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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 19 december 2017

American Living:
Malls beef up dining, entertainment options to boost traffic

By ALEX VEIGA boree, Payless ShoeSource cent last year, according at JLL. “Now the food and took the stage at the mall’s
AP Business Writer and The Limited. to commercial real estate beverage is part of the at- reopening gala in October,
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shop- At its CoolSprings Galleria tracker CoStar. It was 10.5 traction.” and “The Nutcracker” bal-
pers braving the mall this let played more recently.
holiday season may notice Among the malls in the JLL
more that’s new than the study that improved their
day’s discounts. food and beverage op-
Many mall owners are tions, more than half also
spending billions to add invested in adding enter-
more upscale restaurants tainment options.
and bars, premium movie The Kingston Collection in
theaters with dine-in op- Kingston, Massachusetts,
tions, bowling alleys and added a 36,000-square-
similar amenities. Some foot bowling alley a year
have turned swaths of ago. Mall shoppers can
space that previously also go there to play laser
housed department stores tag, try out summersault
over to health clubs and basketball dunks at an in-
grocery stores. Others are door trampoline park or
undergoing no less than a race go-karts.
ground-up transformation Shoppers who haven’t
to make room for office been inside a mall since
space, hotels and apart- the last round of holiday
ments. shopping may notice few-
The trend has been gaining er department stores and
traction as the companies clothing chains. Among
that operate malls look for Customers sit and have their morning coffee and pastries at the LaVazza Cafe, at Eataly, at the the retail chains that an-
ways to keep people com- Westfield Century City Mall in the Century City section of Los Angeles. Shoppers braving the mall nounced store closures this
ing in at a time when Ma- this holiday season may notice more that’s new than the day’s discounts. year are RadioShack, Pay-
cy’s, Sears and other big (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) less, Wet Seal, J.C. Penney,
department store chains Kmart, Guess, Macy’s and
have shuttered hundreds mall in a suburb of Nashville, percent in 2012. Westfield’s Century City Sears. Retailers have been
of stores and consumers in- CBL has put in a bowling al- Since 2014, about 90 large mall in Los Angeles has generally closing weaker
creasingly opt to shop on- ley and an indoor trampo- U.S. malls have invested spent $1 billion to add more locations, although some
line. line park, among other at- more than $8 billion in ma- than 400,000 square feet of companies such as Macy’s
“The mix of uses at our tractions. Lebovitz said the jor renovations, according retail space. The renovation are shuttering stores that
malls is changing,” said company is also trying to to a study by commercial included a swanky outdoor are too close to their other
Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of add dine-in movie theaters real estate firm JLL. Some dining plaza with gourmet locations, according to Co-
mall owner CBL Properties. with reclining seats. “It’s a 41 percent of the malls in restaurants and cafes. It Star data. And the majority
“It’s becoming less apparel nicer, more experience-fo- the study spruced up their also added the first Eataly of stores that Sears, Macy’s,
and more dining, more en- cused type of use.” food and beverage offer- on the West Coast. The J.C. Penney and Kmart
tertainment, more service, Carving out space for mov- ings with an emphasis on Italian food market, which closed were located in
more fitness, wellness — the ie theaters, videogame restaurants that serve more houses a variety of restau- middle-range or lower-tier
types of categories that arcades and food courts varied fare and, in some rants, drew an average of malls that typically gener-
are more popular.” isn’t a new strategy. What’s cases, alcohol. 3,600 people a day during ate less money per square
CBL, which owns and man- noteworthy is the degree “It was not that long ago its opening weekend. foot than the most upscale
ages 119 properties, in- to which mall owners are that the food offerings in The mall features a malls. The closures are one
cluding malls, outlets and now counting on tenants the traditional food court 15-screen movie the- reason mall owners are in-
open-air retail centers, has that sell experiences, rather at shopping centers in the ater, grocery store, fitness creasingly making room for
been adding more non-re- than physical goods. The ‘80s and ‘90s were really clubs and a health clinic. other types of tenants, in-
tail tenants after a wave of share of space occupied more about just giving you Westfield also installed an cluding hotels, apartments
retailer bankruptcies and by non-retail tenants at something to eat while you events and entertainment and grocery stores, said
store closures in 2015 and regional shopping malls shop,” said James Cook, space. Pop bands Fitz & Mizuho analyst Haendel St.
this year, including at Gym- reached nearly 13 per- director of retail research the Tantrums and DNCE Juste.q