Downtown is taking a "malling."
The era of strolling along tree-lined sidewalks and browsing through the windows of the varied shops nestled side-by-side along "Main Street" are rapidly coming to an end. The once bustling streets are nearly empty and many of the remaining stores struggle to stay open. Turnover is constant and the definition of "downtown" is taking on a new meaning in the suburbs.Where have the shoppers gone? Mostly indoors to mega malls that are becoming the focal point for retail development in the '90s.
The shift in retail interest among shoppers has officials at City Hall rethinking planning and development policies and scurrying to make the most of the retail growth potential that follows mall construction.
Layton Hills Mall, Valley Fair Mall, South Towne Mall and University Mall are prime examples of the impact this new phenomenon is having on city planning efforts.
Layton was a sleepy Davis County town of about 20,000 people when the city won a mini development war with neighboring Clearfield about 20 years ago. The result: Layton Hills Mall opened its doors in 1980; the competing Clearfield site remains virtually undeveloped.
In the years since, Layton has mushroomed both in size and prominence in the state's third most populous county. With some 50,000 residents, Layton is now the largest city in Davis County. The commercial development that has accompanied the mall development has also established Layton as a regional shopping hub attracting shoppers from throughout Davis County as well as much of Weber County and even southwestern Wyoming.
But there has been a secondary impact on Layton. The mall has become a focal point in the community, making it difficult for Layton city to maintain its former sense of downtown. The mall is the second punch in a one-two combination that has effectively written the epitaph for the traditional downtown.
Construction of I-15 in the late 1960s was the first punch, effectively dividing the original downtown along Main Street from its closest residential development. Attempts to relocate the city's retail hub came with the development of the Fort Lane Shopping Center on the east side of the freeway. That center never really caught fire before the mall entered the picture, and much of the land remains underdeveloped.
Layton has tried to keep the area viable with one of the largest city parks in the state and an attractive city municipal complex that includes a wave pool and heritage museum. But the die is cast, and the city's social hub is slowly moving north to the mall complex.
In many ways, South Towne shares a similar heritage with Layton Hills. Like its northern cousin, South Towne sprouted in a large, undeveloped pasture adjacent to an attractive freeway interchange. Easy access and relatively cheap land were key ingredients, along with supportive city leaders looking to the future. South Towne's future has been enhanced by Sandy city's decision to move its municipal hub to the area, building a grandiose city hall just north of the mall in an area it hopes to develop into a new city center. Retail development, while initially slow in discovering the area's potential, has taken off in recent years. A large theater complex, restaurants, hotels and an auto mall are among the ventures turning this once pastoral setting into a shopping hub. The combination of city services and major retail shopping opportunities likely ensure that the South Towne area will eventually dominate as Sandy's social center as well.
For Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City and the University Mall in Orem, the story is slightly different. Both found their home in areas lacking well-defined downtown and commercial centers. Orem and West Valley shared a common legacy of sporadic retail development along highly traveled roads. Both relied on larger, neighboring cities (Provo in Utah County and Salt Lake City in Salt Lake County) to provide upscale shopping opportunities.
The arrival of the malls has given both areas an opportunity to redefine their destiny. Valley Fair is easily the shopping focal point for western Salt Lake County and with the creation of West Valley City, it was a natural to build the city's municipal complex near the shopping center. The mall was also a factor in deciding where to place a new ice hockey arena that is currently under construction. Like South Towne and Layton Hills, Valley Fair also benefits from improved access. The I-215 belt route passes on the east side of the mall site, providing easy access for shoppers living west of the Jordan River both to the north and south of the mall's 3500 South location.
While University Mall doesn't have roadside access to the freeway system, it is located on a major traffic route from I-15 to Brigham Young University's football stadium. That placement has given it good visibility. And the fact that the nearest mall (South Towne) is some 30 miles to the north, University Mall has made the best out of what many would consider a rather small shopping base (about 300,000 people).
- Layton Hills Mall (northeast of I-15 exit No. 334) is in the process of a dramatic renovation - both interior and exterior - to provide a brighter and more contemporary appearance in time for the holiday shopping season.
"We're hoping the improvements will attract new tenants," Mall manager Linda Kelley said.
Kelley said the Layton mall's occupancy rate is currently 92 percent, down from earlier this year before Pacific Linen closed because of bankruptcy. However she said that's still a pretty good rate and is above average for Utah malls. The mall's exterior business community is also suffering after the closure earlier this month of Ernst Home Center.
Kelley said the mall would like to attract higher income customers from areas like Fruit Heights. She said the 90-store mall is seeking an up-scale women's clothing store and shoe store, like Florsheim, to attract more of those customers.
The extensive mall renovation includes new extranceways, signs and a new mall logo.
Inside, the work includes taking the center court fountain out to make way for a glass-enclosed feature elevator that will improve vertical transportation - especially for the handicapped.
New slate floor coverings of various copper, blue and tan hues will be added to complement the surrounding Utah landscape.
Kelley said the mall has become the centerpiece of Layton city and even more so with the restaurant and business development of the 80 acres to the north.
Part of the mall's draw is its easy access. She said no other mall in northern Utah can claim such a convenient location off I-15.
"Our location is so good," Kelley said. "It's easy for customers to find us."
The mall has 490,000 square feet of space, plus another 213,000 in the 23 stores along the surrounding Ring Road.
The business area north of mall has seen some rapid restaurant development with Red Robin and the Outback Steakhouse coming in, to name a few.
Golden Corral, Cracker Barrel and Marie Calendars are three more restaurants proposed for north of the mall. Target Stores also plans to build on a site north of the mall.
Mall owner Compass Retail and Cinemark USA are involved in a joint project to build a new seven-screen movie complex in time for the Christmas season.
"The addition of a state-of-the-art multiplex cinema at Layton Hills Mall is in keeping with our overall goal to update and enhance the center," Phillip E. Stephens, chairman and CEO of Compass Retail, said.
Cinemark already has a 10-screen complex to the east and that will remain, giving the company 17 different movie screens within easy walking distance of the mall. The many new restaurants to the north on what some locals have nicknamed "Restaurant Row," plus the mall's own food outlets will complement the new theaters.
- Sandy's South Towne Center, 10450 South State (I-15 exit No. 297 at 10600 South) is another center-of-its-universe example. The Sandy mall opened in 1986 in an undeveloped area that now boasts the premier shopping opportunities at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley.
Like Layton Hills, South Towne has excellent access from I-15 and South Towne general manager Don Pott said it has indeed become a hub for business activity in the region.
"We're so easy to get in and out of," Pott said, explaining as subdivisions develop in the area, it attracts even more customers.
Cineplex Odeon also has the South Towne Center at the mall, a nine-screen theater complex.
Pott said much of the credit for South Towne's success has to go to the city leaders. They did the planning and had a vision that included moving the city's new offices to the mall area. This hub didn't happen by chance.
He said South Towne recognizes itself as a community centerplace and as such, holds some sizable community events each year. These include Roundball ruckus and MDA Telethon.
"We do try to give back to the community," he said.
There's still room for some more growth in the South Towne area and Pott said there will be a total of five motels located near there by next year.
Occupancy rate of South Towne is slightly better than Layton Hills at 93 percent. There are 109 stores and three new ones under construction.
Wal-Mart, the Auto Mall and the Incredible Universe are some of the major businesses all located near South Towne.
Aaron Young, South Towne marketing manager, said the mall was designed so that two more anchor stores could eventually be added.
He describes South Towne as a second downtown in the Salt Lake Valley. The mall will celebrate its 10th birthday this October.
- Valley Fair Mall, 3601 S. 2700 West, is the area hub in West Valley City. Like Layton Hills and South Towne, it has great freeway access with nearby I-215.
Dick Flack, Valley Fair general manager, said the mall draws most of its business from the Jordan River west and south. It also attracts Magna and Tooele shoppers.
Since the mall's opening in 1970, the city has tried hard to make it a hub. The new ice arena is a part of that.
Occupancy in Valley Fair is currently only 80 percent. Flack said four different national bankruptcies have affected the mall. It currently has 95 stores, with room for another 11.
Movie theaters are also a big draw at Valley Fair, with a Cinemark Movies 9 complex located there.
- The University Mall, 1300 S. State, Orem, is still another good example of an economic development hub.
It has gross retail space of 900,000 square feet, is the largest mall in the state built and owned by the Woodbury Corporation of Salt Lake City. The owners and store managers celebrated its 25th profitable year in 1993 and is looking toward expansion in the near future.
The highly successful mall, which threatened the fragile Provo City downtown district for more than a decade, brings in considerable foot traffic from a "relatively small population base of 300,000," according to mall manager Rob Kallas.
Malls in California generally rely on a customer service area of 1 million minimum.
With approximately 195 retail shops and three major anchors, Mervyn's, ZCMI and JC Penney, it's served as a magnet for the outlying community and remains the center of "Orem's downtown" today, with regional commercial development extending west on 1300 South to the freeway entrance, east to the new Fred Meyer superstore on 8th East, and in both the north and south directions of State Street.
It's also known to customers young and old as a social hub, the place to go for a day of shopping or browsing or "just hanging out," according to local teenagers.
Former mayor Delance Squire, currently serving as head of the Commission for Economic Development in Orem, describes the mall as the single biggest factor in Orem's economic development history. "It's made a tremendous difference in our economic development," said Squire.
"It makes a significant contribution to the sales tax revenue, about a million dollars a year."
At the time the mall was proposed Orem had only a handful of businesses along State Street and almost a zero sales tax revenue, said Squire. "The first year the cities received sales tax, I think Orem received about $30,000 when Provo received $400,000."
In fact, Provo was doing well enough they weren't at all worried that the mall would go into Orem. "Their most frequent statement was, `It will never go to Orem because it's not the place for it."' Squire said Woodbury Corporation paid as much for the 70 acres in Orem for the mall as it would have paid for a single acre of business space in Provo.
"I think it came down to a matter of price and space."
Last year, Orem saw $1.04 billion in retail sales and is booming as a regional shopping center for the valley.
"The mall started retail sales development in our community," said Squire. "Before it came in, we just didn't have a retail sales community."
Early on, neighbors around the mall's perimeter were agitated. Former city councilman Harley Gillman said there was plenty of opposition when the idea was first introduced.
Today, neighbors around the mall perimeter are still agitated over what they see as a threat to their lifestyle and peaceful neighborhood quality. Provo City is expecting to break ground in the spring of 1997 on its own mall on the southern edge of town. This comes after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to bring a mall to Provo. Former mayor Mike Hill once joked, "If we can't transplant the University Mall to town, we'll just have to build our own."