Looks like the Red Roof Mall is going to bite the dust. Simon, who manages the mall, wants the city to take it over since the city owns the land.
There is hope that some of the stores will move to the Shoppes of Branson Meadows, another property managed by Simon.
More details:
http://www.hometowndailynews.com/8320/exclusive_simon_to_transfer_ownership_of_factory_merchants_mall_to_city_of_branson.html
http://bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_47512cd2-2056-11e1-a167-001871e3ce6c.html
http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-factory-merchant-mall-in-branson-could-close-soon-20111208,0,7825175.story
This was the FIRST big mall to come to Branson. I remember the days of old when the parking lots and stores were packed. Last few times my wife and I visited...it was a ghost town. This closure is not a surpise to me, but it is a sad day. My guess would be TANGER and BRANSON LANDING are the two malls that will survive. Branson Meadows, a well done mall, never lived up to the potential it could have, and was about empty the last time I visited there, too. Time moves on...things change...that's "progress."
My mom is gonna be crushed when she hears this! One less mall to drag us to!
I'm not trying to sound cold and heartless, but I'm not a big fan of shopping. It does suck that it is closing though.
I'll miss this place but this is the original red mall I remember:
(http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee402/IJSDC1/th_ozarkland.jpg) (http://s1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee402/IJSDC1/?action=view¤t=ozarkland.jpg)
Only shopping you need, right?
I see Simon's logic. Brandon Meadows is better situated, laid out better, has a movie theater( here kids watch a movie while momma shops). Only reason I thought it never took off was that it was the third of the bunch and likely commanded higher rent per sq. Ft. I've seen lots of stores come and go at all three. Brandon Meadows does have the VF outlet which is a plus. I read recently that outlet malls were doing better in the economic environment and that some retailers made product just for outlet stores. Here's some brands I'd like to see.
Mossy Oak
Columbia
Woolrich
Sierra trading post
I dont "shop" as such, But i hate it they have to close any mall area. But you cant keep building malls and shopping areas without somebody paying the price.. ::). Hopefully the stores will relocate to the other malls and that will help everybody..
After they close that mall, there probably will never get retail stores back in there.. BUT the facility could be revamped into something else.... but what?? Maybe a healtcare center, Maybe a production area or small factory? Maybe revamp into a theatrea/ store area.. (kind of like imax?) . But that all would take major reinvestment of money, AND There are enough theatres in town already..
I watched on KY3 about this.....it saddened me. My mommy would always shop here. We would get fudge and I got my ffirst Billy Idol CD here. I know......nerdy. There was a fantastic quilt shop here also if I remember right. Good memories!
well someone has to say it...Looks like a great place to expand white water!!! :)
how about an indoor golf cart track, using electric carts?
The only time I went to Red Roof was in '98, and I wasn't impressed. It was half empty then, and what stores there were could be found at any outlet mall in the country.
I don't go to Branson for any shopping other than what I can find at SDC, though.
I've visited the 97 Stores Mall or whatever its official name is and enjoyed it, but Junior pretty much nailed it. In St. Louis River Roads begets NW Plaza begets Mills and so on and so on. The real tragedy is when large abandoned mall properties aren't redeveloped and become a blight on their neighbors. Fortunately, this place is kind of in the "back yard" and out of view mostly.
Certainly not something one wants to hear anytime of the year let alone around the holidays. Thoughts and prayers to those employees that are in this position. Really can't say that i am surprised at the news though. We used to shop there when it opened ,but as most malls do the number of stores gradually declined and so did the number of shoppers. I wonder if the distance from the strip had anything to do with it's decline? Still it is sad to see such a Branson staple going the way of the dodo!!
Tanger has consistantly expanded and from living here in Fayetteville, marketed better with sending out coupons and such. If Simon gets the worthwhile stores to relocate(Carter's comes to mind) and attract a few new ones that's not located in Branson. You might get two. I've noticed that Coleman has moved Tanger to that strip mall by the Amish place.
If the city of Brandon developed a sports complex designed fro larger scale tornements for adults and kids for softball, baseball and soccer where the red roof is and promoted it right would be a great way to fill rooms and tables
Don't let the StLouis Mall scene become too involved with the Branson situation, St Louis has had its' own issue that Branson does not- urban sprawl.
The point of a shopping mall is for recreational shopping, and with the mass exodus of North St. Louis residents moving to the neighboring counties-St Charles, So. StL, the economy, and the community could no longer support the once bustling anchor stores and malls, so they shut their doors. This has been detrimental to North County, but with the recent addition of the Mills Mall, the area has had an infux of revenue. More and more small shops and storefronts have popped up to serve the market left open after the departure of the malls in the mid 90's (Northland Shopping Center, RiverRoads, NW Plaza). (My parents both worked at River Roads one of the first enclosed "Malls" in the USA, My grandmother at NW Plaza for 20+ yrs- I remember that mall when it was still outside (before the enclosure) before closure, it was the largest mall in MO, 27th largest in the US, it had 9 anchor stores, and over 200 stores (a total of over 1 million square feet
Branson will ALWAYS have the recreational shopper, and it is visitors that feed this market (something North StL. doesn't have). It is just which has a better location, or a better offering of stores, which is bigger, better, etc.
I had a thread about Red Roof mall a while, how disappointed I was to see it so empty so this is no big surprise. Not sure how many stores are actually left there but I doubt it's more than a handful. Still I am saddened to see it go, I just loved the 70's feel to it and the open green spaces.
It seems we always do things to excess and then they all end up crashing. One mall is great, so 5 must be 5 times better right? One movie was a blockbuster so 5 more sequels must be even better. It's a pattern I see over and over seems some folks will never learn that there is too much of a good thing. Not saying this is the primary reason RR is closing, but how many malls does Branson really need? Time marches on I suppose...
Wonder if we should split this off into the WW projects for 2014 thread? ;D
I'm not a big fan of shopping unless there is something I absolutely have to have, like summer clothes, or winter clothes. I hate clothes shopping just to shop. I do like shops with random things, like Earthbound Trading Company, Claire's, Disney store, etc. I also really like shoe stores. Its fun to try on shoes. I've always loved shoes. :D
I really like Branson Landing. Not so much for the shopping though. I like the restaurants and I am always craving the chocolate covered cheesecake from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I love in the summertime on the Boardwalk. I love the guy who plays the keyboard! He is there all the time!!!
Quote from: thelarsonsix on December 13, 2011, 05:30:41 PM
I had a thread about Red Roof mall a while, how disappointed I was to see it so empty so this is no big surprise. Not sure how many stores are actually left there but I doubt it's more than a handful. Still I am saddened to see it go, I just loved the 70's feel to it and the open green spaces.
It seems we always do things to excess and then they all end up crashing. One mall is great, so 5 must be 5 times better right? One movie was a blockbuster so 5 more sequels must be even better. It's a pattern I see over and over seems some folks will never learn that there is too much of a good thing. Not saying this is the primary reason RR is closing, but how many malls does Branson really need? Time marches on I suppose...
Wonder if we should split this off into the WW projects for 2014 thread? ;D
Love what you said here about this. So I'm going to make two statements: One in complete agreement that Society is all about capitalizing on what is hot at the moment and then not really seeing what its long lasting effects are. I grew up in the Branson boom and thought nothing of it when it was making the news and Malls were as ubiquitous as the shows that once made it famous. Even now, when I tell people about Branson in Orlando they think Country Music shows and Outlet Malls. HA!!!! But with growth, and seeing how you can capitalize on it, developers also have to realize that Branson is a seasonal vacation destination, and that well...as we know now, we are not recession proof in this country. Hindsight, right? It began with Red top, then Tanger (or Blue Top), then when I worked there, they opened the Green Top mall that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE shopped at. This all was at the peak of the colored route names. We were blinded by color! Unfortunately, we were blinded by short-sightedness.
The second statement is more about my memories of the Red top mall. Oh, the
ire I felt when my parents (who had saved up more $$$ than I appreciated) to spend an entire weekend in Branson, forced us to go to the Red Top Mall when White Water was JUST IN THE DISTANCE...with all the screams of joy and splashing, and whatnot. My mom's undying obsession with Pfaltzcraft was a running joke if we were ever to get into a pickle where she felt overrun by our needy requests (go karts, coasters, mini golf), we could always promise her as much time at Pfaltzcraft and we would endure it. I loved going into the random stores that probably had names, but escaped me. The shop with all the kitchen knick-nacks, London Fog, Legg, etc. I have to admit, it was kind of fun to get lost in the Red Top mall and eventually find each other again. It was a Branson ritual.
Funny how The Red Top Mall was more about tradition than it was about Consumerism for our family. It was the first and last of its kind.
posted in the tri lakes news recently:
http://bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_cba85e28-331c-11e1-b52b-001871e3ce6c.html
We still go to this mall every visit. But usually only to the restaurant supply store.
I hope it gets a new home.