A tale of two shopping centers

AT LINCOLN MALL, the 14-screen Cinemaworld, above, and outside entrances to major stores are credited with helping lure business. But Rhode Island Mall is hindered by a battle between tenants and competition from the nearby Warwick Mall.
AT LINCOLN MALL, the 14-screen Cinemaworld, above, and outside entrances to major stores are credited with helping lure business. But Rhode Island Mall is hindered by a battle between tenants and competition from the nearby Warwick Mall.

By David Ortiz

Facing challenges that include changes in national retail habits and increased local competition, two landmark Rhode Island malls have charted divergent courses.
As a result, the Lincoln Mall has recovered from a decade of hardship to regain its position as a popular regional retail center, while the Rhode Island Mall remains mired in decline, and its future is uncertain.

Both malls already had faced significant competition from nearby Warwick Mall and Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, even before Providence Place opened in 1999.
Moreover, in the late 1990s, consumers across the nation began to abandon traditional large interior malls in favor of mixed-use outdoor malls that allow for quicker, more focused shopping, said Patrice Duker, spokeswoman for the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Such “lifestyle centers,” as they are referred to in retail parlance, typically incorporate one large anchor tenant with numerous diverse specialty retailers, restaurants, entertainment venues and even office or residential space, in an open-air environment.
There are currently about 50 open-air malls under construction in the United States, and only one traditional indoor mall, according to ICSC data.

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“The enclosed-mall format is going through another set of evolutions,” Duker said. “That’s not to say people aren’t still going to the closed malls, because they are. But those open-air centers are appealing to customers, because there can be a quick turnaround.”

Lincoln Mall’s former owner, Bryn Mawr, Pa.-based WP Realty, has embraced the future by essentially “de-malling” the retail complex. Interior access to most of the mall’s stores was eliminated in favor of entrances that face the parking lot, shifting the shopping experience outdoors. Target was recruited to take over for Kmart as an anchor tenant, and a 14-screen Cinemaworld theater was added.

The changes essentially saved Lincoln Mall, making it an attractive purchase for the current owner, Illinois-based Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc.

“Indoor malls are becoming less popular,” Inland spokesman Darryl Cater said. “In the 1980s, the catchphrase was ‘Shop ’till you drop.’ People would make plans to spend the whole day in the mall. These days, the catchphrase is ‘convenience.’ People like to drive up to the store that they need, buy what they want and get out.”

Cater declined to share financial information about Lincoln Mall, but the remodeled shopping plaza – located at the intersection of Routes 146, 116 and 295 – appears to be doing well. Its parking lot is relatively full, even on weekdays, and although what remains of the indoor mall is less busy, the cinema does draw a steady stream of people into the building.

Inland, the fifth largest shopping center owner in North America, has no plans to sell or change the Lincoln Mall, Cater said.

“We bought the shopping center and the idea behind its redevelopment. We’re not looking to bring new ideas to that redevelopment right away,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Mall, off Route 95 in Warwick at the corner of Routes 2 and 113, is mostly vacant. When it opened in 1967, as the Midland Mall, it was the state’s first modern mall – and for decades, it was a commercial hub.

Today, the parking lot is still busy with people coming to the R.I. Registry of Motor Vehicles office inside the mall and to the two anchor stores – Wal-Mart and Stop & Shop – but there is little foot traffic inside the mall, and more than half the storefronts are vacant.

The mall’s future may hinge on an apparent turf war between Wal-Mart and Stop & Shop. The latter bought the interior of the mall in 2003, has yet to renovate the space or attract new tenants. At the time of the purchase, analysts said Stop & Shop might have just been trying to keep Wal-Mart from expanding into the space and opening its own supermarket.

A site manager for Rhode Island Mall’s owner, Munich, Germany-based GLL Real Estate Partners, declined to provide the mall’s vacancy rate or discuss its future.
Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said the city hasn’t had any contact with Rhode Island Mall’s parent company in more than a year.

“We have not heard from them of any changes,” he said.

In the current economic environment, developers looking to breathe new life into dead malls focus on cities that provide tax incentives for such redevelopment, said Daniel Butler, vice president of merchandising and retail operations for the National Retail Federation.

Another factor that could figure into the future of Rhode Island Mall is its proximity to the Warwick Mall, which has better withstood the competitive pressures.

“You can only have so many really big malls in a given area,” Butler said.

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