Paper 2 Proposal Part 1

Description

Hunt Valley Towne Centre is a newly developed “lifestyle center” in the suburb of Hunt Valley, approximately 20 miles north of Baltimore, Maryland. The mixed-use shopping center with almost 750,000 sq. ft. of retail space serves a population of over 1 million with an average household income of $140,000 (ggcommercial.com). Hunt Valley is an affluent suburb with wealthy industries including many science, tech, and engineering firms, as well as the headquarters of McCormick Spices, and the shopping center takes advantage of access to upscale clientele.

Hunt Valley Towne Center was redeveloped by Greenberg Gibbons Commercial in 2004 from the former site of Hunt Valley Mall. The original mall was built in the early 1980s and was lauded as being an upscale version of the traditional shopping mall. The mall was anchored by Macy’s (originally badged as Bamberger’s) until 1992. Although the mall was never overwhelmingly successful, the departure of Macy’s speeded a steady decline. When a Light Rail line leading into inner-city Baltimore was constructed directly outside of the mall, fears that lower-class people would bring increased crime to the mall drove a final nail into its coffin.

Although the main section of the mall was all but closed by the late 1990’s, the remaining anchor department store, Sears, was still open to the public. A Burlington Coat Factory, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Hoyt’s Cinemas, and Wal-Mart, as well as a discount shoe warehouse opened as anchors adjacent to the mall during this time as well. Although these stores were reasonably successful, most of them did not contain inside entrances to the main portion of the mall and thus did not bring business to the stores inside the enclosed structure. After Greenberg Gibbons Commercial purchased the site, the central enclosed section of the mall was torn down.

The new Towne Centre now consists of an outdoor “Main Street” style shopping plaza intermixed with the original anchor tenants from Hunt Valley Mall. The center is laid out in a linear fashion, with the center, “Main Street” section forming a two-story U-shaped plaza. The original anchor Sears sits on the westernmost side of the site. Next to Sears is the newly built Wegman’s, an upscale grocery store featuring a wide variety of gourmet products. Dick’s Sporting Goods and Burlington Coat Factory occupy the eastern side of the site. The original Wal-Mart was included in the Towne Centre when it was first built, but its doors were closed in the summer of 2007 when Wal-Mart opened a large new supercenter two miles away in Cockeysville. The empty building now sits on the easternmost edge of the site. The center of the marketplace is the two-story U-shaped block of small shops and restaurants. An outparcel of restaurants including Outback Steakhouse and Carraba’s sits on the southwest corner of the site, by the intersection of Shawan Road and Interstate 83. The Hoyt’s Cinema, now a Regal Cinema, remains on the northern side of the site.

The new buildings were built with a nostalgic style of architecture meant to evoke an Old World charm. Each store has a different façade and roofline, creating a look of individual buildings. The former tenants of Hunt Valley Mall were refaced in order to match the new architectural look of the center. The center’s design also clearly focuses on an outdoor environment. Fountains and gazebos serve as centerpieces of the plaza area, and benches lining brick sidewalks invite shoppers to relax and enjoy the scenery. Most restaurants have outdoor dining areas as well. The site is landscaped with grass, bushes, flowers, and trees. Old-fashioned light posts provide illumination for evening shopping and provide a nostalgic appeal. Music is piped through faux-rocks blending in with the landscape design and providing a peaceful background for shoppers. There is limited parking located in diagonal spaces along the “Main Street” area. More parking is available in larger lots in front of the anchor stores, and the Light Rail line is just on the other side of the parking lots. The entire center is still very clean and new-looking, and is thus very inviting to consumers.

Central Argument

The transformation of Hunt Valley Mall into Hunt Valley Towne Centre represents the shifts in consumer attitudes and shopping trends over the past 25 years. The original mall site suffered from shifting ideas in consumer culture as well as wider cultural issues including the changing suburban landscape and fears of what impact inner-city people would have on an insulated exurban community. After the acquisition of the sit by Greenberg Gibbons Commercial, its redevelopment in to an outdoor “lifestyle center” with a distinctly nostalgic look and feel represents current consumer attitudes in today’s modern consumer culture. Americans have become bored with traditional shopping models and marketers must use new strategies to capture the attention and business of consumers.