Originally Posted by
Urbanized
As malls and anchor department stores generally continue to recede in popularity and performance, I do think Simon will need to keep its eye open for trends and adaptations that can prolong its life and levels of success. And make no mistake that PSM continues to be very successful, as far as malls are concerned. It’s clearly the best-performing mall in Oklahoma (by a lot), and that almost certainly has much to do with its central location and surrounding demographics.
The upscale retail trend nationally for the past quarter decade has clearly been in the direction of developments like Classen Curve and especially OAK, but until recently OKC resisted this growth and instead focused on downmarket, gross (in my opinion) and ultimately disposable big box stuff.
Gross big box comments aside, I do believe that its close proximity to the Belle Isle Walmart and its adjacent retail center - as poorly-executed as they were from a development standpoint in retrospect - has helped feed more retail traffic to PSM. In that way that development was actually beneficial to the community. I think OAK could be a similar positive for PSM as opposed to a negative; it enhances the retail density of that corner.
That said, I do indeed believe that the path to long term stability and success for PSM will require Simon to adapt to new realities and new trends in retail. Clearly enclosed malls are receding from the public’s taste and consumption patterns, and this will inevitably cause PSM to lose relevance, unless they find ways to update their business model.
I think the rendering upthread of the (Ohio..?) mall mixed use retrofit is actually a good inspiration for PSM long-term, though I don’t think their available land necessarily allows for a full mixed use adaptation to include office and residential.
Instead, I think they should look at expanding the retail square footage and frontages by reworking the parking, arguably the worst part of the PSM experience. They’ve already begun this to some extent with Cheesecake Factory, Whiskey Cake and Container Store, but I think to go any further they should look at replacing as much surface parking as possible with structured spaces, freeing up land in favor of revenue-producing square footage; potentially with a different look/feel, some outdoor space, possible some type of street frontage on the expressway or on Penn.
They should also look very closely at and embrace experiential retail, which is a clear trend and which is one of the few areas where brick and mortar has an advantage over online shopping.
I’m not suggesting any of this is an immediate need, but I do think adaptation will be required if that mall is to last another decade or two; much less 50+ years in some manner.
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