tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post5877094538169391930..comments2023-10-19T05:19:01.550-08:00Comments on American Dirt: Shopping for the masses—the haves and have-nots.AmericanDirthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04600555386886915000noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-69178631990609236872015-01-04T23:27:58.039-09:002015-01-04T23:27:58.039-09:00I just read your article from two years ago about ...I just read your article from two years ago about the Oxford Valley Mall, and found it to be very insightful. I've recently become fascinated with the subject of "dead malls," and given Simon's continuing inability to replace the empty Boscov's anchor (plus the loss this past year of FYE due to that company's continued contraction, and Five Below, which relocated to the shopping center across the road), I was starting to wonder whether OVM had a future or not.<br /><br />One of the comments mentioned the competiton provided by nearby Neshaminy Mall; Neshaminy lacks some of the more upscale stores Oxford Valley has, yet seems to be in better shape — it's smaller, only one floor (apart from the anchors) — has fewer vacant storefronts, and can boast a 24-screen AMC movie theater as one of its anchors (OVM has a 16-screen theater in an outparcel).Dr. Bigglesworthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-66715536734548397322014-01-10T18:10:24.097-09:002014-01-10T18:10:24.097-09:00Anonymous--
Considering that I've been to Newt...Anonymous--<br />Considering that I've been to Newtown, taken pictures, and typed a blog article at a coffeehouse, rest assured that the two-word spelling was a typo and nothing more. I have corrected it. Thank you for your graciousness in pointing that mistake out.AmericanDirthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600555386886915000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-9078838323137077512014-01-06T07:58:53.511-09:002014-01-06T07:58:53.511-09:00A 2 second google search of 'new town, pa'...A 2 second google search of 'new town, pa' would have shown you that it's Newtown. One word.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-18229286879439603362013-11-09T10:00:23.025-09:002013-11-09T10:00:23.025-09:00Thanks for the comments Greg and Anonymous. Yes, ...Thanks for the comments Greg and Anonymous. Yes, I'd agree that the best days of OVM seem to be behind it, but some of it is less due to demographic changes in the area and more with an overall retreat from malls as an attractive/desirable real estate typology. People are willing to travel long long distances from the top tier malls (like King of Prussia and Cherry Hill), leaving Oxford Valley and Quaker Bridge in their wake. My suspicion is the routine visits to the mall are far less frequent than in the past, except for the lowest common denominator mall rats (i.e., teenyboppers, which explains the large number of stores that cater to them--both national chains and mom-and-pops).AmericanDirthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600555386886915000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-312387902525433082013-11-08T18:58:39.498-09:002013-11-08T18:58:39.498-09:00The other big change from the 80s is the big box r...The other big change from the 80s is the big box retailers. Office Depot, Best Buy, Kohls and Borders were built very close to Oxford Valley Mall in the 90s. I think another factor affecting the mall is increased competition. These stores seem to have drawn quite a bit of traffic away from the mall, but are now also struggling.<br /><br />I suspect the mall did very well in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. I was a shopper there in the late 80s/early 90s. <br /><br />But it seemed dead the last time I was there over the summer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-7541621762926784592013-08-10T20:11:25.238-08:002013-08-10T20:11:25.238-08:00Growing up in Bucks County I remember Oxford Valle...Growing up in Bucks County I remember Oxford Valley as being a mix of Levittown and Trenton shoppers. I worked at the Florshiem shoe store in OVM in 1988 and we sold a lot of expensive shoes there to a very diverse group of people. They closed that store at the end of their lease but I believe it had more to do with Florsheims financial struggles than with the mall itself. One point I wanted to bring up which I didn't see here in the blog or the following comments is this, Simon operates this mall and Simon has a lot of other malls. Simon is BIG. Because of its size Simon has some very valuable real estate in some very successful centers and many retail companies are often willing to package together leases into multiple centers to get the best leases in the sought after locations. This is why stores such as Coach are a staple in almost every Simon mall regrdless of whether its cusomers are there and no doubt why some of the better stores are now at OVM. Being said, in my opinion, Oxford Valley Mall has always had (and still has) middle to upper middle income customers but they are not the cultured and polished group that stores like Williams Sonoma seek and I don't think stores like this will work there. Example being we sold many $100-$200 women's shoes with ease but it was mostly to Trenton's drag queens and label conscious hipsters. Levittowners bought boots and casual footwear. These groups of customers would probably better support brands such as Urban Outfitter, H&M, Armani Exchange, True Religion, Coach (which is already there), Michael Kors, and Love Culture and not Banana Republic, Swarovski, and Williams Sonoma. These stores are too conservative for that demographic. OVM could further benefit from being a middle to upper end entertainment center mixed with trendy restaurants such as PF Changs/Legal Seafoods. I think this is what would work there. Mom and Pop shops and run of the mill strip mall stores will not drive traffic from Cherry Hill to the east, KOP, Montgomery, and Willow Grove from the North, and Neshaminy fromthe south (with a very different demo coming mostly from NE Phila)Greg Salerahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15041427273002885950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-21426348534700343932013-06-11T14:36:12.204-08:002013-06-11T14:36:12.204-08:00Thanks for your comments, Steve. I wasn't fam...Thanks for your comments, Steve. I wasn't familiar with the Montgomery Mall, and I never got the chance to visit the Neshaminy Mall, but my guess is that they, too, have to feed on the remaining scraps that don't get sucked into the King of Prussia vortex.<br /><br />Essentially, even as more malls are dying, even the ones that are surviving are only rarely flourishing. We have lowered the bar for what constitutes success, and my guess is Oxford Valley (or its counterpart Quaker Bridge in NJ) are "good enough" by today's standards, though they'd hardly pass muster if we judged them through a 1985 lens. Then again, malls were everywhere in 1985, and people didn't demonstrate the same level of willingness to travel huge distance for the really GOOD ones--a trend which today explains why Cherry Hill and King of Prussia may seem like the only two major mall winners in one of America's largest metropolitan areas.AmericanDirthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600555386886915000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-34937639322977677632013-06-11T10:36:29.647-08:002013-06-11T10:36:29.647-08:00Also from PA here, and just found this article. I&...Also from PA here, and just found this article. I'd like to add that Oxford Valley is fairly typical of malls in the area--we lost about half of our Boscov's in their bankruptcy, and most of those Boscov's were, in turn, a rapid expansion into old Strawbridge's when its parent company was folded into Macy's.<br /><br />King of Prussia sucks traffic from most of these areas, but it's hardly the only one to. Cherry Hill functions much the same way in South Jersey, where bridge tolls and congestion around Center City add an extra hurdle to getting to King of Prussia, and a lot of our wealth of Main Streets are ramping up their retail options.<br /><br />Interestingly enough, though, there is a conspicuous absence of Main Streets around the Oxford Valley Mall area, which (whether or not Simon likes it) means that the mall itself partially fills that void. But that explains Oxford Valley--but not Granite Run, in active competition with downtown Media, or Montgomery Mall, which has similar conditions and has half a dozen Main Streets an easy drive away.Steve Stofkahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14825368520377993845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-68218287575150504892012-12-26T21:45:27.657-09:002012-12-26T21:45:27.657-09:00Thanks for the feedback, Lou. It does seem like Ox...Thanks for the feedback, Lou. It does seem like Oxford Valley has a lot of competition, with the already mentioned Neshaminy Mall just a few miles away, and then Quaker Bridge (a future blog post) across the river a short distance away in Windsor Township, NJ. Sure, there's high density of suburbia in the area, but people seem more willing than ever to drive great distances to the preferred retail node, despite high gas prices. You're probably right that many people seeking a high concentration of major brands which just hop over to King of Prussia Mall.<br /><br />I'll do my best to check out some of those other recommended malls in the future. Stay tuned.AmericanDirthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600555386886915000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9158467536239735339.post-55098829152485305842012-12-26T13:11:39.080-09:002012-12-26T13:11:39.080-09:00great post. especially since i live in nearby Sout...great post. especially since i live in nearby South Jersey. Maybe Oxford Valley is losing luster because it is competing more with, just up the turnpike, King of Prussia, the mother of all malls.<br /><br />You should also check out Echelon Mall (reinvented Voorhess Town Center) and the updated Cherry Hill Mall, first east of the Mississippi.Louhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12311965678663147321noreply@blogger.com