Northpark Mall in Davenport turns 40 this year, and much like humans of that age, the salad days are long gone. In fact, Northpark, like most shopping malls are well past middle age and fast headed to the scrap heap of obsolescence.
The mass relocation of retail shopping from America's downtowns to suburban malls – fueled by cheap gas and two cars in every garage – ran its course some time ago. Most small locally owned stores folded in the onslaught of chain-store competion and high-rent mall leases.
Now it's the malls' turn to be choked by some of the same market forces.
Malls are no longer new, cool or the only hub of retail in the community. Strip malls and the new shopping bully – huge big box stores with their own interstate access and parking acreage – have overtaken the mall shopping "experience."
Just as the huge shopping malls stripped downtowns of retail business, retail strip malls and stand-alone big box stores are creating weeds in unused mall parking lots. Add in Amazon and online shopping, and the future of malls like Northpark and Southpark may be more like the empty downtown retail stores than their owners care to consider.
Sure, there are and will be some exceptions. Those shopping malls able to become a destination (think Mall of America) will continue to draw as many tourists as actual community shoppers. And, those malls that can transition from a single shopping mall to a shopping mall with surrounding strip malls and nearby destinations (think Jordan Creek) will likely continue to thrive.
But malls that can't reinvent themselves as something other than a shopping mall are destined for the wrecking ball. And, that might not be a bad thing for communities. Just think about the possibilities.
Shopping malls the size of Northpark (with their acres of parking) are big enough to become large community parks or multipurpose neighborhoods with room for small retails shops, housing and plenty of green space. A mixed urban residential/retail development with a walkable design is becoming popular around the country.
Just replacing mall parking asphalt with grass would stem much of the huge storm water runoff from places like Northpark and significantly improve water quality of local rivers and streams.
Who knows, maybe Northpark could be re-invented into a gambling casino site by adding a hotel and converting some of the parking to a nine-hole golf course. It's near the interstate, easy access from major streets, existing water and sewer connections and plenty of parking. . . except during the holiday shopping season.
