KCRag Forum

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum but have been lurking for a while. (Great board, BTW.)

I'm looking for some information on Metro North Mall other than just opinion. Does anyone know if there have been any KC Star articles or other published material about the decline of the mall?

I don't know a whole lot, but I was up there before Christmas right before 6pm, and almost every store in the mall was getting ready to close...at 6pm during the Christmas shopping season! That seemed counterintuitive, or maybe just the symptom of a dying mall, I'm not sure.

OPINION'D

It was dying long before Zona Rosa came.

Here thread on Metro North dying.

http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/newforum/i ... pic=5712.0

Thanks Northlander, but the one article linked in that thread is no longer available.

I'm having a hard time with my research here.

There's no shortage of people who will tell me about how poorly the mall is managed and that it's dying, but darned if I can find anything that anyone in the city has written about it except for you folks. Has the greater Kansas City just given up on this mall then, or it it that all the malls are dying and it seems like a normal occurrence?

NetPet wrote: Thanks Northlander, but the one article linked in that thread is no longer available.

I'm having a hard time with my research here.

There's no shortage of people who will tell me about how poorly the mall is managed and that it's dying, but darned if I can find anything that anyone in the city has written about it except for you folks. Has the greater Kansas City just given up on this mall then, or it it that all the malls are dying and it seems like a normal occurrence?

Greater KC hasn't given up on the mall.....the entire world has given up on malls.  Retail is perhaps the most finniky business sector and trends change.  10 years ago malls were still hopping.  Slowly an evolution in retail turned to powercenters (typical bed bath & beyond, old navy, drive up and park type places).  Shortly after that the notion of true new urbanism was sprouted and the entire retail development scene did a 180 embracing outdoor park, walk and shop areas that provide an experience rather than simply a venue.  The latter also embraced residential & office facilities intertwined with the retail. 

What's interesting is the next wave of the evolution still embraces new urbanism (and probably will for quite some time), but now developers and municipalities are FINALLY acknowledging that something has to be done with these nearly abandoned mall structures.

It's an ever changing circle of design.  Antioch Mall was originally an open air facility.  Then enclosed malls were the rage so they put a roof on it.  Now it's planned to be demolished and replaced with an open air/pseudo new urbanism center.

The only constant in retail...is change.

Go to the library and search the KC Star archives, you should find something there.  You might also try the suburban newspapers like the Sun-News of the Northland and the Dispatch-Tribune.

Just search the Internet for "Sherman Dreiseszun".

Slappy definitely has a point.  It's becoming an internet phenom that the Pitch reported on as well.  Maybe we should submit Metro North?

(Someone posted an update on Bannister on Jan 28)

http://www.deadmalls.com/

Thanks for the lead, but the Star archives were bare. There is almost no published information as to the decline of MN Mall. I'm really shocked that other people aren't outraged enough to squeal to the press.

It's time to come a little cleaner with you folks. I'm a retailer at NM and I'm not real happy with what's going on. Okay, being not happy about it is an understatement. I'm furious!

We are expected to suck it up and do the best we can with minimal traffic, no light at the end of the tunnel in the way of improvements and rent that rivals Oak Park.  All the promises made as an incentive to sign the lease have been broken... there is no hope of the food court ever opening, and more shops close down every month leaving the bare store fronts more predominate than full ones.

This is NOT Bannister Mall. The neighborhood is not in decline and the area is doing well.

Why is there no pressure from the outside giving Sherman a good kick in the butt?

It makes me mad that he holds all the people there hostage so that he can write MN off on his taxes to offset his millions the banks are making.

Did I mention that I'm furious??

I was hoping one of you had something I could use as a deal-breaker in court to sever ways with this idiot.

I also remember reading the article in the Star. It was posted somewhere on this forum.  I was puzzled by the article because it barely explained the situation at MNM.

As for outrage, it is unlikely for us, Northland lot, to be outraged over MNM... when we were deprived of many other restaurants and other stores for so many years.  Today we have several new places to check out and MNM fell off the radar.

My wife, last week, had to get something a MNM and she noted how nice it was to be able to get in and get out.  I'm sure this is not what a store owner wants to hear.

As for myself, I hate all large enclosed malls and the constant noise and vibrations inside.

I would so love to own the place....not even joking...imagine how cool you could make it...if you were me anyways.

Or even to make it into my own hizzouse!  tight!  word!

I propose we band together and all max out our credit to obtain this undignified landmark of a beast!

NetPet,

Are you in a long term lease?  Do those contracts require the mall owners to keep up the mall?  Is there a minimal amount of traffic for the lease to stay intact?  Look at the Great Mall for example.  That mall will do whatever it takes to keep tenants, reduce lease payments etc, otherwise that mall would be empty.

Even with Zona Rosa and all the other retail areas up north now, there has to be room for a regional mall.  Clay and Platte county is 300,000 people.

I don't get what they are doing with that mall.  It should be a major player in the KC market along with Indep Center and Oak Park.

Grid, the MN mall is not interested in helping people by lowering the rent. From what I've heard, the reason that the brand new food court isn't filled up is because the rent they were asking was way too high and they'd rather leave it empty than lease the spots out for a smaller monthly rent fee.

I really wish someone who's bucks-up would buy the darn thing and help it get back on track.

one of the best customer-drawing stores in mnm was disney.  a couple of years ago, mgmnt increased the lease rate so greatly it forced disney out.  yet another retailer we have to go to joco (oak park mall) to patronize.  mgnmt/owners have never been vested or interested in the well being of this mall, the northland, or much of the land they own along barry road.  they should have sold the mall long ago, and put those tired balloons out of their misery.  we could have had an oak park success.  at this point, we're satisfied with zona rosa and have no reason to go to metro north.

pumpkin wrote: one of the best customer-drawing stores in mnm was disney.  a couple of years ago, mgmnt increased the lease rate so greatly it forced disney out.  yet another retailer we have to go to joco (oak park mall) to patronize.  mgnmt/owners have never been vested or interested in the well being of this mall, the northland, or much of the land they own along barry road.  they should have sold the mall long ago, and put those tired balloons out of their misery.  we could have had an oak park success.  at this point, we're satisfied with zona rosa and have no reason to go to metro north.

Actually, that is not totally true. Not at all. Several years ago, the Disney stores cut their assortment way back hoping for more online sales. All the Disney stores did this. Hubby and I used to buy all the Christmas clothes for our grandkids there, but the year they cut back, there wasn't a Disney store anywhere that had a better selection of stuff and they all told the same story about hoping for online sales.

nota wrote: Actually, that is not totally true. Not at all. Several years ago, the Disney stores cut their assortment way back hoping for more online sales. All the Disney stores did this. Hubby and I used to buy all the Christmas clothes for our grandkids there, but the year they cut back, there wasn't a Disney store anywhere that had a better selection of stuff and they all told the same story about hoping for online sales.

well, i just saw this weekend:  signs in a store window @ zona rosa  -- disney store coming soon!

Dang, went there the other day.....this place is just pitiful.  Someone needs to just shoot it and put it out of its misery!

Disney is gone now, Limited Too is closing April 1.  And the 20-30 other stores look to be just clinging on.


It blows me away that someone can't find a way to make this viable in the middle of the northland.

Jason wrote: Dang, went there the other day.....this place is just pitiful.  Someone needs to just shoot it and put it out of its misery!

Disney is gone now, Limited Too is closing April 1.  And the 20-30 other stores look to be just clinging on.


It blows me away that someone can't find a way to make this viable in the middle of the northland.

Yeah, i remember back when I was a kid (not too long ago) and this place was a mecca for everyone.  Even if the northland is saturated with other stores, the market is big enough to where this place should do good.  I would guarentee that with some hip/cool stores, like an aero, a&f, hollister, this place would do good business...even with zr right down the block.  Where do you think people would rather go when its cold and rainy? ZR or a nice revamped MN.  All MN is missing is the tenats...the mall itself is still in perfect shape, and looks alot like indep center..minus the stores.