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I was in Cleveland over the weekend and got a quick tour from the director of small business development. They turned one of their Arcades (malls) into a small

I was in Cleveland over the weekend and got a quick tour from the director of small business development. They turned one of their Arcades (malls) into a small business incubator. It made for a quirky shopping experience. There was a peanut cookie shop next to a handmade bow-tie store. Parts of it felt like walking through Etsy. The tour concluded with several business that had spun off into their own locations. It seemed like a great use of a historic space that from the sound of it was full of run down tourist trap stores.

selimthegrim 8y ago
Which mall was this? Randall? Parmatown? Tower City? Arcade sounds like one of the old downtown ones....
- technologia 8y ago
  I think it is this one: http://www.flashstarts.com/ http://www.flashstarts.com/ Looks like it is near Tower City
- dangus 8y ago
  It's probably the 5th Street Arcades https://www.5thstreetarcades.com/ https://www.5thstreetarcades.com/ It's really a fantastic space, and it was basically empty just a few short years ago. That said, its model is not necessarily a solution to suburban mall decay, as it was already part of a dense downtown with a growing residential population and a captive workday population that often uses the arcades as a walkway between Euclid and Prospect. Many malls will never recover as the US simply has too much retail square footage. Along with that, they're not so great with property tax efficiency, where historic main street districts easily outperform them. There's a Strong Towns article out there somewhere about the subject (probably this one: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/4/23/bon-ton-gone https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/4/23/bon-ton-gone)
  - touristtam 8y ago
    It is facinating how the shopping mall model from 70/80s has been on a decline for the last 20 years: https://www.economist.com/node/10278717 https://www.economist.com/node/10278717

selimthegrim 8y ago

Which mall was this? Randall? Parmatown? Tower City? Arcade sounds like one of the old downtown ones....

technologia 8y ago
I think it is this one: http://www.flashstarts.com/ http://www.flashstarts.com/ Looks like it is near Tower City
dangus 8y ago
It's probably the 5th Street Arcades https://www.5thstreetarcades.com/ https://www.5thstreetarcades.com/ It's really a fantastic space, and it was basically empty just a few short years ago. That said, its model is not necessarily a solution to suburban mall decay, as it was already part of a dense downtown with a growing residential population and a captive workday population that often uses the arcades as a walkway between Euclid and Prospect. Many malls will never recover as the US simply has too much retail square footage. Along with that, they're not so great with property tax efficiency, where historic main street districts easily outperform them. There's a Strong Towns article out there somewhere about the subject (probably this one: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/4/23/bon-ton-gone https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/4/23/bon-ton-gone)
- touristtam 8y ago
  It is facinating how the shopping mall model from 70/80s has been on a decline for the last 20 years: https://www.economist.com/node/10278717 https://www.economist.com/node/10278717