Perceptions plague Jamestown Mall
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
December 22, 2009
by Tim Logan
Three words have caused Dan Parnell a lot of consternation these last few months. He says they have cost him a lot of business, too.
"Tear it down."
Those words were uttered in September by an urban planner from Memphis, Tenn., part of an expert team flown in from around the country to study and recommend solutions for the ailing Jamestown Mall.
The panel's recommendation -- tear the place down and start over -- was made at a big meeting at the end of their week of study, before a battery of TV cameras and newspaper writers with pens at the ready. Then the panel flew home, and the word went forth. What many heard was that Jamestown's days were numbered.
But the mall is very much still there.
It's got about 35 stores, many owned by local businessmen like Parnell, who has run the Charley's Steakery in the food court for 14 years. It's got holiday decorations and pictures with Santa and carols echoing through its halls. And it's trying to make a go of things this Christmas despite a big cloud overhead that won't blow away any time soon.
After all, the panel's recommendation was just that -- a recommendation. There's no money to tear the mall down, nor any firm plans of what to build in its place. Chunks of the 142-acre site are owned by five different entities. And the St. Louis County Economic Council -- which hired the panel -- is just now launching a public planning process that will take months, if not years, to complete.
But to many Jamestown merchants, those three words have had a big echo.
"Tear it down," Parnell said. "That's what everybody holds on to."
So they have been shopping elsewhere. Since October, sales have fallen 25 to 50 percent at most stores, said Marilyn Oliver, who helps run the mall management office. Several merchants said foot traffic has been noticeably slower. On the weekend after Thanksgiving, Parnell said, his sales were off 41 percent from last year. And then there are the phone calls.
"We constantly get phone calls asking 'Are you still open?' 'Have you moved?' 'When are you closing?'" Parnell said. "Six, seven, eight times a day. It's unbelievable."
And it's not just him.
Leanne Hoelzer, who manages the Savvi Formalwear store, finds herself having to reassure anxious bridal parties that she'll still be there for weddings next summer. Hoelzer said she first heard about the panel's recommendation from her mother, who called one morning to tell her the mall was closing.
"No," she said. "It's not."
It just feels that way sometimes.
Certainly, Jamestown has declined. About half of its storefronts are dark. Two of its four anchors -- a Dillard's and a Sears -- have left. The vast parking lots are cracked and empty. Like the struggling local malls it is often grouped with -- Northwest Plaza in St. Ann and Crestwood Court -- Jamestown has fallen victim to changing consumer tastes and demographic shifts.
But on Friday morning, the day before the last weekend before Christmas, a steady stream of shoppers filtered through the Macy's and the JC Penney and browsed the smaller stores. At St. Louis Custom Gear, owner Randy Tienes was busy taking orders for stitching on shirts and hats, and unloading boxes from UPS.
Tienes said that he has a lot of loyal customers and that his store is profitable. But he worries about what will happen in January, when leases are up and more merchants could pull out. Even less foot traffic would be a serious problem. So he is thinking about his options.
One thing he knows, though: The $120,000 study didn't really help matters.
"They didn't do anything positive for the people here," he said. "We're just trying to get by."
County officials have heard these complaints.
Earlier this month, they met with merchants and got an earful. At a town hall meeting about the mall plans Thursday night, Tom Curran, a top aide to County Executive Charlie Dooley, urged the audience several times to shop at Jamestown.
"There are some very viable stores there," he said. "We hope while we're going through this process that everybody recognizes that."
But, he pointed out, the mall has been in decline for years. Its assessed value has fallen 44 percent since 2001. A solution is needed, even if it will take a few years to get there. And the county will work to find a place for existing tenants in whatever comes next, Curran said.
"It's certainly our goal to increase retail in North County," he said.
In the meantime, there's only so much the county can do for tenants, Curran said. Advertising Jamestown is ultimately the job of the mall.
Merchants agreed that the place needs something. A big tenant for one of the anchor stores, or some new stores on undeveloped lots around the mall. That would help. Some of the panel's proposals, like a specialty grocery store or a YMCA or a farmer's market, would be welcome additions, several people said.
But the mall has enough challenges as it is, said Larry McSpadden, who has owned the Tinderbox, a cigar and wine shop there, since 1980. All this talk of tearing it down is making it even harder to run a viable business. His sales are off 30 percent since that planner from Memphis uttered those words.
"It's like someone turned off a faucet," he said. "It is a hell of a struggle."
