Dead Malls dot Com: Feature: The Mall at the Source: Westbury, NY

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THE MALL AT THE SOURCE: WESTBURY, NY

Chris' Commentary

Posted July 27, 2009 (user submitted)

The Mall at the Source is a mid-1990s Simon mall, built as an addition to the then-freestanding flagship Fortunoff store. Plenty of A-list 1990s tenants joined the mall, with a mix of full-price and discount tenants: Virgin Megastore, The Cheesecake Factory, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth, Circuit City, Starbucks, Dave & Busters, the Rainforest Cafe, and more. The mall is L-shaped and has a lower level and an upper level, although the layout of each level differs. Surrounding the mall are plenty of A-list big box stores- Best Buy, Borders, Wal-Mart, California Pizza Kitchen, etc.

This mall seems to have performed well despite, or maybe because of the sea of big boxes and the massive Roosevelt Field Mall within a mile or two along Old Country Road; the area is a major retail destination. Well-kept middle-class neighborhoods line Old Country Road as well.

Unfortunately the mall has lost a few anchors, due to the economic turmoil in recent months: Circuit City, the flagship Fortunoff (a housewares and furniture store- think Macy's Cellar and furniture departments times 10), Steve & Barry's and Virgin Megastore all went bust and shut down.

A visit this past weekend shows the effects: most of the mall's stores are still there, but here and there in the mall, in-line tenants have closed: Starbucks, maybe a Gap or an Ann Taylor Outlet and a few others have closed. Crowds have really thinned out; perhaps the word on the street is that the mall is in trouble (such as news releases reporting that the mall's owners defaulted on its mortgage recently), and so people have just decided to drive the extra mile (literally- a 15-minute walk) to Roosevelt Field, sensing that the Source is going under, even though the Mall at the Source still has plenty of stores in it, so consumer psychology is what's hurting this mall's business.

Old Navy, H&M, Zales, Cheesecake Factory, Golf Galaxy, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth, The Children's Place, Coldstone Creamery and a shish kebab restaurant and plenty of others are still here, so don't be scared off.

Simon should do whatever it can to quickly fill the vacant Fortunoff- maybe Sears would move in? That would help keep this mall from going under, although if the crowds keep thinning, it could.

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