE OUT
The latest rumor was that the insides were being closed, and everyone was getting outside entrances while being branded as "Marquette Place". Never heard if they were actually true or not.
Posted by: diggler Jun 27 2014, 01:04 PM
Tried to enter the restroom there the other day, and it was all boarded up.....along with everything else.
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