Where are the restaurants in the malls?

[robisc]

Not sure if it is the same in all areas but I have an opbservational question, I went to Madison Square Mall here where I live (Huntsville AL) yesterday after being away for a while, they have done a major remodeling job there but it seems the crowds are still way down, my question is where have all the franchise restaurants gone, seems Taco Bell has just closed, McDonalds has been closed for a long time, there are a multitude of Chinese type restaurants there but I can't see how Taco Bell can't make it there, just wondering the reasons for this, anyone know?

 

[minendo]

Where are the restaurants in the malls?

Perhaps, the food court.

 

[dabuddha]

Well I've never been to Madison Square Mall in Huntsville Alabama so I couldn't tell ya

 

[Bootprint]

They moved from G-1 ?

 

[biggestmuff]

haha, you called McDonalds and Taco Bell "restaurants". Oops, I see. You're a 'bama.

 

[I Saw OJ]

You are here ----------> *

 

[Chunkee]

Der uh, well uncle jeebers, humm dunno...where are dem pesky restrants...did ems move? dont see the golden arches numore...

hmmm

maybe we need wanndem gps tracking missles or sumpin?

 

[ebaycj]

Believe it or not, the roast squirrel that you are getting from those other places is actually cheaper than Taco Bell "meat product" and therefore TB can't compete.

 

[FoBoT]

mall


mall


mall, not ringing a bell

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

high lease rates versus ever decreasing volume

 

[robisc]

Alright ya dang Yankees and/or left coasters, not that I want to go to them there other places since the Waffle House is of course my favorite down here in Bammer, It?s just that I was wondering what is the reason for the franchise type joints seemingly going away from the malls, I ask with hopes that some of you may be in any type retail or business management type roles, since I am not thus I ask.

 

[SonnyDaze]

It's called integration. Alabama is trying to integrate with the rest of the U.S. and discover the 20th century.

 

[sandorski]

Probably a local phenomena. You say the Mall doesn't get much traffic, that'd be a pretty big clue as to why the restaurants are leaving.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I've never been to Huntsville, but what I heard about it from a coworker (his daughter lives there)....was that they built the city for engineers and NASA folk. They have nice interstates, but traffic isn't bad. So it sounds like through government cuts and slow growth, there simply aren't enough people there. Do you have any idea what the population is for the city and whether or not those numbers are going up or down?

The other question is what the average age of people in the city are. Usually, it's the kids going to the mall that keep those places going. Other factors is mall management. It may be cheaper for a franchise to build or lease a fast food joint outside of the mall.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

We are so having a meeting when we get back to the food court.

 

[robisc]

I've never been to Huntsville, but what I heard about it from a coworker (his daughter lives there)....was that they built the city for engineers and NASA folk. They have nice interstates, but traffic isn't bad. So it sounds like through government cuts and slow growth, there simply aren't enough people there. Do you have any idea what the population is for the city and whether or not those numbers are going up or down? The other question is what the average age of people in the city are. Usually, it's the kids going to the mall that keep those places going. Other factors is mall management. It may be cheaper for a franchise to build or lease a fast food joint outside of the mall.

No government cuts here as Huntsville is going to be getting 10-15,000 jobs since the latest BRAC decision, this will take place over the next couple years.

City population is 165,000 and metro is over half a million. Also recently Forbes rated H'ville metro no. 8 in the country in best places to live as well as recently making another top 10 list I just read about not sure which publication though.

Also FWIW I found this little tidbit, Bizjournals analyzed the quality of life across the Sunbelt -- defined as the area south of the 37th parallel -- and ranked Huntsville, Ala., No. 1 on its list of Hot Spots, America's most attractive warm-weather metropolitan areas. So your ideas about Mall management and the other post about high rental rates seems to be more in line with the reason. But I do seem to notice this trend in malls across the country when I travel.

 

[Chunkee]

It is called the Clarabelle effect....

Clowns come in...but they do not leave...

there is a high incidence rate in Alabama

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: MikeyIs4Dcats
high lease rates versus ever decreasing volume

:thumbsup:

Someone's got to pay for all that remodeling, so the leases go up.

 

[kranky]

I've been to that mall but it's been a few years. Also the smaller one on S. Memorial Parkway near Governors Drive where there used to be an arcade where I'd play pinball when staying in HSV.

I don't think that mall is any different than others in the country. Rents are high and traffic is down. I would like to know the percentage of mall food court customers who are:
1. Mall employees
2. Teenagers hanging out
3. Everyone else

I think category 3 is shrinking.

 

[robisc]

You guys probably hit it with the lease rates going up to pay for remodeling, it seems that the two went hand in hand, when the remodleing started the stores left and were backfilled by these other type restaurants with apparently much lower overhead.

Also kranky you make some good observations as well, as for the arcade, was that at the old Parkway City Mall and if so when was this? Asking just because that brings back memories of my childhood in the arcade there as well, there is now in a new mall in that location if it is the same mall were talking about.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: kranky
I've been to that mall but it's been a few years. Also the smaller one on S. Memorial Parkway near Governors Drive where there used to be an arcade where I'd play pinball when staying in HSV.

I don't think that mall is any different than others in the country. Rents are high and traffic is down. I would like to know the percentage of mall food court customers who are:
1. Mall employees
2. Teenagers hanging out
3. Everyone else

I think category 3 is shrinking.

So is 2. Mall security frowns on teenagers loitering. In the malls around here, I think they're even enforcing a curfew for kids unaccompanied...

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: robisc
Also kranky you make some good observations as well, as for the arcade, was that at the old Parkway City Mall and if so when was this? Asking just because that brings back memories of my childhood in the arcade there as well, there is now in a new mall in that location if it is the same mall were talking about.

Yep, Parkway City Mall is the one. I used to visit HSV (Intergraph, actually) a couple times a year from the early 90's through around 2000 or so.