The biggest mall owner in Massachusetts wants to bring back “hanging out at the local mall,” with a head-on assault to online shopping that’s reshaping the physical layout of its suburban properties in Massachusetts.
The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the trend of shopping-mall owners rethinking how to reposition their properties amid the rise of e-commerce and consumers wary of venturing into enclosed retail shops and restaurants.
The nation’s largest mall owner is backing out of a $3.6 billion deal to buy a major rival as the coronavirus pandemic shakes the retail industry.
J.C. Penney said Thursday that it will start closing 154 of its stores next week in what it is calling the first phase of its efforts to shrink its footprint.
Movie theater chain AMC warned Wednesday that it may not survive the coronavirus pandemic, which has shuttered its theaters and led film studios to explore releasing more movies directly to viewers over the internet.
Neiman Marcus, the 112-year-old storied luxury department store chain, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the first department store chain to be toppled by the coronavirus pandemic.
The exact terms of Massachusetts’ reopening still to be determined, but Americans elsewhere are getting their first taste of what pandemic shopping looks like at their local mall.
The owner of J.Crew is filing for bankruptcy protection, the first major retailer to do so since the pandemic forced the closing of most stores in the United States.
Flexible zoning which can allow developers to quickly respond to market demands is not only critical to allow these retail centers to adapt and evolve, but also essential to help maintain a municipality’s tax base.
Major retailers including J.C. Penney, Macy’s and Nordstrom have furloughed hundreds of thousands of workers, while Walmart and Amazon are on hiring sprees to try to meet the surging demand of shoppers buying online or for curbside drop-off or delivery.
Upscale coffeehouse Caffe Nero will open in September at The Village at Burlington Mall, part of the first phase of the mall’s expansion to accommodate new restaurant tenants.
Major women’s fashion retailer Dressbarn, founded in Connecticut more than 50 years ago, is closing.
It’s a brave new world for suburban retail, but not everyone’s adjusting well.
Only two years ago, it seemed unthinkable that up to 25 percent of the nation’s shopping malls might close by 2022. Now, as large retailers close outlets en masse, landlords are looking for new uses for old spaces.
While the urban core in Boston and its environs appears poised for continued growth amid an explosion of luxury condominium and apartment towers, it’s a different picture in the suburbs, where the loss of major anchor stores is hitting the hardest.
The owners of the CambridgeSide mall are proposing to replace the complex’s anchor stores with 625,000 square feet of new development in buildings between 85 and 185 feet high.
No, the mall is not dead. In fact, the Boston area is seeing significant investment in various existing malls, from CambridgeSide, to the newly announced Burlington Mall renovation.
