5 ms·

I live near Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and they could not be any busier. It's packed at 2pm on a Tuesday when I'm going to an eye doctor appointmen

I live near Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and they could not be any busier. It's packed at 2pm on a Tuesday when I'm going to an eye doctor appointment. On the weekends there are often traffic issues in from people entering and leaving. I feel like it's not that malls or retailers are dying, but instead all the revenue is going to a few places with wealthy, urban locations. Perhaps this has to do with the influx of people moving from the suburbs into cities?

mattnewton 9y ago
I think that’s part of it, there is also the issue the article goes into about leveraged buyouts leaving several retail stores with interest payments that are just too high on otherwise healthy buisinesses. It isn’t enough for them to be packed, they have to show growth to beat the interest.
jamesmp98 9y ago
I miss ATL malls
StevePerkins 9y ago
#1: Buckhead is an affluent residential neighborhood, that turned into a startup hub and investment banker district in a couple of decades... but hasn't changed the "residential neighborhood" infrastructure. There are 24/7 traffic issues even when Lenox is closed. #2: The Atlanta metro had about two-dozen thriving malls a couple of decades ago. Today there's, what? Lenox/Phipps, Perimeter, maybe Cumberland (?). Mall of Georgia way out in the boondocks, having killed all the others along the I-85 corridor? Even Lenox isn't as hopping today as it was in the "old Buckhead" (i.e. pre-Ray Lewis) days. The trend is pretty stark.
- smileysteve 9y ago
  North Dekalb mall is a great example of an almost dead mall. It has a movie theater that I visited for a Tmobile Tuesday.
- southphillyman 9y ago
  Just curious ...what are the "pre Ray Lewis" days? He never played in Atlanta and isn't from there....
  - StevePerkins 9y ago
    Throughout the 1990's, Buckhead had a TREMENDOUS club/nightlife scene. In 2000, Ray Lewis was in town for an away game or whatever reason. He and his entourage got into a nightclub altercation that lead to a stabbing death... you know, just read his Wikipedia entry if you're not already aware of those details. Anyway, it was an EXTREMELY high-profile story in the local press, and shortly thereafter the bar and nightclub scene was drastically curtailed. Now, it's definitely arguable whether this should be attributed to Ray Lewis. The truth is more complex... political pressure from wealthy local residents had been building for years, and the Lewis incident was really just a "symbolic" tipping point. Regardless, a lot us lifelong Atlanta residents tend to remember that incident as one of those miniature 9/11-ish moments where a culture shifts abruptly.
    - southphillyman 9y ago
      Oh wow thanks, this whole time I thought that incident occurred in South Beach. Makes sense. I'm sad I'll never get to experience the "old Atlanta". I usually hear people describe it as pre and post Freaknik though.
  - coreymayo 9y ago
    http://www.ajc.com/news/ray-lewis-atlanta-legacy-not-storied/FFZpIyi9k9m7TJNMmkifKK/ http://www.ajc.com/news/ray-lewis-atlanta-legacy-not-storied...
bluedino 9y ago
Right - Atlanta has many dead/dying malls. Shannon Mall, Southlake, Greenbriar and Gwinnett Place
23443463453 9y ago
I think what this is really about is what has been going on for a while, especially since the Obama administration further imposed it upon society; the consolidation and concentration of all the things. It's the age old tradeoff between risk and efficiency; dictatorship or liberty, concentration or diversification, freedom or subjugation. As with social "diversity" that is really about the shattering of real diversity by mixing, muddling, breaking boundaries, and polluting distinct and unique characteristics; the consolidation and concentration of people and culture, and the consolidation and concentration of the internet, among others, have all led to a "great sucking sound" of an emerging monoculture, the destruction of ACTUAL diversity, which leaves unsustainable networks in its wake that collapses upon themselves in what is in this instance being called the retail apocalypse.

mattnewton 9y ago

I think that’s part of it, there is also the issue the article goes into about leveraged buyouts leaving several retail stores with interest payments that are just too high on otherwise healthy buisinesses. It isn’t enough for them to be packed, they have to show growth to beat the interest.

jamesmp98 9y ago

I miss ATL malls

StevePerkins 9y ago

#1: Buckhead is an affluent residential neighborhood, that turned into a startup hub and investment banker district in a couple of decades... but hasn't changed the "residential neighborhood" infrastructure. There are 24/7 traffic issues even when Lenox is closed. #2: The Atlanta metro had about two-dozen thriving malls a couple of decades ago. Today there's, what? Lenox/Phipps, Perimeter, maybe Cumberland (?). Mall of Georgia way out in the boondocks, having killed all the others along the I-85 corridor? Even Lenox isn't as hopping today as it was in the "old Buckhead" (i.e. pre-Ray Lewis) days. The trend is pretty stark.

smileysteve 9y ago
North Dekalb mall is a great example of an almost dead mall. It has a movie theater that I visited for a Tmobile Tuesday.
southphillyman 9y ago
Just curious ...what are the "pre Ray Lewis" days? He never played in Atlanta and isn't from there....
- StevePerkins 9y ago
  Throughout the 1990's, Buckhead had a TREMENDOUS club/nightlife scene. In 2000, Ray Lewis was in town for an away game or whatever reason. He and his entourage got into a nightclub altercation that lead to a stabbing death... you know, just read his Wikipedia entry if you're not already aware of those details. Anyway, it was an EXTREMELY high-profile story in the local press, and shortly thereafter the bar and nightclub scene was drastically curtailed. Now, it's definitely arguable whether this should be attributed to Ray Lewis. The truth is more complex... political pressure from wealthy local residents had been building for years, and the Lewis incident was really just a "symbolic" tipping point. Regardless, a lot us lifelong Atlanta residents tend to remember that incident as one of those miniature 9/11-ish moments where a culture shifts abruptly.
  - southphillyman 9y ago
    Oh wow thanks, this whole time I thought that incident occurred in South Beach. Makes sense. I'm sad I'll never get to experience the "old Atlanta". I usually hear people describe it as pre and post Freaknik though.
- coreymayo 9y ago
  http://www.ajc.com/news/ray-lewis-atlanta-legacy-not-storied/FFZpIyi9k9m7TJNMmkifKK/ http://www.ajc.com/news/ray-lewis-atlanta-legacy-not-storied...

bluedino 9y ago

Right - Atlanta has many dead/dying malls. Shannon Mall, Southlake, Greenbriar and Gwinnett Place

23443463453 9y ago

I think what this is really about is what has been going on for a while, especially since the Obama administration further imposed it upon society; the consolidation and concentration of all the things. It's the age old tradeoff between risk and efficiency; dictatorship or liberty, concentration or diversification, freedom or subjugation. As with social "diversity" that is really about the shattering of real diversity by mixing, muddling, breaking boundaries, and polluting distinct and unique characteristics; the consolidation and concentration of people and culture, and the consolidation and concentration of the internet, among others, have all led to a "great sucking sound" of an emerging monoculture, the destruction of ACTUAL diversity, which leaves unsustainable networks in its wake that collapses upon themselves in what is in this instance being called the retail apocalypse.