Crossroads Mall

[megax11]

Traffic isn't that bad now that 19th has been widened...Sadly mistaken if you believe we don't enjoy all of the shopping, dining and having one of the best theaters in the nation within 5 minutes of the casa

Well I used to go out there every Monday and Wednesday to take my son to karate, the roads really haven't expanded too much. I say this because I go out there at least once a week, to visit Vintage Stock. It always feels so cluttered there.

I've avoided this one like a plague because I've never bought into the "you'll get shot at Crossroads" world. But I'm going to make an honest attempt at some suggestions that I think would help get Crossroads back up again.

#1 - Get rid of the stores that attract the people you don't want there. If there is a safety concern at the mall, analyze what attracts the dangerous element to the mall and remove it. Also, add some younger than 60 security to the mall....that do more than just ride around in the parking lot or sit under an escalator. I'm not pointing any fingers at any particular race/class/etc of person here, my question is generic. In my experience, the locally owned mom and pop stores are the ones that cause the issues in malls (look at Heritage before it finally closed).

#2 - Go wing by wing and start making the facelift changes that really count. Don't just paint the railings...get rid of them. When you paint like they did before, you just make it worse. They don't need lights on the railings, and the railings themselves just need to be functional. We don't have to match Penn Square in style here. In fact, right now, they could simply close off the second floor and consolidate everything to the first floor. Once it's working, open up the second floor again to more businesses.

#3 - Flooring is another part of this. The sealed concrete is NOT what people are looking for today (sorry thunder). What they want is STAINED concrete...not just sealed. Cracks are also part of a conrete floor. Anywhere that has exposed conrete will have cracks from settling, it's just part of the world of concrete. What they can do, is put a new floor down on top of it. You don't want to put tile like ceramic down for many reasons. One being the fact that it would raise the height of the flooring and the transitions into each store would be a tripping point...even with thresholds. Another being ceramic cracks under heavy weights as well...not to mention the costs of ceramic. As cheap as it looks, a linoleum tile is probably the best choice in cost/functionality for Crossroads. They do come in varities better than what your elementary school had.

#3 - Food Court - as mentioned in this thread, a food court can be a great gathering location, but Crossroads didn't design one in. They could, however get one added. I believe it was the Macy's wind that had Chic-Fil-A and Babbages??? That wing is short and could easily be altered to pull the store fronts back so all you have is the normal food court front ordering counter. That frees up space for seating. Not to mention the area in the middle of the mall right there could also have tables.

#4 - Anchors - they aren't as important as well all like to make them out to be. We don't NEED Dillard's there. What we need is something that attracts foot traffic...but it doesn't neccessarily have to be the traditional anchor. Think outside the box, and don't assume that the store has to take the entire anchor space. Split the space into the first and second floor. Something like a Pier 1 could take a smaller floor space but then still has that outside access. Same goes for something like a Barnes and Noble, which is no where to be found on the south or east side. With so many anchors moving out of malls these days, you HAVE to look outside the box. A space as large as the Dillard's area could convert to office space and house a very large number of people.

#5 - don't screw with the ceilings though. It's a high celing building that actually feels very roomy. But it needs a lighter color paint on the inside surfaces to make it brighten up and feel less gloomy.

Failing into bankruptcy is probably the best thing for this mall. They need a chance to start over from scratch if they want to survive. And they need someone to make an honest attempt of it instead of just going cheap. And also NOT a company like Simon that will just drain the money and send it to another mall.

I'm not going to pretend that it's going to be easy...or that it would even happen, but it's a thought.

1: I don't think it's the stores. Without stores like the Buckle, Hollister, Hot Topic, Deb, A&F, Dillards, Penny's, etc, malls can't thrive. CRM needs those stores to really attract business, and as you can see, crime is going up around Penn Square Mall. Any piece of land or area in this whole world can be subject to crime.

2: I agree about the railing. CRM could add a new style of railing that is more modern than even PSM and QSM. They don't have to imitate, when they can innovate. I don't agree with closing the second floor though. The more stores and accessibility, the better.

3: I totally agree with you on the food court matter. When I go to PSM and QSM, their food courts look very busy and have a good feel to them. I hope when CRM makes its comeback, they dedicate a section of the mall to a food court of sorts.

4: I can agree with this as well. The mall needs at least a couple of anchors (I say this for a reason), and for those anchors, they can attract any type of store. Hell, a 2 story Toys R Us inside the mall would be pretty awesome. Again, this comes down to innovating, not imitating.

5: Again, I agree. The ceilings were fine and modernized back in the 90's, so they're more new than the floors in the mall. They need to brighten the floors, which will make it feel even more roomy. I like the feel and look of CRM, but by god, the floors have to be brightened in my eyes.

I think what happened to the mall, happened for a reason. It will make a comeback. You strike some good opinions on what you would like to see.

[jn1780]

Failing into bankruptcy is probably the best thing for this mall. They need a chance to start over from scratch if they want to survive. And they need someone to make an honest attempt of it instead of just going cheap. And also NOT a company like Simon that will just drain the money and send it to another mall.

I'm not going to pretend that it's going to be easy...or that it would even happen, but it's a thought.

That already happen, the mall is currently owned by the U.S. zombie reserve bank. (Federal Reserve) or Maiden Lane properties to be more technical about it. What the mall needs at this point is a new private owner willing to improve the mall and/or the property.

Edit: After reading what you wrote again, I think you already knew this. Sorry.