Inland Empire's Shopping Centers During COVID-19
By: Andy Huizar
As 2019 was coming to an end, many optimistic individuals were thrilled for a new change. 2020 was intended to be a year of reinvention and prosperity for our country. No one could have expected we would be repeating the economic downfall of 2010, the decade of economic reconstruction due in large part to the Great Recession of 2008-2009. We saw many retailers cease to exist in the 2010s.
The Inland Empire has had its fair share of a rocky economy in the last few years. COVID-19 did not have mercy on the many businesses that had already been struggling prior to the COVID-19 shutdown of March 2020.
Should we blame COVID-19 for our sudden retail economic spiral? Many would like to do so, some don't think we should make such a harsh conclusion just yet.
The shopping malls in the Inland Empire region have a combined total of 922 stores altogether: Montclair Place, Ontario Mills, Galleria at Tyler, The Shoppes At Chino Hills, and Victoria Gardens, respectively. It will certainly be difficult to house all 922 of these storefronts with profitable and successful businesses, especially when online retailers such as Amazon are winning the game.
Malls depend on consistent foot traffic to stay afloat, store closure can have a vast effect in many ways than one would think. That being said, a reason why malls start declining in sales is because of the loss of an anchor store, which attracts many shoppers. Without these anchor stores, malls have to rely on their smaller retailers such as H&M or Forever 21, which is usually a sign that the mall is not doing well. Unfortunately, this is exactly the case for some malls in the Inland Empire.
In May, Nordstrom announced they would permanently close 16 stores across the country to consolidate their stores and departing markets that are sub-optimal. Two of the 16 stores listed were the Montclair Place and Galleria at Tyler locations, Nordstrom's only full-line Inland Empire locations. Inland Empire residents have been quite disappointed about Nordstrom's sudden decision to shutter these stores as there are no other department stores up to par in the area unless you drive 30-40 minutes to a coast-line county mall.
What do malls do with these empty spaces now?
The likelihood of finding a retailer to do so is slim to nothing. Nowadays, you see shopping centers demolishing these older, larger spaces and adding more mixed-use developments that include housing, eateries, movie theaters, and smaller shops. Although tough to admit, the heyday of the shopping mall and department store has unquestionably passed. And regarding the departure of Nordstrom, Inland Empire shoppers will have to be content with Macy's and JCPenney.
Will retail in the Inland Empire make a rebound move?
This is tough to determine. Now, retailers are switching gears and focusing more on e-commerce. We saw this back in 2017 when American Apparel shuttered all of its 110 brick-and-mortar stores and became an online-only retailer. It correlates with their target demographic. Younger crowds tend to shop more online as it is more convenient to do so. It seems more logical if most sales are coming from online and not from the physical stores. Due to this, the Inland Empire is expected to have the highest vacancy in the country. Is it because of online shopping or simply remove overbuilding?
COVID-19 is not helping this problem as county restrictions are forcing businesses to stay closed. Even with some businesses open, there are restrictions about the number of customers allowed in. It's surely not the same experience. Let us hope that the year starts cheering up a bit so we can get a semi-cheerful holiday shopping season, only time will tell for retail's future.