Is City Hampering Progress at Florence Mall Property?

 

The City of Florence has always been very outspoken about offering help to attract new tenants at Florence Mall. So far, Hull properties has not shown any interest, ostensibly holding onto the dilapidated shopping mecca as a tax write-off.

But is the city hampering progress in other ways? Around three years ago, a story made the rounds of a local group of physicians and other medical workers expressing an interest in the mall. It would be torn down and replaced with a huge medical office complex...near the new hospital.

Why would the city have opposed this? Tax dollars. Just like a man's farm truck is taxed at one rate, while his son's food truck is taxed at another, and his grandson's sports car taxed at still a third rate, retail stores are taxed at one rate (think high), while office buildings are taxed at a much lower rate.

Is this why the city showed no interest in at least lobbying for Hull to sell the 40 year-old white elephant? No matter how few stores are left in the Florence Mall, the city still makes more in tax revenue than it would from an office complex. 

As it stands now, Florence may be stuck with a decaying edifice for 40 more years...

More Closures at Florence Mall?

 

Sometimes shocking news seems common place and banal announcements carry a punch. While K-Mart is long gone from the Shoals, it was just announced that with the latest closings, there are now only four K-Mart outlets in the U.S. That's something to think about considering that retail icon was for years second only to Walmart.

How about other retail standbys? A source that didn't wish to be named has suggested to us that two more retail establishments will be leaving Florence Mall by March 31st. If you're like us, you haven't a firm grasp of what outlets are left in that Hull Property while elephant. A 2022 Hull advertisement lists the following:

 Shopping & Dining at Florence Mall 

We're not sure how accurate this Hull blurb is, but even taken as up to date, it's a sad commentary on what was once a jewel in Florence's crown. A large percentage of the stores listed here are on out-parcels and not part of the actual mall.

We've been hearing rumors of the demolition of this white elephant for at least five years. Supposedly this isn't on the table for Hull which uses the mall as a huge tax write-off.

We welcome any updates from the public...

Two Mall Chains Go Under, but Andy's Gonna Save Florence?

 

Last Monday, two of the largest operators of American malls declared bankruptcy. At that time, CBL (107 malls) and PREIT (more than 20 malls) both stated that so few rent-paying tenants made it impossible for them to pay utilities, maintenance, security, taxes, etc. on their properties. Both real estate companies stressed that they're not closing malls at this time, but looking for investors to save the retail establishments. Good luck with that; any of you out there want to invest?

Meanwhile, here in Florence new mayor Handy Dandy Andy is going to save Florence Mall with a few phone calls. While we're sure accountants know more about saving malls than real estate magnates, we somehow doubt his promises will come to fruition. In areas where Andy could actually do some good - homeless and animal welfare - Andy is literally working against these projects.

If you live in Florence, contact your city council reps and tell them how you feel. 

Another One (or Two) Bites the Dust at Florence Mall?

We don't know if J.C. Penney will leave Florence Mall or not. We do know it's a good possibility that it will. Only two of Penney's 15 Alabama stores are located north of Birmingham, so axing Florence and Scottsboro may make good business sense to the department store execs.

Now Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works have announced closings...somewhere. If Penney's is leaving Florence Mall, do these two retail chains want to stay for the decreased traffic? That's not counting mall walkers Willow Dean, Inez, and Homer as one of our favorite commenters frequently mentions.

Anyone know what Belk and Dillard's are up to?

Shop At Wish & Help Finish Off The Mall

Is Florence Mall Now Officially Dead?

Today the largest mall in the state announced it was closed until further notice. The Galleria in Birmingham did say that restaurants with outside entrances would remain open for take-out orders. 

Like Florence, the Galleria has some tenants with one foot in the retail grave and the other on a Coronavirus covered banana peel. The difference is that the Galleria has enough thriving businesses to wait out this ordeal. We do not believe the Florence Mall has.

Local Store Closings

Make no mistake, the coffin nail hammer is hitting more than just the Florence Mall. Most of our readers have seen the latest Quad-Cities-Cuisine:

Logan's Closing

A source has told us that a crew has been taking inventory and photographs in the two local Logan's. That doesn't seem to jive with only a 60 day closing, but it does speak of a plan to auction off assets.

In Sheffield, a well-placed source tells us that it's been almost three weeks since any work was done on "Phase II" of Inspiration Landing. The cessation of work occurred well before most local or national closings; however, the current health crisis will give John Elkington a face-saving way out of what many have always felt was a total debacle. 

The Odd Man Out: Belk, Dillard's, or J.C. Penney?

After our blog yesterday, we received several communications concerning the three remaining anchor stores in Florence Mall: Belk, Dillard’s, and J. C. Penney. Is one or more of these once huge retail giants about to leave the Shoals? It’s a sad possibility, and according to some who claim to know, it’s a given. Let’s look at them and see what those “in the know” have to say…

Belk: The store we know as Belk started out as two separate mall stores - Pizitz/McRae’s and Parisian. Through a series of purchases, both McRae’s and Parisian became part of the Belk lineup. Depending on what site you consult, Belk is a middle range store for middle class customers or a marginal high end department store for those who are slightly more affluent.

Many locals have complained that Belk in Florence doesn’t measure up to its counterpart in Huntsville, but that’s always been the way of local stores. Amenities aside, is Belk about to say hasta la vista to Florence? The chain closed a Birmingham store recently, but hasn’t hinted to investors that any massive closings were in the works. Local employees have told us if Belk should close, it will be news to them. The bottom line here seems to be: If you like Belk, visit from time to time to make a purchase; it can’t hurt.

Dillard’s: The management of the chain that bought out Castner-Knott likes to rank the stores on a level with Nordstrom. Really? Still, just one year ago, Dillard’s faced a financial crisis when its stock plummeted 15%. Last month the company announced that a small handful of under-performing locations would close in May.

Several local employees have stated that Dillard’s has until the end of this calendar year to up sales or fold tents. Perhaps the most intriguing tale to come out of local speculation concerns a makeover for the store. For some time before it closed, Madison Square Mall in Huntsville housed a Dillard’s Clearance Store. Could one of these be coming to our mall? Would anyone really want it? If some think Belk looks like a thrift store, what would they make of a Dillard’s clearance outlet?

J. C. Penney: The value based department store has announced the closing of 27 various outlets for 2019. None of the closures is in Alabama. If 27 sounds like a lot, the number is still much smaller than other announced closings in recent years.

Penney goes back the longest of the three departments stores, even counting the older Shoals incarnations of Belk from 50 years ago. That means a large percentage of the population has a store credit card and a personal history with Penney. That didn’t keep Sears from closing, but it should certainly make Penny think twice about leaving the Shoals market.

Conclusion: No one can say which of these three iconic brands will close first, if at all. Yet, the rumblings around Dillard’s local foundation are not an encouraging sound.

Sheffield Belk 1946 (Who Knew Colbert County Had This Many People?)

Florence Mall: Forgotten but not Gone (Yet)

When it opened in 1978, Regency Square was billed as the largest single level mall between Nashville and Birmingham. That appellation didn’t really have to make sense, it simply sounded good to a retail starved community. Castner-Knott? Nashville didn’t have anything on us. Pizitz? Birmingham didn’t have anything on us either. Here’s one for the record books: The mall proudly claimed over 20 shoe stores. Were there that many feet in the Shoals?

In a mall that size, one expects quite a turnover of retail establishments. The shopping mecca simply needed to find a niche and all would be well...in perpetuity. Only it wasn’t. It wasn’t well here or in Muscle Shoals or Decatur or not even Huntsville. At least the legacy of Madison Square Mall can blame Bridge Street for pounding the final nail in that coffin. Whom can we blame in Florence?

When we predicted that Hibbett Sports would soon be gone from Florence Mall, we received this:

Speaking of Florence Mall.... we are losing Payless this week, Charlotte Rousse is going out of business currently, & Lids is gone. We lost Auntie Anne’s and Sababros Pizza in the winter. Some of us who manage stores in the mall are very concerned. I would love to see a report on the mall since the renovations were done. Go down the hall by the recruiting offices, it’s like a ghost town down there. How much longer does our mall truly have before it closes the doors? It’s a very hush hush situation with no transparency in sight.

We’re not ashamed to admit that we don’t even know what Lids is...or was. When we looked it up, we were sorry that we had. Retail pundits can pontificate on saving brick and mortar stores all they want, but there’s not many of us who want to invest time and gasoline to walk around a dreary mall to shop for something that we can much more easily purchase using our Dell laptop from the comfort of our Lazy-Boy recliner.

If any of you should doubt that, just ask us where we purchased those two items. Hint: It wasn’t at Florence Mall.

Regency Square: Alabama's Only Licensed Retailer for Legionnaires' Disease

Florence Mall: All Used Up?

Many moons ago, a restaurant owner requested a larger loan from his banker. The loan officer hemmed and hawed and finally said, "I've eaten at your establishment several times and never seen you there."

The business owner looked the banker straight in the eye and asked him if he ever ate at Howard Johnson's. When the banker answered in the affirmative, the restaurateur then asked, "Well, do you ever see Howard there?"

There's not one simple solution to retail closings, no one size fits all. Yet there are some things that should be a given. We were curious as to what businesses remained in our once beautiful mall and were shocked when we read the list on the website. Sears is still there? 

It's unclear how long it's been since the mall's website has been updated, but just how hard is this to do? Going with what's listed, the mall has 49 businesses. Or does it?

1. Three (or more) are gone or going: Sears, Payless ShoeSource, and Charlotte Russe.

2. One is a police substation.

3. Two are hair salons located in larger stores.

4. Two are military recruiting offices.

5. One is a free standing theatre complex. 

That leaves 40 stores in a mall the site describes as "mid-town." Any of our readers particularly eager to shop there?

Does Anyone Care?