Thursday, December 13, 2012

Capitola Mall and Northridge Mall up for Sale

Reuters is reporting that Macerich has put Capitola Mall and Northridge Mall in Salinas on the block (that is, the person who offers the most money for the mall can buy it).

Macerich is looking to offload many of its B Class malls, which are malls that generate at least $350 a square foot. Class A malls generate at least $450 per square foot.

Sources also report that Capitola Mall and Northridge Mall both have occupancy rates greater than 90%. Essentially, the malls would seem profitable, but not enough for Macerich.

Source: Macerich seeks to sell malls with lower sales rating - sources

Friday, December 07, 2012

Livermore Outlets Sold

Before the paint has dried, Paragon has sold the outlet mall in Livermore. But good news, it was sold to Simon Property Group, the owner of most of the other outlet malls in the state. The transaction occurred on December 5, 2012. Read the full story here.

The outlet mall has been renamed to "Livermore Valley Premium Outlets"

I'll just stick to calling it the Livermore outlets.

BART Accessible Shopping Malls

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is a great way to way to get around and stops near a number of San Francisco Bay Area shopping malls.

The following malls are located within a reasonable walking distance or free shuttle from a BART station:
Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Livermore Outlets Trashing Tracy Outlets

Now that the Paragon Outlets Livermore Valley are open and lining up cars for miles, are the Tracy Outlets doomed?

The Tracy Outlets, owned by Northwest Outlets since 2008, was built at the height of the outlet mall crazy in 1994. Tracy Outlets were so popular, they clobbered the competing Big Valley Factory Outlet Mall in Lathrop, which opened in 1994 and eventually converted to offices in 1996. One could arguably say that the Tracy Outlets even took the steam out of Livermore's first attempt at a factory outlet mall, The Vineyard at Livermore [outlets], also converted to offices.

Looking over the Tracy Outlets store directory, only 13 stores are listed:

Carter's Children’s Wear
Casual Male
Corning Revere
Famous Footwear Outlet
Gifts, Etc
HIP GEN
Lane Bryant Outlet
Levi's Outlet Store
Luxury Perfumes
Maurices
OshKosh B'Gosh
Tuesday Morning
Van Heusen

What stores are duplicated in Livermore? Carters, Famous Footwear Outlet, Levi's Outlet Store, OshKosh B'Gosh, and Van Heusen.

A total of 27 retail spaces have been carved out of the 153,000 sq. ft. center. With the percentage of the center leased running at 50%, can Tracy Outlets survive in its current form?

Me thinks not.

Monday, December 03, 2012

Top 5 Best Outlet Malls in Northern California

According to the BIGMallrat Web poll, readers have selected the following factory outlet malls as their favorites*:

1) Gilroy Outlets (118 votes)
2) Vacaville Outlets (103 votes)
3) Great Mall Milpitas (68 votes)
4) Folsom Outlets (38 votes)
5) Napa Outlets (30 votes)

Want your voice heard?  Vote for your favorite outlet mall at Best Outlet Malls in Northern California, poll displays on the left.

* Results as of December 3, 2012