The Rape of the El Con Mall, Tucson Arizona
This afternoon I stood on the front parking lot of that Mall, watching the destruction of what once the hall mark of retailing in Tucson, the 'high-end' string of stores of the old family line in the old pueblo. The El Con Mall in it's hey-day, had housed the old pioneer family retailers who had hauled the wagons over the mountain passes to the east, armed with 10 gauge shotguns in the 1850's at the ready against Indian attacks.
They were determined. In the early days, most lined the old Meyer street with good and pharmacies, and in later years, moved out to the old El Conquistador Hotel site in the middle of the desert. Kings, Queens and Black Jack Pershing had rested there in their day.
Now, the retailers took over and by a slow process, by the late 70's built the place to the largest single mall - the 7th largest on the globe, some 30 odd years ago. Phoenix clientele visited. Mexicans flew in and parked their planes wallets stuffed with $100 bills, bought empty suitcases and filled them for return trips.
Since crash after crash, world recession after financial panic, we have receded into an economy here and abroad of scrimping and saving, hoarding dollars, coupons and discounts.
And the once mighty El Con shows it. For the past few years it resembled a beached whale, laying dead on the side of Broadway, empty guts, painted white on the inside, major stores only alive, breathing slightly, a few outer businesses plugging along. Then, the final blow - destruction of skin and bones that made it a mall.
Walls and old towers, lights, steel and marble, mirrors, shops, glitter, candy stores, book emporiums, all gone. Nothing left now but discount stores, price slashing bottom feeding shops appealing to today's market.
Wall Street Journal, Baron's and other newsprint stories indicate that buying habits of the American Public appear frozen at the discount level for the foreseeable future. The owners of the El Con know this and are stripping away the El Con Mall to meet that future. They are, after all business people. One such manager, a graduate of the esteemed Wharton School of Business knows this better than anyone.
Taught better than most, he knows that it is all about profit and loss, big picture strategies and the future. So, Walmart, Ross, dressing and buying for less as American incomes drop, jobs continue to bleed to the Pacific Rim, our industries do not seem to care, we circle the economic drain and the market turns to meet the inevitable.
I, too, am a graduate of that same Wharton School, and if I was still managing the El Con as I was 30 years ago, I would probably suggest the very same strategy. But, no longer there, I'm glad I don't have to witness the sinking again of the Titanic, deck chairs a tumble, in this case, no water surging, just construction dust from the jack hammers.
Thirty years ago, when I teamed with the architects, we got it covered without one of the 122 businesses going bankrupt. Let's hope during the current (de)construction, they can do the same thing. (I'm such a romantic)
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They were determined. In the early days, most lined the old Meyer street with good and pharmacies, and in later years, moved out to the old El Conquistador Hotel site in the middle of the desert. Kings, Queens and Black Jack Pershing had rested there in their day.
Now, the retailers took over and by a slow process, by the late 70's built the place to the largest single mall - the 7th largest on the globe, some 30 odd years ago. Phoenix clientele visited. Mexicans flew in and parked their planes wallets stuffed with $100 bills, bought empty suitcases and filled them for return trips.
Since crash after crash, world recession after financial panic, we have receded into an economy here and abroad of scrimping and saving, hoarding dollars, coupons and discounts.
And the once mighty El Con shows it. For the past few years it resembled a beached whale, laying dead on the side of Broadway, empty guts, painted white on the inside, major stores only alive, breathing slightly, a few outer businesses plugging along. Then, the final blow - destruction of skin and bones that made it a mall.
Walls and old towers, lights, steel and marble, mirrors, shops, glitter, candy stores, book emporiums, all gone. Nothing left now but discount stores, price slashing bottom feeding shops appealing to today's market.
Wall Street Journal, Baron's and other newsprint stories indicate that buying habits of the American Public appear frozen at the discount level for the foreseeable future. The owners of the El Con know this and are stripping away the El Con Mall to meet that future. They are, after all business people. One such manager, a graduate of the esteemed Wharton School of Business knows this better than anyone.
Taught better than most, he knows that it is all about profit and loss, big picture strategies and the future. So, Walmart, Ross, dressing and buying for less as American incomes drop, jobs continue to bleed to the Pacific Rim, our industries do not seem to care, we circle the economic drain and the market turns to meet the inevitable.
I, too, am a graduate of that same Wharton School, and if I was still managing the El Con as I was 30 years ago, I would probably suggest the very same strategy. But, no longer there, I'm glad I don't have to witness the sinking again of the Titanic, deck chairs a tumble, in this case, no water surging, just construction dust from the jack hammers.
Thirty years ago, when I teamed with the architects, we got it covered without one of the 122 businesses going bankrupt. Let's hope during the current (de)construction, they can do the same thing. (I'm such a romantic)
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