COLUMBIA, S.C. — Malls, the shopping hubs for all your needs, are changing their makeup in the Columbia area, the most recent being the announcement that a Columbia church has a contract to purchase Dutch Square Center.
Several developers and real estate agents said the trend is adapting these malls to the needs of each specific community.
At Dutch Square Center, for example, there's an opportunity for a possible church expansion. Over at Richland Mall, shoppers and residents could see more green space, housing and a grocery store.
Liz Deese, a 12-year commercial real estate specialist who works here in the South Carolina Midlands, said each mall revitalization will look different, depending on what the community wants. Deese added there are businesses that will always be a need.
"You can't get a massage, so that's what I call Amazon resistant. You can't go get a really good cheeseburger. Some things that I call Amazon resistant and they are going to continue to be resistant," Deese said.
"Mall properties are a very disfavored property type if you will. The changing nature of retail, the way that retail has gone to power centers and things of that nature, so it's really incumbent on us as owners to be able to go with the times and transform and reposition these properties so they continue to be community assets," said John Mulherin, vice president of Georgia-based Hull Property Group, which owns the Sumter Mall.
Mulherin said it's up to the owners of these massive buildings to make them as desirable as possible for new tenants and businesses.
He said that no property works as an island. They work in conjunction with the other properties around them. Plus, the outward and inward appearance needs to look good and appeal to potential future tenants.
"We're going to go take the extra step. We're going to permanently sheetrock over that, we're going to put wainscoting on it, we're going to put crown molding on it and put historical murals so that you have a very inviting shopping atmosphere if you will. And then, by maintaining discipline and order in the malls, so that folks, when they do come in, have that good shopping experience," Mulherin said. "The redevelopment has to take on its own life. It has to mature a little bit before you can try to start seeing some of those and capitalizing on some of those new tenants that may come in. And, let's be honest, they may never come in. It may just be what you have."
For the Sumter Mall, change means the new charter school that moved in at the end of July and the Planet Fitness gym moving in later this month with the potential for a coffee shop.
Shoppers like Danielle Johnson and her friend Gabrielle Ellis said they still love malls and will in the future.
"I think it's the experience. I like the experience of being able to come in, take a break, look through the racks and be able to try on clothes if needed," Johnson of Red Bank said.
"It never rains in the mall, it's always air-conditioned, it's always heated in the mall, and there's always going to be a place for the enclosed mall business," Mulherin said. "It's just not going to be like it was in 1982 or 1983 when you had 100% occupancy, and that was the only place to shop."
Southeastern Development, the company revamping the Richland Mall, said it will announce another update about the property before the end of the year.