Malls used to be places for long shopping excursions.
But with many time-starved consumers wanting to park, shop and get home fast, spending the day shopping has lost some of its appeal. In an effort to get those customers back and perhaps attract new ones who will linger, five area malls are remaking themselves by adding upscale restaurants and shops.
Those shopping centers - in Baltimore, Towson, Annapolis, Bel Air and Laurel - join others locally and nationwide in renewals designed to adapt to shoppers' changing habits. Consumers now have a host of retailers competing for their dollars, from boutiques to big-box stores to online merchants.
All the malls under renovation are embracing the "lifestyle center" approach in one way or another as the concept grows in popularity. Other projects that followed a "lifestyle" concept include Hunt Valley, the Avenue at White Marsh and less-dramatic transformations in Columbia, all of which combine an exterior avenue of shops and restaurants surrounded by easy-to-reach parking areas.
"Twenty years ago, consumers would go in and spend three, four or five hours in a mall shopping," said George Whalin, CEO of Retail Management Consultants in California. "Now they're looking for an entertainment mall with a movie theater and restaurant. They're looking for malls that are easy to get in and out of so they can get what they want and leave."
Harford Mall in Bel Air just completed an 18-month renovation to upgrade its 1970s look and add an outdoor shopping area and more restaurants. Westfield Annapolis Mall is undergoing more than $100 million in upgrades that will include a 240,000-square-foot addition and 60 new retailers. It also will include new entrances, lounges and valet parking.
Towson Town Center is expanding by more than 100,000 square feet with a project that will add restaurants and parking. It also is remaking its first and second floors, with plans to lease to more upscale retailers. It is the mall's biggest expansion since Nordstrom opened there in 1992.
Mondawmin is in the middle of a $70 million renovation that will include a Target, two restaurants near the mall and landscaped entrances. And Laurel Commons is being transformed into an indoor-outdoor lifestyle center.
The malls are using design concepts similar to those that area competitors recently have championed with success.
