In this Going-Out-of-Business-Sale, the store is included.
The Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale will soon have a new owner, as the struggling mall is set to go to foreclosure auction within the next 60 days, according to the shopping center’s attorney.
The sale has been expected for several months, as shopping traffic has declined while customers have complained about the shops’ high-end prices and costly parking. The 21-acre, open air mall filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2009.
However, not everyone believes that high-end stores and parking charges are the sole reason for the coming foreclosure. Vincent Arcuri, Jr., Chair of Community Board 5 said that the empty storefronts are the result of poor planning by the mall’s owners.
“Bad management and a lack of advertising,” said Arcuri, when asked why stores were closing. “From what I’ve heard from the shopkeepers, the lease terms were extremely tough on the tenants.”
He also said that people in the community made recommendations for the types of shops they would have liked to see at the mall, but those shopkeepers would not sign Atlas’ standard lease.
As for the parking, Arcuri pointed to the Queens Center Mall, which makes customers pay for parking, as a sign that a paid parking arrangement can work if the community is offered something they want.
“To say it’s because of parking is a kneejerk reaction,” he said. “If people want to go to the mall and if they are going to buy something, they will pay for parking. It works just fine at the Queens Center Mall.”
While shops are closing, Arcuri maintains that the mall’s theater and restaurants are doing good business – he points to the weekend crowds as a reason to believe that a successful mall can be maintained in the area.
As for advice to any new owners of the mall, Arcuri said they should focus on marketing and enticing people of the area to do their shopping at Atlas Park.
“From a marketing standpoint, if you want to bring people and keep them coming back, you should offer customers something – give something away,” he said. “Maybe they should have offered free parking for the first couple of months.”
