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ltdan123 t1_iyb8f52 wrote

Short Pump is not an apples to apples comparison for the malls that are dying. First, It’s well located for the (growing) demographic that tends to frequent and spend money in such places. Second, It’s in great condition, and has good tenants relative to other malls in the area. This is more a symptom rather than a driver of success though. Third, It’s not as heavily department store focused as a traditional mall is, which are falling out of favor with consumers. One of its department store tenants even closed (Nordstrom). That certainly hurts as the owners now have lots of vacant space not making any money, but the mall has other draws, bringing up the fourth point: It has lots of mixed use (especially restaurants and hotels) so you can spend extended time there, or come if your primary reason isn’t shopping.

All of those make it a metro area-wide draw as well as a regional draw. I know people from VA Beach that come up for annual back to school shopping.

A “certain” type of mall is dying. Short Pump isnt that - it’s the evolution of what the traditional mall used to be. The giveaway is in the name - town center. Compare it to Tysons in NOVA - there’s enough there to be a regional and metro-wide draw. Other malls in NOVA that are more traditional are closing or have already closed or are being converted to mixed use. Think the old Ballston Mall becoming the Ballston Quarter.

Stony Point is kind of an exception and a unique case - I would hypothesize that even though it’s newer, RVA metro area isn’t big enough for two similar draws that compete for similar tenants. It’s also much harder to get to vs Short Pump, especially for the demographic it’s designed for who primarily live north of the river.

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himynameisjay t1_iybgusr wrote

Yeah I’m all the way from Roanoke and people would drive to Short Pump to shop for prom dresses. It’s a better mall than most of VA has access to.

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ChiliTrees t1_iybh80i wrote

Also from Roanoke!! The first time I went to the Short Pump mall after only ever going to Valley View, my mind was blown. I had to call my friend bc I got lost. Couldn’t believe how big it was. Part of me still can’t lol

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needsexyboots t1_iybqjpv wrote

I grew up in Houston but we’d drive up to MD every year to visit family. For some reason we picked Roanoke as an overnight stay every year and I used to beg my parents to take me to Valley View whenever we were there - I have no idea why but I was in love with that place, I guess maybe they had a store that wasn’t at the mall I went to in Houston but whatever it was, Roanoke became one of my favorite places as a kid

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CatPhtevens t1_iyd2ta8 wrote

I'm from Bluefield and we used to drive to Roanoke to shop at Valley View for Christmas -- it had so many more stores than our Mercer Mall. When I moved to Richmond I was amazed at how many malls they had.

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UntrainedFoodCritic t1_iye1qkz wrote

Lmao literally when my parents come visit me from Roanoke, they’re coming just as much for short pump as me

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batkave t1_iyci1zz wrote

I would add that short pump town center has many stores with only location in the area.

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55V35lM t1_iybtrcp wrote

Regarding Stoney Point, it does seem to be dying. One of three anchors has been vacant for multiple years now and Saks has closed off its second floor. There have been a couple of owners who’ve given up on it. Stoney Points problem is that there was essentially no land to build out add’l retail unlike Short Pump. It is actually very easily accessible from the West End (Parham to Chippenham) - there just wasn’t and isn’t enough to draw people there unlike Short Pump (and with the traffic, is Short Pump really that more accessible?). Regency Mall, once the top mall and a regional destination before Short Pump arrived, had the same limitations as there was limited add’l space to build out more retail in the surrounding area (not as limited but still limited relative to Short Pump which was an area of wide open fields prior to ~2000).

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anony804 t1_iyc2lpi wrote

it's been a while since i went but as a mall loving person my memory of stoney point was "nothing i can afford" and i left. and i love to window shop, but i remember maybe there being a candy store? and i literally couldn't even buy a few tshirts somewhere else or grab a bite to eat.

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55V35lM t1_iydc8le wrote

Being a smaller, upscale mall with above average chain restaurants was its initial draw which worked for a few years… but that was more than a few years ago. It’s financing was actually subsidized by the City which I think still owns the parking lots (may not be the City directly but an ‘authority’ on behalf of the City).

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anony804 t1_iydclnp wrote

Well I must be poor because when it said upscale I thought maybe Abercombie, Hollister etc with some of those Tiffany type stores sprinkled between. So that’s why I bothered to go. I literally cannot afford anything there and if I was to splurge I’d just buy it online or at the outlets. I’d say with income inequality, inflation and more a lot of other people may feel the same.

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GuanoLoopy t1_iycl0s6 wrote

I left RIC in 2014 and I am surprised Stony Point is still functional as malls we're slowly dying even then and Stony Point just logistically was a terrible place. The only way to get to it is via the highway and it's pretty inconvenient to get to and there was no way to fix that. Short Pump has plenty of mall plus surrounding stores so you can make a trip and get things done with all the options close by, whereas Stony Point all you can do is go there and if it doesn't have what you want it's now a hassle to get to another shopping area.

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jimmyredfoot t1_iyd25lk wrote

I figured Stoney Point's days were numbered when it lost it's Starbucks store (what, like 6+ years ago?) If you can't keep a Starbucks going in a suburban shopping area, you've got no traffic

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ltdan123 t1_iycsndj wrote

Despite traffic Short Pump is super accessible. Being close to I-64 is a major asset. I used to work in site selection - one of the main stats real estate developers look at is average daily traffic counts nearby. In that regard - Short Pump is tremendously better located than Stony Point and the traffic is an asset rather than a detriment because it’s more eyeballs and foot traffic to your location.

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55V35lM t1_iycuuft wrote

Valid points… Except for those of us who avoid it specifically because of the traffic - and I don’t think many people are walking along Broad Street there (ie, no foot traffic)

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eightbitagent t1_iyd9mpc wrote

> Being close to I-64 is a major asset.

And also they're building a new I-64 exit at the other end of the mall (North Gayton) in a few years.

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DinoSnuggler t1_iycq265 wrote

I was going to say the same thing. I've only been to Stoney Point a handful of times, but it seemed half dead the last couple.

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PhoenixAshies t1_iycyjdv wrote

I think if (or once?) Cinebistro shuts down, that'll be the end for Stony Point.

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alexfromjupiter t1_iyd0l7o wrote

i used to work in stony point mall about 2 years ago, and i swear in the short time i was there, i saw like 3 stores close. I still head back out there every now and then because there’s a record store I like there, but it just gets more depressing every time

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3FoxInATrenchcoat t1_iyf8upo wrote

I recall when short pump and stony point opened their doors, and it may have been within the same year(?). Stony Point was clearly for the one percenters (haha) and Short Pump was a convergence of Regency and Chesterfield into one big super-mall that felt so much cooler and polished at the time. The Macys shoe department was my personal mecca for years. Also Short Pump always decks the freaking halls during Christmas and I love it.

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pjbananaproteinshake t1_iyck1hc wrote

I went to Highschool in Nova, ballston mall!!! Right down the street from my Highschool! I haven’t been back to nova in 20 years, please tell me about ballston quarter

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blueskieslemontrees t1_iyd4272 wrote

I agree with all of this. Even down to the ways they draw folks in. Its not just a place to shop. Its a destination woth its things like the train for kids, and the summer shows series, etc. If you are super bored, you could just walk around and people watch /window shop while having a coffee and pastry and kill an hour or two. A traditional mall doesn't have that feel. In particular the difference between open air and trapped inside brown/pink tiled walls

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