A Home Depot Expo in Charlotte, NC, is closing. Mary Newsom explains that the real problem with big boxes like this is that they don't make sense over time.
"That's one of many reasons big boxes aren't good for the urban environment -- although here I tip my hat to the fact that yes, Big Boxes do bring in Big Sales Tax Revenues (until they close) and, for a time, Big Property Tax Revenues. But all it takes is one big retailer going bankrupt (Circuit City anyone?) or closing stores, and there's now a giant retail vacancy in a not-very-adaptable building.
Smaller buildings with smaller businesses also see vacancies and businesses failing. But one store closing shop doesn't affect a space as vast as that Home Depot EXPO Design Center.
A more traditional building can evolve relatively easily into something else. A Big Box needs a Big Tenant. Plus the buildings are usually so shoddily built they look like junk within a decade."
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