A Regional Tri-State Mall / Choice and Contradiction
Let me introduce to you the small town of Ashland, KY - situated in the eastern part of Kentucky along interstate I-64, right in the tri-state area where Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia meet as three states. It was a big town in the 60s, 70s, and 80s when the 'AK Steel' steel mill and the 'Marathon' oil refinery were in full operation and supporting the town. Now, more than 30 years later, the steel mill has shut down almost of of its working lines and the oil industry has moved away. The largest employer in the area is Kings Daughter Hospital, and it has been laying off over thousands of people in the last decade alone.
When I was growing up, the Town Center Mall also had a Wal-Mart store connected to it, where the JC Penny store is located today in the first below image. Around 2005 the Wal-Mart moved up onto the hill of 'Melody Mountain' and at the time it was built it was the 4th largest Wal-Mart in the United States. I say this to emphasis the point that the mall served not just Kentucky, but easily a 30 mile radius of smaller towns and across multiple state lines. The fact that it previously had a local grocery and clothing store for value pricing connected to it and today it is less than a mile from the mall meant that it was serving the poor, and middle class.
Mall Size : 510,000 square foot -
In the reading "The World in a Shopping Mall" by Margaret Crawford, I was struck by the first paragraph on the page that national chains are bigger profit centers for malls, so small businesses are discouraged from entering the mall with shorter leases and higher rents.
"Apparent diversity makes fundamental homogeneity."
I went on the mall's website and found a map (not to scale) and looked up the stores that are currently in the mall. Many of them I didn't recognize from growing up, but I haven't been shopping in the mall very often in the last 9 years. Five of the ninety stores operating are small businesses that are unique to the Ashland, KY area - that is 5.5% of the total stores of the mall.
When I was growing up, the Town Center Mall also had a Wal-Mart store connected to it, where the JC Penny store is located today in the first below image. Around 2005 the Wal-Mart moved up onto the hill of 'Melody Mountain' and at the time it was built it was the 4th largest Wal-Mart in the United States. I say this to emphasis the point that the mall served not just Kentucky, but easily a 30 mile radius of smaller towns and across multiple state lines. The fact that it previously had a local grocery and clothing store for value pricing connected to it and today it is less than a mile from the mall meant that it was serving the poor, and middle class.
Mall Size : 510,000 square foot -
Ashland, KY - Regional Shopping Mall Redevelopment Plan, 2008
Ashland Town Center Mall, 2018 Plan
"Apparent diversity makes fundamental homogeneity."
I went on the mall's website and found a map (not to scale) and looked up the stores that are currently in the mall. Many of them I didn't recognize from growing up, but I haven't been shopping in the mall very often in the last 9 years. Five of the ninety stores operating are small businesses that are unique to the Ashland, KY area - that is 5.5% of the total stores of the mall.
List of Stores in Town Center Mall, Small Businesses in Red
I would rather eat at a local restaurant and support a small business than eat at a chain with multiple locations around the world, and most of the time I went to the mall growing up was to buy shoes and clothes. I remember when the only bookstore in the mall left when I was in high school - it was the only new bookstore in the city. After that time, I had to drive to West Virginia to buy a book! The limiting choices seemed to tighten.
My other experience with malls was when I was working in a firm designing a stand alone restaurant adjacent to the mall property in Greenville, SC. The national chain restaurant had signed a lease with the mall developer to sign a ten year lease - but there were more convenants and restrictions regarding material palettes and signage restrictions than the city or the client imposed, and they took a longer time to review the documents than the owner did before granting us approval to review on their buildings.
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