Many empty shops at your local mall(s)?

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#1962410 22-Feb-2018 18:45

The mall based retailers are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

They require huge margin to survive as the cost of being in the mall is so darned high (from rent to share of profits). That's why you see businesses with typical big margins there, clothing, food etc. The issue is that there's so many similar businesses! It's almost as if people who own a business literally have no imagination in the type of company they run. From a geek perspective, I look at the likes of JB HiFi and Noel Leeming and wonder just how much margin they must be sitting on to exist within a mall. Lots of customers / sales means you end up paying even more money to the mall owners...

Re: Bush Inn, I wouldn't be surprised to see Smiths City not re-open in the mall as their recent 6 month result saw them make a pathetic $2000 profit for the last 6 months!

gzt

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#1962411 22-Feb-2018 18:47

Journeyman:
I'm not surprised Meccano is going out of business. Last time I set foot in one of their shops, it struck me as overpriced - as seems to be the case for most menswear stores in malls.

I find it good quality for the price. vs several other high profile retailers with price and no quality. Malls were a new thing for them.

gzt

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#1962417 22-Feb-2018 18:55

The mall format is going through a transition. The winners are mostly newly constructed. The later of these are in close geo to big box retail and expansive parking everywhere.

What will the phase after this look like?

Fred99

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#1962418 22-Feb-2018 19:02

Dunnersfella:

Re: Bush Inn, I wouldn't be surprised to see Smiths City not re-open in the mall as their recent 6 month result saw them make a pathetic $2000 profit for the last 6 months!

I'm interested to know why people would shop at Smiths City. It seems like a relic from the 1970s to me.

I can understand how a "department store" like Ballantynes can (hopefully) survive, by offering a good range of stock in store, truly excellent customer service, and prices which might be a little higher than you can get ex-stock elsewhere, but I'm happy to buy at their prices and am a regular return customer. Smith City - Chch City store - I could walk 5 minutes from there in any direction to find an alternative store with better stock, better prices, and staff who actually seem to care about selling something to me.

amiga500

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#1962419 22-Feb-2018 19:07

The last two times I went into Smiths City at Bush Inn I was the only non-staff member in there...

Fred99

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#1962420 22-Feb-2018 19:13

gzt: The mall format is going through a transition. The winners are mostly newly constructed. The later of these are in close geo to big box retail and expansive parking everywhere.

What will the phase after this look like?

I'm not sure if the correlation between availability of alternative accessible and affordable (or free - as in most malls) parking isn't key.

The large malls in Akl, Melbourne, Sydney I've visited (as a customer) over the past year have a huge advantage in that availability of affordable convenient parking elsewhere sucks big time - at least in high population density areas. The malls were no problem - free parking. They seemed to be booming. Yet basically the same crap stores selling the same crap stuff as I could get if I bothered to go to one of Chch malls.

Down the road from me is Ferrymead, there's masses of available parking. There's been a huge expansion over the past 5 years (post quakes) in retail in the area, and no hint of anything resembling a "mall".

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#1962424 22-Feb-2018 19:25

I don't have a local mall.

Scotty the butcher is having to move to the next village because the owners of the block he's in want to redevelop. Does that count?

Fred99

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#1962435 22-Feb-2018 19:42

Geektastic: I don't have a local mall.

Scotty the butcher is having to move to the next village because the owners of the block he's in want to redevelop. Does that count?

Not if you're a vegetarian.

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#1962453 22-Feb-2018 20:09

Fred99:

Geektastic: I don't have a local mall.

Scotty the butcher is having to move to the next village because the owners of the block he's in want to redevelop. Does that count?

Not if you're a vegetarian.

I'm pretty sure vegetarians don't count :-P

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rhy7s

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#1962582 22-Feb-2018 22:59

On a related theme, this 99% Invisible episode might be of interest https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/stop-that-bus/

bmt

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#1963192 23-Feb-2018 20:43

I went to that new Rebel Sport at Riccarton a couple months ago and they didn't have a single thing on sale, "funnily enough" their pricing model seems a bit like Briscoes these days and the RRP is nose bleed high. Who would actually pay the RRP there? Not me, left promptly.

And speaking of which, people saying mall rents are high etc is an understatement. Westfield and KPG don't just charge nose bleed rents, they're NOSE BLEED. If I owned a business there's no way in hell I'd beholden myself to them. They don't make their huge profits from being a charity..

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#1963217 23-Feb-2018 22:52

Speaking of Jester's, I used to go to the one up by Glenfield Mall quite regularly as the parking was plentiful and they made good pies there. Sadly after being in the same place for 10 years, the lease expired and they closed up in 2015. The nearest one to me is Highbury (which has quite a few vacant shops, come to think of it)...but the quality is nowhere near as good as Glenfield was, so I hardly go there.

Having said that, a new Pizza Hut is opening at Glenfield shortly (might be open already actually).

richms

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#1963219 23-Feb-2018 23:06

There were signs up for the pizza hut when I last endured the mall to pay far too much for a nintendo switch controller at EB games because I needed it right now. If they did the old all you can eat thing then I would be interested, but as its just a vastly inferior takeout option compared to dominos then I will probably isgnore it.

Jesters at highbury sold me a horrid pie once, was quite hard and dried out and the guy was rude about it. Paying that sort of price it better be good. Anyway, I just get the sushi when its fresh and not end of day old stuff, or the kebab man when I feel like getting something in that dying mall to compensate them for me parking there while going to the post shop.

Richard rich.ms

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#1963242 24-Feb-2018 00:17

amiga500:

How is it going at your local mall?

The Riccarton Mall currently has nine empty shops & one 'pop up' clothing shop. The 'pop up' looks very temporary with trestle tables etc.
Apart from the empty shops there is a floor space at the South entrance which usually has some retailer but is vacant right now. There is also a
Meccano shop that could be empty soon if the chain does not get a buyer.

The largest empty shop is the former Rebel Sports that moved out of the actual mall and across the road. This has been empty for a while. Several other shop
have been vacant for a while as well. And there is very little sign of activity such as new shops being prepared. Most of the empty shops
have the lights turned off.

There are two empty shops next to Farmers that are being used as advertising for Farmers & I include these in the nine shops. This is quite clever,
you have to be paying attention to recognise them as empty shops!

The CEO of Meccano has commented that retailing in the malls is a tough business & as Meccano are in liquidation seeking a buyer, you'd have to believe him.

This would be the most empty shops I have seen at the Riccarton mall, & far more than Northlands Mall. Strangely enough Riccarton seems to be
the mall with the highest foot traffic by far.

So how about your local mall(s)?

Not surprising though; the rent is huge when compared to operating as a stand alone store - the rent for the organisation I worked for before was $22,000 per month at the Queensgate Mall in Lower Hutt. In the end the rental prices are unaffordable and the only reason many businesses keep in the mall is that they believe they'll lose foot traffic if they don't. The interesting part about Queensgate Mall Lower Hutt is the fact that they're not rebuilding the theatre (I could never see the movie theatre making money given how few people us it outside of the time kids have off from school) plus rumours of some retailers leaving.

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

mattwnz

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#1963244 24-Feb-2018 01:26

gzt: The mall format is going through a transition. The winners are mostly newly constructed. The later of these are in close geo to big box retail and expansive parking everywhere.

What will the phase after this look like?

Many of the malls in the USA are dying a slow death too. Especially the 70's, 80's and 90's ones. Even the back to the future one is looking sad. Although in the US, they don't seem to update them as much as they do here for many malls, so they look their age.

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