The financial markets are not going to help retail one bit. In fact you can probably make a safe bet on that several retailers will fold, reduce operations or sell out to other competitors after the Christmas Season.

The Christmas Season will not be very kind to retail. Credit will be off the table or reduced to a large percentage of the population. The only way the retail industry will be able to make descent profit is if they bring back layaway. I bet Wal-Mart is filling like they shot themselves in the foot about now.

You can almost bet their will be some serious Black Friday Bargains this year some that will probably never see again.

If traffic does not pick up at Crossroads during the Christmas Season. After the holiday season I think you will see them closing certain entrances, blocking off certain areas and moving the existing stores to one centralized area.

I think this overlooks several fundamental issues.

First, credit cards aren't magically disappearing. The credit problem facing the financial industry right now has as much to do with the inability to raise short-term capital to fund day-to-day operations as much as anything else. Not saying it is limited to this, but its a significant portion of it. This has almost no effect whatsoever on the retail credit in the form of plastic that's still very much in circulation.

Second, Crossroads can't just force existing leaseholders to pack up and move to an arbitrary space in the mall. Each tenant has a lease, and presumably each space in the mall is leased at a specific rate based on how relatively attractive a given spot is within the mall in terms of traffic, visibility, etc.

Third, layaway isn't a magic profit center. In fact, its really just another form of credit. Retail operations make money by moving merchandise as quickly as possible with minimum expense, and that merchandise is moved by consumers spending money. Layaway implies the availability of space to hold unclaimed inventory, and that's square footage that's not displaying new merchandise to be sold, but does have to be suppied with electricity, heat, air, and all the other elements of overhead that go along with it.

The entire retail question is actually pretty simple - the consumer. What motivates the consumer to spend or not spend? Lots of things; discretionary cash, credit, confidence in their employment, savings, whimsy, you name it. Yes, there are probably going to be some epic Black Friday deals this year. But the problems of retailers in the US are complicated well beyond a solution as simple as "bring back layaway."

-SoonerDave

Yeah, I don't think Crossroads is to the point that they will need to close off entire wings, and they really can't force stores out. Right now everything is spread out and there really isn't THAT MUCH empty space outside the empty anchor spaces.

Ate at Texas Roadhouse tonight...Was done around 6:40 and I swear the Crossroads theater had something like 5 cars in the lot

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Just went to the third floor at Dillards today, completey empty!!!

From Deadmalls

Laughably and ridiculously inaccurate analysis.

White flight to the suburbs started years earlier during the Judge Luther Bohanon (sp)-imposed busing that saw kids being transported cross-county in the name of school desegregation. That started the so-called "white flight" to the suburbs that saw school districts such as Moore and Edmond, to name only a few, to flourish.

The idea that people all moved out of downtown because of Crossroads is just plain silly. Urban develepers chased people out of downtown in a self-imposed erosion that made downtown streets all-but unnavigable, while urban renewal in the core of downtown's previous living spaces made the area anything but hospitable to long-term residents.

If there's any association with retail killing downtown, you could go back as far as Shepherd Mall or even the original Penn Square, both of which predated Crossroads by at least a decade.

Analysis is nice, but when it turns into hyperbole to rationalize some other argument, its a little peeving. My mom, and her mom before her, could attest to the slow decay of downtown OKC (where my mom grew up, BTW) long before Crossroads was even a line on a blueprint.

-soonerdave

Second point: Most retail leases today give the landlord the right to move tenants to "comparable" space. I am confident that the leases in a regional mall provide for that. However, is this something that has been done in other contracting malls as they contracted to their ultimate demise?

The Future of Shopping Malls

I think online retailers and their lower prices as in amazon.com easily present one of the biggest dangers to enclosed malls, especially now considering the downward economy.

If amazon thinks it's a good idea, it can increase its appeal to consumers by putting in enough additional warehouses, so it can offer most customers next day shipping at ground rates. Besides that, the depressed economy alone will probably add to the appeal of online retailers.

When all the enclosed malls in OKC were built (including QS) there weren't any of the big-box retailers that are so ubiquitous now.

Think about it... Best Buy, Sam's Club, Super Wal-Mart, Petco, PetSmart, Office Depot, Kohls, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Babies r Us, Staples, Old Navy -- even Super Targets and dozens more all popped up in the last 20 years. The population hasn't grown nearly in the same proportion, so obviously these types of stores are feeding off the more traditional mall tenants.

That in addition to the on-line resources have completely altered the retail landscape.

If you think about how much the world has changed since malls started opening about 30-40 years ago, it's no wonder they are becoming more and more out of touch with what people want today.

I've said it many times but Quail Springs better be working on a plan to massively update and evolve otherwise they are going to see major problems in the very near future.

You are completely right about Quail Springs. Hopefully they don't become complacent like Crossroads did.

I don't think online retail will ever completely take over. Amazon is about the only site I ever order from because of their cheap prices. But there will always be things that people would rather see in person (clothes especially) and also people don't always want to wait for it to be shipped.

I think that Quail Springs has already started to decline, and will probably go further downhill in the next few years. Look at the east and west ends of the mall...many of those types of stores you don't see a lot of at Penn Square or Sooner malls, but you DO see at Crossroads. They're also building the Warren theater at Rockwell & Memorial, which will probably take away a lot of business from the AMC. Also I think it's likely that in the next few years either JCPenney or Sears may either a) go out of business altogether (more likely for Sears) or b) move to a big box location (more likely for JCP). Then take into account the various upscale shopping centers that are being built or proposed around the Edmond and Quail Springs areas that could easily take a lot of business away from the mall. Finally, Quail could develop a bad reputation for crime if any major incidents (ie shootings) were to occur at the mall.

Given the area (or at least its current state) I foresee Quail Springs eventually being redeveloped/renovated into an office complex, much like Shepherd Mall. I don't know if that is quite as likely with Crossroads though.

If Penney's moves out or Sears closes, I think Quail, given the surrounding demographics, has a good possibility of landing a better dept. store in the long run. Von Maur, Saks, Nordstrom. It's possible. I think there is still room for a couple indoor malls in this city. You certainly don't see ALL the indoor malls in DFW in decline.

Does anyone know if ORANGE JULIUS is still in crossroads, I have been craving it for months now!

As of last week... yes, they are!

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Well now with steve and barry's closing, Crossroad's only anchor store will be Dillards. Has anyone else heard of plans of them remodeling the mall? I;ve heard it from a few different people but wasn't too sure.

One of our employees at our store down at Crossroads Mall went in to Dillards & they have signs up saying their last day of operation will be 12/29/08. If you want some decently priced items for Christmas, now you know where to go.

Steve & Barry's...we're waiting...

That's odd. I thought it had been confirmed their lease wasn't up for a couple years.

I was in Dillard's there about a month ago to look at their furniture. Just about all the furniture was gone. I asked the employee from the furniture department if Dillards was closing. He said the store would be fully closed in two years and they are phasing out some departments now. He said the furniture department was first and the rest of the third floor was next. Maybe things have changed.

I asked a friend that works in the mall and he confirmed the 29th.

That is so hard to believe. I grew up going to that mall as a kid. I only go there maybe one time a year now at most. It's sad what has happend to Crossroads over the last 10 to 15 years. I have a lot of memories from that place.

Why don't they just use it for the Factory Outlet Mall instead of building a new one?

i think it is plausible that diillards last day of operation may be 12/29/2008... i've heard that the place is going to be properly converted into a dillard's outlet store whereas the makeup counters, etc. will be removed.

-M

Yep it's true about the Crossroads Dillards last day is 12/29/08. Right now a lot of things are 40% off, some tables are 75%. Fragrances have yet to be discounted.