In the past year, malls have
been looking slightly less
packed. Aside from being
used as a Friday night babysitting
replacement for young
teens, malls across America
have lost some major appeal
due to tighter budgets.
The Oxford Valley Mall in
Langhorne is no exception
and appears to also be a victim
of the economic crisis.
Stores that once attracted
many buyers are now going
out of business, and major
anchor stores such as
Boscov’s are closing after filing
for bankruptcy.
“An empty department
store at the end of the mall
can hurt the smaller stores,”
said hairstylist Joyce
Robinson at the Regis Salon
at the Oxford Valley Mall.
“The anchor stores attract
customers to that part of the
mall, and since Boscov’s is
gone, that part of the mall is
dead,” said Robinson.
According to a report by
ABC News, Michael P.
Niemira, chief economist at
the International
Council of
S h o p p i n g
Centers, said the
industry has
“really been battered by
every part of this recession.”
As a result, this past holiday
season was the weakest
since 1970.
The amount of money spent
at the nation’s retailers from
Nov. 1 through Christmas
Eve was down 5.5 percent to
8 percent compared with last
year, according to
MasterCard SpendingPulse,
which tracks retail sales for
all forms of payment, including
check, cash and credit
card.
Another noticeable change
at the Oxford Valley Mall is
the sudden change in hours
of operation. Instead of closing
at 9:30 p.m. on weekdays
and Saturdays, it now closes
30 minutes earlier. On
Sundays the amll closes an
hour earlier, meaning fewer
hours for many mall employees.
Build-A-Bear Workshop
employee Megan McTegue
said the sudden cut in hours
definitely cut back the time
she spends at work.
“It’s nice we get out of there
earlier, but the cutback hurts
my paycheck,” said
McTegue.
Another employee of Build-
A-Bear, student Esther Shon,
21, is finding a second job to
keep up with her basic needs.
Shon, like most college students,
finds that having
money is a necessity to pay
tuition.
“Because the
hours have
been cut back,
Build-A-Bear
doesn’t really
need a whole lot of people,
and I wasn’t getting the
scheduled hours. I love working
there, I just need the
money,” she said.
The simplest answer as to
why the mall is closing earlier
is the fact that many people
are just not spending as much
as they had previously.
“It would be completely
unnecessary to keep the mall
open at dead hours,” stated
stylist Joyce Robinson. “No
one is in the mall.”
Shoppers who graze the
mall do not feel negatively
about it. Mall-walker
Maureen Healy of Levittown
said that as long as she gets to
walk before hours, she’s fine.
She also said that people are
definitely watching what
they are spending and looking
for other, cheaper places
to shop.
As for the future of malls, a
report conducted by The
Moderate Voice editor Joe
Gandleman said, “As more
stores exit malls, vacancies in
regional malls could rise past
7 percent by year-end.”
According to real estate
research firm Reis, this is a
level not hit since the first
quarter of 2001.
For now, the malls in the
area are staying open, but the
mass population is spending
less.