In Annapolis, we have 3 malls within 20 minutes of each other. It is rather crazy. I predict one will close in the next ten years and most likely that will be Marley Station which is old and dumpy. I know that Arundel Mall with new casino and Annapolis Mall (for the rich and affluent) will stay open.
Arundel Mills Mall is usually very hectic with activity. Even in the depths of the 2008 recession, that area, home to many federal workers, was immune to the downturn. It’s kind of a weird place, set in an affluent suburb, where the gilded Mandarins of the middle bureaucracy mix with the occasional pack of feral youth from nearby Baltimore.
I am sure some bad things happen there from time to time, but I have survived several outings there without a scratch. CCW would be very useful in those environs, but the Kingdom of Maryland does not allow its subjects to have the means to protect themselves.
“In Annapolis, we have 3 malls within 20 minutes of each other. It is rather crazy.”
If you do an economic analysis, in the present retail environment, it would tell you not to build a mall. However, the analysis results change when you take into account tax incentives, development incentives and other lucrative deals made by politicians at all levels. That’s how we end up so over-built. Rest assured the developer gets his profit. It’s the retailer who gets stuck. Then, you add into the equation kill-the-retail political correctness. A mall in Tampa, next to the stadium, wanted to close when teams from historically black colleges played. This is because of flash mobs and riots that occurred EVERY time these teams played. The ALCU took them to court and they were ordered to stay open. The stores all abandoned their leases and the mall is now a parking lot.
I’d imagine that Obamacare will further hit the retail industry as most stores are marginal at best. A sudden mandated increase in labor costs will cause them to go into the red and the will be forced to close.
There’s a casino in Maryland? I like Annapolis Mall, it’s a nice place to shop.