The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 52

ROANOKE'S MALLS

Beating the National Trend Toward Doom?
In an environment where visits to malls nationally fell from 35 million in 2010 to 17 million in
2013, are two of Roanoke's three major malls a positive outlier bucking the national trend? Or,
like so many national developments that arrive here late, are they just not sick yet? Here's a look.
BY MASON ADAMS
PHOTOS BY
JULIANNE RAINONE

52 | MARCH/APRIL 2017

IT'S THE FRIDAY BEFORE Christmas Sunday-one of
the busiest and most frantic shopping days of the year-and
I'm driving into the belly of the beast on a mission to visit
the places many seek to avoid on a day like this: Roanoke's
three shopping malls.
First stop: Valley View Mall, which greets shoppers
with all the holiday trimmings, trappings and-immediately after exiting off Interstate 581-the traffic. I
steer away from the jam-packed District and seek more
plentiful parking on the backside of the mall. Inside,
a mechanized bear orchestra entertains families eating
lunch in the food court, and the line to see Santa Claus
runs at least 50 deep. People carrying multiple bags walk
in multi-file lanes, and turning left to enter a shop requires a healthy dose of patience. Lengthy lines snake
from registers across stores and occasionally out the door
into the mall.
After a wait through similarly long lines of traffic to
exit the mall area, I drive south to Towers Shopping Cen-

ter and find a similarly packed parking lot. It turns out
the only place more crowded than a destination shopping
mall is a grocery store; the parking lots in front of Kroger
and Fresh Market smell like desperation as motorists relentlessly roam the concrete lot in search of an empty
space. Inside, an array of locally owned businesses do brisk
business with customers in search of last-minute gifts.
After the hectic feel of Valley View and Towers, I'm
relieved to reach the relative tranquility of Tanglewood
Mall. Relief quickly turns to melancholy, however, at the
sight of the mall's interior. My memories of the mall's
heyday in the late '80s, when as a pre-pubescent just discovering popular music I saved up allowance money for
monthly trips to the Record Bar, quickly erode and give
way to lonely modern reality, with the majority of interior
retail spaces shuttered. A multi-storefront display showcases the mall's vibrant history, but that tribute to the past
is surrounded by empty spaces and a significant amount
of room for Miller-Motte Technical College.
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The Roanoker March/April 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker March/April 2017

The Roanoker March/April 2017 Table of Contents
Worth a Click
From the Editor
Lunch With . . .
Events
Streets of Roanoke
The Gist
Women Making Waves
The Next Chapter
Hollins University and Roanoke College Turn 175
Mall Wonder: Are Roanoke Shopping Centers Beating the National Trend?
Gardens, Gardens, Gardens
Delightful Dining Niches
The Dish
Where Are They Now?
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Intro
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Cover1
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Cover2
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 3
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 4
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 5
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 6
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Worth a Click
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - From the Editor
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 9
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Lunch With . . .
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 11
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Events
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 13
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 14
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 15
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Streets of Roanoke
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 17
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - The Gist
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 19
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 20
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Women Making Waves
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 22
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 23
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 24
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 25
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 26
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 27
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 28
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 29
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 30
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 31
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - The Next Chapter
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 33
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 34
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 35
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 36
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 37
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 38
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 39
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 40
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 41
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 42
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 43
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 44
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 45
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 46
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Hollins University and Roanoke College Turn 175
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 48
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 49
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 50
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 51
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Mall Wonder: Are Roanoke Shopping Centers Beating the National Trend?
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 53
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 54
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 55
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 56
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 57
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Gardens, Gardens, Gardens
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 59
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 60
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 61
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 62
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 63
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 64
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 65
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 66
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 67
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 68
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 69
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 70
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 71
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 72
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Delightful Dining Niches
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 74
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 75
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 76
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 77
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 78
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 79
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - 80
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - The Dish
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Where Are They Now?
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Cover3
The Roanoker March/April 2017 - Cover4
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