Red Roof Mall Closing

[biscuitcreek]

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

[Junior]

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."

[tiffanylynnt]

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.

[Injun Joe]

I'll miss this place but this is the original red mall I remember:



Only shopping you need, right?

[chittlins]

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

[sanddunerider]

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..

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

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!

[SDC#1fan]

well someone has to say it...Looks like a great place to expand white water!!!

[sanddunerider]

how about an indoor golf cart track, using electric carts?

[KBCraig]

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.

[Injun Joe]

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.

[bobber620]

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!!

[chittlins]

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

[rubedugans]

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.

[thelarsonsix]

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?