The Evolution Of The Mall: 'Mall-Mart'

As anchor department stores in urban malls fail, big discounters are moving in -- a cheap way to enter urban and suburban markets.

1 minute read

July 22, 2003, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"Wal-Mart at the mall -- once the province of department stores and specialty shops? Those days are long gone, and Wal-Mart isn't the only discounter that sees opportunity where much of America shops... Why the sudden rush to the mall? Mostly the discounters see it as a way to enter densely populated urban and suburban markets with minimal hassle. Strachan estimates that as many as 800 anchor spots in malls could turn over in the next decade -- with discounters snapping up 300 of them. "This is an incremental, opportunistic strategy to continue to fill in markets," says Lois Huff, senior vice-president at Retail Forward Inc., a Columbus (Ohio) consultancy."

Thanks to The Practice of New Urbanism

FULL STORY: Call It Mall-Mart

Monday, July 14, 2003 in Business Week

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