Olathe’s Great Mall closing this fall
 

Looks like another mall bites the dust..

http://www.kansascity.com/news/busin...e10464437.html

Olathe’s Great Mall of the Great Plains will close in mid-to-late fall. The 786,000-square-foot mall, at Interstate 35 and 151st Street, opened to great fanfare in 1997.

In a statement, mall officials said: “The decision to close was difficult, but one that was guided by very compelling economic realities. "The development began to face struggles soon after it opened in 1997, and has been unable to recover in the intervening years due to a variety of factors, including the economic downturn and changes in customers’ shopping habits.”

VanTrust, the asset manager for the property, said it has “worked diligently to identify potential uses for the existing development.” But the structure, maintenance costs and layout do not support preservation of the current building. The developer is working with the Olathe Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council to determine the best use for the property, one that is in the interests of both the city and the community.

First business I ever managed was there. The Eb Games back in the day. Great memories of all the various mall ladies, but now the old shop is a live theater dress up place- didn't think it could get any nerdier than a video game store.

Not a surprise. It's not kept up anymore. Could possibly of succeeded if done right, but maybe not, kind of in an obscure area. For some reason white people like to shop at strip malls, they don't like to have an easy indoor place where you can get all your shopping done at one time, and walk to all of them. They prefer to drive their car to and from each little store. Too many youths and dark people walking around, not comfortable with that.

Lol.

Is this a radio shack location?

Turn it into an indoor paintball arena

Geez, that was a bust.
It was supposed to be a big deal that drew people in from all over the area. Not sure if it ever met expectation even in the beginning.

Or a casino

Last I heard, they moved a DMV office in there, which actually seemed like a good idea. It would give you something to do while waiting for your turn to come up. I'm guessing the store selection is pretty weak though.

A few years back they had some strange Coleman closeout store there for a month or so. Basically had everything Coleman makes (tents, sleeping bags, etc) for super cheap. I stocked up while it was there but went back not long afterwards and they were long gone.

I wonder if the movie theater will go, too. I like going there on weekdays as it is easy to drive there since there is little traffic, unlike the big theater over on 119th and Strangline, and I often got the whole theater to myself with no kiddies texting and making noise during a movie. Good times...

Hmmm, there's a hospital across the street. Maybe they could team up and run a promotion to help cover your treatment costs.

Meh. Only time I went there was at 10PM, they didn't refill my large popcorn and they delayed the start of the movie by sending us to another theatre because of some technical problem.

I did have fun at the mini golf course inside, but I'm a sucker for minigolf.

I just started to go there, because nobody is there. I can go to any movie that would be packed at the AMC off of 119th, and easily get in at the Great Mall movie there. It's cheap too.

That place has been shit since it opened. I'm surprised it lasted this long.

Agreed. I went there shortly after opening and didn't really find anything interesting. The prices were fairly high as well, which didn't help.

I was there when it was announced and wondered why was it needed.
Seemed more like an outlet mall.

Went there after it opened and yuck.

Gut it. Let amazon take it over and fly drones out of it for delivery.

There is no reason enclosed malls should fail in the Midwest. Just a sign of shitty management.

It's a trend actually. Enclosed malls have been failing everywhere. I don't quite get it myself. The strip mall thing seems to be much more successful. People's tastes are strange.

They had a Johnny Rockets there when it opened, didn't they?

I agree. Strip malls like Zona Rosa are fine for the three months or so of perfect weather we have, but the rest of the year it's either too hot, too cold, too windy, or too dark too early to enjoy them.

I still say whomever chose the carpets in the place should be flogged. I have honestly seen little kids fall down when the carpets change to a different bizarre pattern. When I am there, I have to look up a bit so I don't get dizzy. There are only two reasons I go there: the theater and the DMV.

Wife and I went there for a nephews birthday party that was being held someplace there. It was like stepping into a ****ing time machine. Creepy.

Monkey Bizness yo. Where kids monkey around....

Yea, it just never really lived up to expectations. I remember going there not too long after it had been opened. Probably around 1998 and it felt dead or not nearly busy enough.

People don't buy things at malls anymore because Amazon.

Those carpets were god awful. The weird design made me dizzy, too.

Uh, you apparently have never been to Oak Park Mall, have you?

The Great Mall failed because it was an outlet mall, for one. It never brought in anything for name brand stores save Famous Footwear. If they ever got a Penney's or Sears in that place it would have done more business. People all around Olathe drive to Oak Park Mall because that's where all the stores are. The Great Mall never offered much in that way and so it sank.

People would rather go straight to the one store they need to buy from than walk through a crowded mall past 100 stores just to get to the one they want.

There was a mall in Olathe?

I'm not sure if adding a shitty store no one has cared about in 25 years would have helped.
Maybe a Montgomery Wards?

This one feels a little different because it sounds like this Mall never really took off. Most of the old enclosed malls fail because they turn into thug/youth hangouts.


This one sounds like it failed because nobody much liked it from the beginning.

When I think of malls, I think of expensive. Usually the only reason I go to malls is because that is where the theater usually is.

Meanwhile every time I go to Penny's at OPM it has a lot of shoppers.

Dumbass

It was an outlet mall. That just didn't sell much in south Johnson County. It was packed at first but there really just wasn't a draw after the initial hype.

Its ****ing cold 5 months of the year. Usually when I go shopping, Im gonna hit at least a few places to get what I need done. Im not quite sure why Target isnt in more malla. Ppl would go get groceries, necessities and go wander around to buy shit

I agree with you in theory. In practice it often ends poorly for the smaller stores surrounding the big box retailer.

LMAO

Are you in your 70's, Pete? That would actually explain a lot.

Did get great deals there for a while, but too many closures and wide swathes of empty space.

St. Louis Mills is a similar concept, but more successful

That carpet was definitely something else. I'm surprised it's hung on this long

Buying online is where it's at. Why get out if you don't have to? Avoid the parking, crowds and especially the higher prices. Technology has forced a lot of this ;)

It is, but strip malls are not really failing. So I don't know if it is totally technology driven. American's don't like to walk. Especially fat ones. Therefore malls are not a good attraction for them. They don't want to walk more than 50 feet from their car.

Malls have changed greatly over the years. 15 or 20 years ago, I loved to go to the mall because there were so many interesting stories you could check out at once. Bookstores, specialty coffee shops, educational toy stores, Disney stores (when they actually still sold things like books and watches and adult clothes), Discovery channel stores, Brookstone's, sharper image, etc.,. Now? Most malls are nothing but collections of 20 different women's shoe stores and 20 different teenage girl clothing stores. As soon as I quit my job, which happens to be in the mall, I will probably almost never set foot in a mall again.

SHOCKER.

The mall has had a pretty creepy vibe lately. I feel like someone could probably be murdered in there and no one would notice.