Everyone's been yammering about the problems at The Mall at Steamtown in Scranton, so you knew it was only a matter of time before I opened my yap.
Just to bring you up to speed for a moment, excluding Boscov's and Bon Ton, one-third of the mall is empty.
Of course, a lot of it can be blamed on the bad economy, but you can't escape the fact that The Mall at Steamtown's vacancy rate is much higher than the national average.
There are a lot of reasons. I'm hearing some people are afraid of the groups of kids that congregate here. They may look scary, but they're generally harmless.
Then, there's the marketing and advertising. I've never seen the mall, as a whole, present a compelling reason to shop there. Boscov's and Bon Ton advertise quite a bit.
If you shop at The Mall at Steamtown, you have to park in a garage. There's a perception, true or not, that parking garages are less safe. I've been in the garage many, many times. It's clean. The same cannot be said for the garage above the movie theaters across the street. The garage is filthy, with graffiti and bird dung everywhere. The other garage is a Parking Authority issue, not a mall issue-- but, it is guilt by association.
This is one of the smaller malls in the area. Fewer stores. Less choice.
The food court never took off.
If you venture out on the pedestrian bridge, toward the Steamtown National Historic Site, you get a nice view of a pile of rusting, rotting junk.
It's a little late for this argument, but should the mall have been there in the first place? The mall replaced a string of decaying buildings. They had to come down. The repair money wasn't there. No one had a really do-able plan until the mall came along. Downtowns are no longer retail centers, and it was that way even as The Mall at Steamtown was conceived. Downtowns are offices, hospitals, and government-- and the small businesses that cater to them. Other than an entertainment district or two, most downtowns clear out after sundown. It's unfortunate, but it's a fact.
We've looked at the problem. Now, the solution. It's not easy. Retail is dead for the foreseeable future. Even after the economy recovers, it will be changed, and retail will no longer be that sure fire gold mine.
Mall management is looking to lease its available space to non traditional mall tenants, like offices and maybe a gym. That's a start.
There has been some resistance to the University of Scranton becoming part of the downtown. Drop that resistance. What you lose in tax revenue, you make up in bodies-- bodies who spend.
And, you just might have to face the fact that anything you do now is only a stall, a delay of the inevitable, and the day the mall has to go.
