4 ms·

I have to admit I'm not sure what the point of your comment is in this context. Are you implying that even though Loudoun County has the highest median income i

by tssva 3y ago

I have to admit I'm not sure what the point of your comment is in this context. Are you implying that even though Loudoun County has the highest median income in the country it might still not be able to support a mall because the wealth is concentrated and a large number live in poverty? If so, I can assure you that is not the case. Loudoun County has the 6th lowest poverty rate of US counties at 3.4%. It should be a great location for a mall yet the mall is still not doing well.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> I'm not sure what the point of your comment is in this context Median household income is a poor proxy for a mall’s revenue driver: aggregate proximate disposable income. One can maintain lofty median incomes while peripherialising disposable income through higher median costs of living. (Side note: I spent a hot minute in childhood in McClean. The food in Leesburg might have triggered my inner gourmande. Forgot that until just now—thank you.)
- tssva 3y ago
  Would have never guessed that since the original comment didn't mention disposable income but only a statement about median income hiding gut wrenching poverty. Loudoun County has the 3rd highest average household disposable income and a low poverty rate, so again should be a great location for a mall but isn't. While some malls are succeeding, Tysons Corner Mall and Tysons Galleria in Northern Virginia for example, many more are struggling and many have already died. Some of this is due to the shrinking of their traditional tenants, national retail chains, but is also due to those same potential tenants choosing to relocate existing stores and open new stores in non-mall locations.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > the original comment didn't mention disposable income It was pointing out that the chosen isn’t the signal it’s being positioned as. > Loudoun County has the 3rd highest average household disposable income and a low poverty rate, so again should be a great location for a mall Source? (Purely for curiosity.) Averages don’t matter. Aggregates do. If I am a county of one, even with tremendous disposable income, a good location for a mall I do not make. Malls are absolutely in structural decline. But pointing to median and average metrics is misleading, though not in an uncommon way.

by tssva 3y ago

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> I'm not sure what the point of your comment is in this context Median household income is a poor proxy for a mall’s revenue driver: aggregate proximate disposable income. One can maintain lofty median incomes while peripherialising disposable income through higher median costs of living. (Side note: I spent a hot minute in childhood in McClean. The food in Leesburg might have triggered my inner gourmande. Forgot that until just now—thank you.)

tssva 3y ago
Would have never guessed that since the original comment didn't mention disposable income but only a statement about median income hiding gut wrenching poverty. Loudoun County has the 3rd highest average household disposable income and a low poverty rate, so again should be a great location for a mall but isn't. While some malls are succeeding, Tysons Corner Mall and Tysons Galleria in Northern Virginia for example, many more are struggling and many have already died. Some of this is due to the shrinking of their traditional tenants, national retail chains, but is also due to those same potential tenants choosing to relocate existing stores and open new stores in non-mall locations.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > the original comment didn't mention disposable income It was pointing out that the chosen isn’t the signal it’s being positioned as. > Loudoun County has the 3rd highest average household disposable income and a low poverty rate, so again should be a great location for a mall Source? (Purely for curiosity.) Averages don’t matter. Aggregates do. If I am a county of one, even with tremendous disposable income, a good location for a mall I do not make. Malls are absolutely in structural decline. But pointing to median and average metrics is misleading, though not in an uncommon way.