The New 'Mall' is Where Experiences Happen and Life Converges

What's happening with malls and strip malls across Des Moines, Iowa, and the whole country, reflects not only a major shift in consumer buying habits (eCommerce) but in preferences for what people want to do with their time (interacting in-person with friends and family).

People today want to buy more online and have more physical experiences - a flip from the days of buying things in shopping malls and desiring more online experiences. And increasingly today they want both: the ability to try something first in-real-life but buy online; or to mix virtual experiences with real ones (Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality).

Having always served as a place of entertainment, but with shopping as the central focus, mall properties can and should still serve as community hubs for entertainment, dining, and even shopping - but refocused around 'experiences' and more. No longer a mall, these large properties can become places where life happens and the things in our life converge (playing, exercising, making, meeting, dreaming, learning, working, and even living).

Nostalgia is the Enemy of a Transformative Vision

Creativity, innovation, and new business models must prevail to transform a dead mall into a thriving, winning proposition for the property owner, the entrepreneurs, and the community alike. Informed by the needs of the community but leveraging current trends, a new 'place' must be carefully curated and launched with a collection of sustainable businesses at once - rather than through sparse, random, and outdated business offerings.

Transformation must start by removing references to the property as a 'mall.' Memories of what used to be have to be replaced by a marketable and publicized vision to attract the entrepreneurs who will execute on it, as well as patrons. The vision will also inform the physical transformation and events must be created to attract people to experience the new 'place.'

Out With the Old and In With the New and Newly Re-imagined

Our company Curated Growth is working to transform a very large former retail space at Southridge 'Mall' in Des Moines, Iowa. Originally built-out for the failed apparel startup Steve and Barry's in 2009, the space will become a new business incubation lounge, co-working and event space.

In addition to new businesses, we also believe existing retail businesses in malls across the country can still be relevant and part of the mall transformation process if they are willing to evolve - and are supported in doing so.

Which Comes First the People or the Place?

Since Des Moines is the fastest-growing city in the midwest, unlike other places where populations are aging or dwindling, it is not a lack of people but a lack of "placemaking" that's needed at Southridge (and all of the Mall and Retail Shopping locations) to attract the people from all over the growing metro and neighboring communities.

With the right future-ready vision and a mix of interesting businesses and events, the Highway 5 bypass that took patrons away to Jordan Creek Town Center in 2004 can be the very highway that provides easy-access for people to discover and re-discover the new Southridge 'place' of the future.