HolyCoast: Signs of the Times
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Signs of the Times

The Mrs. and I just had lunch at the Laguna Hills Mall, a place we hadn't visited for quite awhile. At the top of the escalator coming up from the back parking lot we ran into this:
The B. Dalton Bookstore, which has been there since the mall was renovated in the mid-90's and a food court added, is gone. Closed. Kaput.

In addition, several of the food court spaces are empty, and it looks like the latest closure was the Quizno's. Down in the main mall American Eagle is gone, several spaces are empty or taken up by short term tenants like a tax service or calendar store. The store where we bought my son't suit and tux is closing. Others are having deep discount sales.

The mall seems to be dying.

When we first moved down here in 1990 we used to call it the "old and ucky mall" because it was pretty run down compared to the Mission Viejo Mall a few miles away. They did the big renovation, added the nice food court, and really brought the thing up from what it had been. Now, I'm afraid it's headed back to "old and ucky" status.

1 comment:

g said...

I think what you saw is a sign of the times with many different retail locations. Business cannot absorb all of the costs they are faced with and people are not spending like they once did. Look for more store closing everywhere in the future.